Baltimore MD - A different starting line-up took the field for Palace's second game of the season, due to suspensions to Alex Ughiovhe and Cecil Lewis. Val Teixeira came in to the left side of midfield, sporting the captain's armband, while Dan Lader made his first start in the center of midfield.
The match began at a furious pace, but it took a several minutes for either side to settle into any kind of rhythm. In the 5th minute Palace left back Paul Robson sent a long pass down the left to Gary Brooks who broke on goal but his shot was blocked for a corner by Richmond's Adam Chavez.
Two minutes later Andrew Marshall lofted a nice long pass from inside his own half to Gary Brooks who controlled well, making his way into the box but some excellent defending from the Kickers cleared the danger. Another minute later and Sergio Flores crossed from the right to Dan Lader who headed the ball down but straight at Ronnie Pascale in the Richmond goal. 
In the 10th minute Richmond had their first chance of the game when a David Bulow's free kick from 25 yards was diverted by the head of another Richmond player but straight into the arms of Palace 'keeper Matt Nelson. Shintaro Harada then directed a lead pass to Gary Brooks down the right wing, but his cross from the byline was scrambled away from inside the six yard box.
On 17 minutes, a Richmond free-kick from 22 yards out led to some nice play from Sasha Gorres, David Bulow and Anthony Catalano who eventually shot over the bar.
 Palace took the lead in the 19th minute when right-back Andrew Marshall sent a long cross to an open Gary Brooks eight yards in front of goal. Brooks made no mistake, beating Ronnie Pascale with a well-placed header into the bottom left corner of the net.
The Kickers almost struck back two minutes later as David Bulow timed his run perfectly, beating Ibrahim Kante to a nice through ball. Bulow, in full stride, took aim at the roof of the goal but Matt Nelson saved well, parrying the ball over the bar for a corner, which Palace subsequently cleared.
In the 28th minute Palace center-back Ibrahim Kante gave the ball away at midfield then stole it right back, surged forward and fired a stinger from 30 yards out, which whistled past the left post, much to the relief of a scrambling Ronnie Pascale. Richmond then had a chance on a quickly taken free-kick in the 33rd minute, but Luke Vercollone's effort was cut out by an alert Shintaro Harada, resulting in a corner.
On 35 minutes Andrew Marshall nearly scored on a spectacular bicycle kick off a Bryan Harkin corner, but one of the Richmond defenders managed to stick a leg out to clear the danger.
Richmond almost equalised in the 43rd with a cleverly worked free-kick. Luke Vercollone sent the ball to David Bulow in the box. He then one-touched the ball to the on-rushing Sascha Gorres but his first time shot was just off the mark.
The second half started with Palace solidifying their dominance of possession, but real chances were a rare commodity in the opening 10 minutes. Then on 55, Richmond's Wilfrid Smith broke in on goal thanks to a nice through ball from Sascha Gorres. While trying to make the save, Matt Nelson suffered a knock as he collided with team-mate Ibrahim Kante while the ball was cleared out of the danger area. Nelson required treatment from trainer Leslie Dawson but was able to continue. The following minute, Kante was down at the other end of the field, launching a piledriver from 25 yards out which Pascale knocked down well.
In the 61st minute, Gary Brooks had the ball in the back of the net from a Bryan Harkin corner, but he was adjudged to have unfairly knocked the ball out of Ronnie Pascale's hands, so the score remained 1-0.
Richmond's best move of the half came one minute later, when David Bulow sent a low cross from the byline to Adam Chavez standing on the penalty spot. Chavez swivelled and one-timed the skipping ball, but fortunately for Palace the powerful effort was straight at Matt Nelson. The end-to-end action continued unabated and the next minute, Matthew Mbuta almost made the Richmond defense pay for a poorly headed back-pass off an enormous Matt Nelson goal kick. Mbuta intercepted and tried to chip Ronnie Pascale but overhit his shot.
The inevitable second Palace goal came two minutes later from another probing Andrew Marshall long throw. Gary Brooks glanced the ball off his head and on to Val Teixera who calmly slotted it home from three yards.
On 70 minutes, a foul on Palace substitute Carlos Morales 30 yards out gave Palace a free-kick. Ibrahim Kante's low, stinging strike drew a fine save from Ronnie Pascale.
Harold Urquijo, back after injury, came on with 11 minutes to go, and was soon involved in the action. He sent Matthew Mbuta through into the box, but his effort was held by a diving Ronnie Pascale at the second attempt.
The final chance of the match came with two minutes reamining, courtesy of Palace's two final substitutes, Pat Healey and Kevin King - Healey's deftly floated cross into the box was just beyond the reach of Kevin King, who had been on the field for less than a minute, leaving the final score 2-0 to Palace. With this result, Palace moved to second place in the league, behind the Charlotte Eagles.
Pete Medd was obviously delighted with the performance and the result. "We feel like we have some really good firepower up front, in fact we created a lot of chances. I'm disappointed we didn't finish more to be honest. Once we really get on track, we're going to be fearsome." Medd was also pleased with the work of his defense: "Things are solid in the back again. Paul Robson did a great job shutting down Mike Burke, last year's league MVP. Everyone had a great game - there's such quality all the way through the side."
Medd looked forward to the next match against the winless Wilmington Hammerheads at 7:00pm on Saturday May 10th at UMBC Stadium: "We're expecting a big crowd on Saturday - so we encourage people to come out and enjoy the show that we're going to put on for them."
The victory in Baltimore followed just hours after a 5-0 win for parent club Crystal Palace over Burnley in the English Coca-Cola Championship. That result secured the London side a spot in the playoffs for promotion to the English Premier League. Their first opponent is Bristol City in a two-leg series scheduled for Saturday and the following Tuesday. |
