 Baltimore MD - Crystal Palace FC USA paid the price for their poor finishing in Pittsburgh tonight as goals from the Riverhounds’ Jason Kutney and Boyzzz Khumalo negated Val Teixeira’s wonder goal to send the Baltimore side to their second loss in three matches.
The first half was an even affair, with Gary Brooks coming closest for Palace on a close-range header that just missed the mark. The Riverhounds’ Boyzzz Khumalo was also guilty of wasting am excellent opportunity after making a clear breakaway but failing with his final touch.
But just as the half appeared to be heading for a nil-nil stalemate, Pittsburgh stunned Palace with a well-worked goal in stoppage time. Defender Ed Hayden took a throw-in deep in the Palace half towards Travis MacKenize. His headed flick-on found Jason Kutney eight yards from goal and with the outside of his foot he directed the bouncing ball into the net to give the home side the advantage and knock the wind out of the visitors.
On 47 minutes, Palace had their best chance of the night to that point. Cecil Lewis sprinted down the right wing and sent a low cross into the box to the feet of the on-rushing Gary Brooks. He back-heeled the ball to fellow Jamaican Kevin King running into space inside the box. With the Pittsburgh ‘keeper Adam Kenszler glued to his line, King tried to place the ball into the bottom right corner but it rolled six agonizing inches wide of the post. Two minutes later Kevin King had another good chance when he connected with a Val Teixeira cross but Kenszler just managed to get his hands to it. Brian Rowland then pulled off a marvelous stop of a Boyzzz Khumalo effort after the South African-born striker had snaked his way past the Palace back line. On 66 minutes, Rowland needed help from the crossbar on Cody Bragg’s dipping 20 yard free-kick.
In the 73rd minute, Val Teixeira, who had thus far been a constant threat down the left wing, suddenly popped up on the right side and angled his way towards the corner of the penalty area. He stopped abruptly, switched the ball to his left foot and struck a  screamer of a shot that Keszler had no chance of reaching and the scores were level.
With Palace slightly off their guard, Pittsburgh’s Khumalo received the kick-off and made a bee-line for the Palace goal. He sliced through the Palace back line, fired, and despite Rowland doing well to partially block it, the ball looped high above him and towards the net. Paul Robson made a valiant effort to clear the ball before it reached the line, but Khumalo followed up to make sure it counted.
With seven minutes remaining in the match, a bouncing ball found it’s way to Val Teixeira on the left edge of the area. Teixeira sent a vicious volley goal-wards, forcing Kenszler into a remarkable reaction save. The blocked ball rebounded right to the head of Pat Healey four yards out at the near post but he didn’t have time to react and it bounced just wide.
In the dying seconds of stoppage time, a superhuman effort by Pat Healey saw him cross the ball from the byline to a leaping Cecil Lewis in the six yard box. Lewis could only watch as his header sailed a foot over the crossbar just before the final whistle blew.
“We created a lot of chances,” observed Player/Co-Manager Jim Cherneski after the game. “Our ratio on finishing is not very good right now so we can work on that. We gave up a soft goal in the second half and we had some finger-pointing going on in the locker room at half-time, and that doesn’t help.” But he gave the Riverhounds their dues: “Pittsburgh’s better than their record shows, for sure. We had some breakdowns, we were giving away silly balls and part of that goes to loss of concentration, especially with the second goal. We scored a great goal, probably our best goal of the season, and then to give up a goal 30 seconds later is a punch in the stomach.”
 Cherneski’s fellow Co-Manager Pete Medd added: “I think we did enough to win the game, even though we weren’t at our best. You have to finish your chances, but Pittsburgh’s a very good team. We’re talking about a matter of inches between winning and losing, so I think we’ll be fine.”
Cherneski also looked on the bright side: “Yeah, I’m not too discouraged. I think we’ll go strong into the playoffs, I think we still have a great chance to win the league.”
Palace’s next match takes them right back to Pennsylvania on Wednesday July 23rd to face the Harrisburg City Islanders at 7:05pm. Saturday July 26th sees the end of Palace’s road swing as they head to Charlotte to battle the league-leading Eagles.
Crystal Palace FC USA - a direct extension of Crystal Palace Football Club, a 103-year old, $100 million club based in London, England - is proud to bring big-league, professional, outdoor soccer back to Baltimore, providing area residents with a world-class, family entertainment experience. For more information please visit www.CrystalPalaceUSA.com
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