Baltimore MD - On an emotionally charged evening at the Maryland Soccerplex, Crystal Palace USA's perfect pre-season skidded to a halt as Real Maryland took round one of the newly inaugurated DeOrsey Maryland Cup. The trophy, which was displayed for the first time at the match, will be awarded to the aggregate winner of all matches between the two teams each season.
A crowd of just over 500 was on hand to witness the inaugural derby between the two Maryland sides, raising nearly $3,000 in gate receipts and additional donations to benefit the family of the late Matt DeOrsey. DeOrsey was a teammate and close personal friend of Palace USA President and Co-Manager Pete Medd. The pair played together At Middletown high school in Potomac and with the Towson University Tigers. DeOrsey died suddenly in January this year aged just 31, leaving behind his wife and three children. DeOrsey's parents and stepson were in attendance at Saturday's game.
 The opening four minutes saw a yellow card for tackles from behind by each side, as the tone was quickly set for an entertaining but hard-fought inaugural clash between Palace and their new local rivals, Real Maryland. Palace enjoyed the early possession, forcing a free kick follwed by three consecutive corners over a two minute stretch, but to no avail. Their first test of Real keeper, Emilio Zelaya, came on the 15 minute mark as Pat Healey put Matthew Mbuta through but Zelaya was equal to the task blocking Mbuta's shot at close range. Three minutes later, the industrious Bryan Harkin floated a pefect pass to Kevin King on the left of the box - King controlled the ball perfectly with his left, shot with his right, but once again, Zelaya made himself big to keep his team on level terms.
Zelaya didn't look quite as impressive on the half hour when he flapped at a high cross, but Matthew Mbuta, lurking beyond the keeper was unable to capitalise on the error. Two minutes later and another lucky escape for Real Maryland - from a short corner, Kevin King sent in a cross that Zelaya parried away but straight at Pat Healey's legs. The ball ricocheted towards goal, but rolled agonisingly just inches wide of the right-hand post.
Those missed opportunities came back to haunt Palace in the 34th minute when a sustained period of pressure led to Alex Ughiovhe giing the ball away just inside his own half. Real's Salvadoran international midfielder, Dennis Alas, lofted a delicate pass to Nilson Perez who brought the ball down perfectly from over his shoulder, settled and beat Zak Thompson with ease from eight yards out.
Palace defender Andrew Marshall had the only remaining chance of the half. With the outside of his foot, on the half-volley and from a very tight angle on the right edge of the penalty box, his screamer of a shot whizzed just over and wide of the far corner of the goal.
Real Maryland looked more composed as the second half began, as goal-scorer Nilson Perez's long-range, looping shot forced a good save from Zak Thompson in the fourth minute. Palace came close themselved in the ninth when a desparate tackle on the edge of the 6 yard box denied Gary Brooks when he looked all set to convert Val Teixeira's probing cross.
The end-to-end action continued as Real's quickly taken free-kick halfway inside the Palace half was misplayed by Eagles' right back, David Feazell in the box, gifting the ball to the Real forward but Alex Ughiovhe's timely interception snuffed out the danger at the expense of a corner. Five minutes later, it was Ughiovhe in the thich of it again, threading a diagonal ball through to Larry Mark who in turn crossed quickly to Bryan Harkin in the box. Harkin appeared to be pushed before the ball could reach him but the call never came. But it was still Palace's ball. Gary Brooks on the left pulled it back to Shintaro Harada but his shot was blocked by a Real defender to relieve the pressure for the home side.
Real keeper Zelaya was in astounding form yet again in the 23rd minute when he somehow got his fingertips to Pat Healey's goal-bound header from a Shintaro Harada corner kick.
The see-saw nature of the contest didn't let up and Palace were relieved not to go two down on 30 minutes. Some clever build-up play, a quick cross and a stooping header from Real, but the effor flew just wide of Thompson's left-hand post.
With 12 minutes left, Medd and Cherneski brought on three pairs of fresh legs to try and score the elusive equalizer - Carlos Morales, Cecil Lewis and Dan Lader came in for Harkin, Healey and Brooks. Their presence didn't have the desired effect, so one final change with 5 minutes to go saw trialist Julian Cantillo replace David Feazell. With three minutes left on the clock, it was Cantillo's long ball that created Palace's final opportunity of the evening, as Sergio Flores beat Real's offside trap, firing the ball across the face of the goal for Cecil Lewis at the far post, but it was just beyind his reach.
Pete Medd was clearly emotionally drained after the game, but delighted in the fund-raising effort that brought in almost $3,000: "It was just an awesome night for the DeOrsey family." As for the match itself, his disappointment wasn't easy to hide but he looked for the positives: "Our performance was not good, but sometimes a loss is exactly what you need. We were not at a professional level today - we were casual and over-confident."
Medd was impressed with Real Maryland's performance: "They're a really good team, very talented. But that being said, we certainly had our opportunities to tie the match up. I think a 1-1 draw would have been a fair result, but that's the way it goes in this sport. You've got to take your chances and that's just what they did."
He went on to praise both teams for the level of entertainment and skill they displayed: "It just goes to show the quality of our league - this is good stuffl. It's great for the State of Maryland - I'm excited for the season."
Palace's penultimate pre-season match sees them making the short trip to the University of Maryland at College Park this Thursday, April 10th to face the perennial college soccer force that is the Terps. Kickoff is set for 7:00pm. |
