 Baltimore MD - Crystal Palace notched their third consecutive win thanks to goals from Gary Brooks and Matthew Mbuta in front of a noisy crowd of 1,824. The Wilmington Hammerheads are still looking for their first point of the season. With the victory, Palace have clinched a US Open Cup berth for the second year in a row.
The game saw Brian Rowland return to the starting line-up for Palace for the first time this year after recovering fully from off-season wrist surgery, displacing new signing Matt Nelson in goal despite Nelson’s back-to-back clean sheets in the opening two matches. Sergio Flores also lost his starting spot replaced by Cecil Lewis, who missed out last week against Richmond through suspension.
Though the pace was fast and furious in the opening period, neither side managed to create much of a threat on goal until the 6th minute when Pat Healy stole the ball and passed to Gary Brooks in the box.  His effort from eight yards was blocked by a Wilmington defender's toe and the ball squirmed just inches wide of the left post for a corner. Three minutes later the lively Cecil Lewis took a pass from Brooks and tested John O'Hara from twelve yards out, but the Hammerheads' goalie was equal to it, just managing to push the ball round his right-hand post.
The Palace pressure was building and on ten minutes, Val Teixeira’s rising volley from a Gary Brooks knock-down was tipped over the crossbar by O’Hara. From the ensuing Bryan Harkin corner, Gary Brooks had clearly been watching Groundhog Day as he gave Palace the lead yet again with a clinical header at the near post.
 The Baltimore side continued to dominate their opponents from North Carolina and on 20 minutes a sneaky backheel pass from Gary Brooks to Matthew Mbuta ended in a shot wide of the target, but the signs weren't good for Wilmington. Three minutes later, the Palace domination paid off after a nice exchange between Val Teixeira and Gary Brooks. The Palace captain's floated cross caught O'Hara in two minds and Matthew Mbuta rose high above his marker and made an excellent finish look easy as he headed over the Wilmington 'keeper from the six yard line.
Several Wilmington players created chances as they enjoyed their best spell of the game, keeping possession and showing more urgency than Palace. Brian Rowland was more challenged by the glare of the setting sun on a long free kick from Trey Alexander in the 26th minute. Wilmington created a couple more chances as the half wore on, Jerrit Thayer shooting wide on 32 minutes and Matt Avelino hitting his 22 yard effort straight at Brian Rowland on 37. Meanwhile Andrew Marshall was making his usual runs from the back and nearly scored on 34 hitting the side-netting with a hard shot from a tight angle.
The best move of the half by Wilmington came with one minute remaining. Some neat passing along the ground moved the ball into the Palace penalty area. The ball was eventually passed back to Matt Avelino on the edge of the box, but again Wilmington could only manage to direct it straight into the hands of Brian Rowland. Despite Wilmington's efforts, Palace were looking relatively comfortable as the half-time whistle blew.
The second half started off at a slower pace, but Palace were still winning the possession battle. In the 50th minute, Va l Texiera made a nice jinking run through the box from the left wing, but his close-range shot smacked off the base of the left post, then richocheted off a Palace player and out for a goal-kick. Four minutes later, the Baltimore side had a good shout for a penalty when Cecil Lewis was put through by Gary Brooks' lovely one-time pass. Lewis was bundled over by a retreating Wilmington defender but the referee's arms stayed firmly by his side.
Palace started giving the ball away carelessly and Wilmington looked more and more of a threat. On 59 minutes, Josh Smith sent a well-placed cross to Brian Cvilikas but his hard volley was just wide of Rowland's left-hand post.
 The match turned more and more scrappy, with careless turnovers from both sides starting to outnumber well executed plays. Palace’s shut-out streak looked to have been broken on 70 minutes as the ball ruffled the back of Rowland’s net, but to the relief of the home side, the referee noticed his assistant on the far touchline and called a foul on Wilmington's Josh Smith elbowing Andrew Marshall in the side well before the shot was taken.
Despite the let down of a disallowed goal, the visitors had no plans to throw in the towel and created several excellent chances in the final 10 minutes. On 81 minutes, Brian Cvilikas had a header blocked well for a corner by substitute centre back Mike Lookingland, making his debut. A few minutes later, Josh Smith's dangerous cross almost found the on-rushing Cvilikas but Rowland beat him to it. To the relief of the Palace fans, the final whistle sounded to keep both win and shut-out streaks intact.
After this victory, Palace have solidified their grip on second place in the league behind the Charlotte Eagles. Next up, Palace travel to Bermuda to take on the Hogges on Saturday May 17th at 6:00pm. |
