Baltimore MD - It was a slightly unusual pre-season outing for Palace at Mount St. Mary's in northern Maryland this afternoon as they took on two different college teams in back-to-back one hour games, with some players playing a full two hours of football.

In the first fixture, Palace once again held the advantage in possession as they had done in all their earlier contests, but this time they made that possession count.  In the 13th minute, Sergio Flores and Larry Mark ran onto a perfectly placed Harold Urquijo through ball over the top, with Flores finishing the move to open the scoring for Palace.  However just 60 seconds later, Palace were stunned to see that lead snatched away by a sweet volley from Mount St. Mary's forward, Eric Detzel, giving Eagles' keeper Faouzi Bendaoud no chance.  But it didn't take long for Palace to reassert themselves as Carlos Morales calmly fired home from 10 yards off a delicate Sergio Flores chip into the box on 16 minutes.  Despite their dominance on the ball, Palace did have some defending to do and on 24 minutes, Andrew Marshall made a critical tackle to prevent a Mount St. Mary's breakaway.

After a five minute half-time break, Alex Ughiovhe, playing in an unfamiliar midfield position, made it 3-1 with an easy tap-in to an empty net in the second minute from Cecil Lewis's cross, as the Mount St. Mary's defence screamed for an offside call that never came.  The "friendly" nature of the game was tarnished in the 14th minute as Mount St. Mary's player Gary Phrinth was sent off for elbowing Harold Urquijo in the head as they jostled each other challenging for the ball.  Palace took advantage almost immediately as Cecil Lewis cleaned up after a defensive mix-up, slotting home from a tight angle on the 15 minute mark.  With five minutes left, Val Teixeira scored the fith as he comfortably converted a penalty he earned himself when he was tackled from behind in the box.

A fifteen minute break, another college team, and a mostly different Palace lineup, with just Teixeira, Ughiovhe and Marshall coming back out for the second hour.  Towson very nearly took the lead in the first minute after Paul Robson's defensive cross-field pass was intercepted but the Towson striker contrived to shoot wide.  Val Teixeira came close twice in as many minutes, once after a marauding run up the left, then from a curling free kick that flew a foot over the bar.  Palace continued to create plenty of chances through the rest of the first half, while Towson struggled to give Zak Thompson anything to do in the Palace goal.

The second half brought more of the same. Gary Brooks headed over on 3 minutes from Bryan Harkin's perfectly weighted cross and soon after, the Towson keeper saved well after Jamaicans Brooks and King combined nicely.  The next five minutes saw Palace bombard the Towson goal with chance after chance, but the finishing touch was lacking.  When Palace did finally get the ball in the back of the net on 12 minutes, the celebrations were cut short by the assistant referee flagging for offside.  Towson's only chance of the second half came on a clever through ball that Zak Thompson did well to get down to block as he came out bravely to challenge the Towson forward.  Palace's persistence paid off with nine minutes remaining.  Gary Brooks received the ball at his feet with his back to goal about 10 yards out.  Brooks laid the ball back to Shintaro Harada running into the box and he fired home low at the far post.

Pete Medd compared the two games:  "Towson's a more organised side, they're very difficult to break down.  We created chances in both games, but again we're still a little casual and comfortable keeping the ball rather than being dangerous.  Once we started getting the ball into our strikers' feet, we started to create a lot of opportunities.  Before that, we were too content just keeping it.  When you hold the ball for ten or twenty passes back in your own half of the field for no reason, the odds are you're eventually going to turn it over.  We can't keep it forever so let's be dangerous and lose it up top."

Next up for Palace is a debut of sorts as they take on UMBC at the home stadium for both teams, this Wednesday April 2nd at 4:00pm.

Crystal Palace USA team lineup vs. Mount St. Mary's:

Faouzi Bendaoud, David Feazell, Dan Lader, Andrew Marshall, Val Teixeira, Larry Mark, Carlos Morales, Alex Ughiovhe, Cecil Lewis, Harold Urquijo, Sergio Flores

Goals:

Flores (13), Morales (16), Ughiovhe (32), Lewis (45), Teixeira (55)

Mount St. Mary's
Goal:
Eric Detzel (14)

Sent off:

Gary Phrinth (44)

Crystal Palace USA team lineup vs. Towson:

Zak Thompson, Paul Robson, Alex Ughiovhe, Andrew Marshall, Val Teixeira, Bryan Harkin, Shintaro Harada, Pat Healey, Kevin King, Matthew Mbuta, Gary Brooks

Goal:

Shintaro Harada (51)