Crystal Palace Baltimore defeated the Charlotte Eagles in Rock Hill, South Carolina on Friday evening thanks to second-half goals from veteran Val Teixeira and rookie Jordan Seabrook, and yet another clean sheet from 'keeper Brian Rowland and the Palace defence. The win sends Palace to the top of the USL2 standings.
The first half provided plenty of exciting, end-to-end football for the fans, with each side generating multiple goal-scoring chances. Shintaro Harada and Val Teixeira were the driving force behind Palace's attacking movement, not only providing starting forwards John Nusum and Pat Healey with great service, but coming close to scoring on several occasions themselves. Palace looked the more likely to break the deadlock, but both defences held tight and the sides went into half time at level-pegging.
The visitors came out for the second half with a renewed sense of purpose and began to assume control of the game, creating a multitude of chances but Charlotte were managing to hold firm at the back. But the introduction of Jordan Seabrook, Bryan Harkin and Dan Lader as substitutes for Palace in the middle of the half spelled trouble for the home team. On 79 minutes, Val Teixeira moved up the left wing from inside the Palace half, passed the ball to Lader who laid the ball off to Seabrook. From 40 yards out Seabrook then used an overhead kick to find Teixeira making a crossing run from the left towards the box. The Palace captain beat his marker and flicked the ball past the onrushing Charlotte 'keeper Kevin Trapp to give Palace the lead with his second tally in as many games.
The Eagles nearly equalised three minutes later as Jorge Herrera followed up on his own free-kick, but Brian Rowland pulled off a spectacular save to keep Baltimore's lead and the clean sheet streak intact. In the final minute of regulation, Teixeira, Lader and Seabrook combined once again to seal the win for Palace. Teixeira fed Lader near halfway who then released Jordan Seabrook on a perfectly timed run. The pace of the rookie was too much for the tiring Charlotte players to handle as he took a couple of touches and put it past Trapp for his first professional goal.
"This was a fantastic win, a great performance across the board," remarked Palace Co-Manager Pete Medd after the match. "We've never beaten them here, so I think this win is a statement. It was well deserved."
Medd continued: "The back four were excellent again, Stephen Basso was my man of the match. They subdued the two best forwards in the league in Coggins and Swinehart, and Rowland made an unbelievable save on Herrera. Shutting teams out is the norm for us now - it's difficult for teams to get behind us. On the offense, we're finding our shape with Nusum fit, and with Healey in the mix along with Seabrook and Lader. And Shintaro was fabulous tonight, making countless winning tackles."
Palace did not have long to recover from the winning effort as they continued their tough Southern road swing with a game in Wilmington on Saturday evening.
For a full USA fixture list and table, click here.
