Crystal Palace Baltimore bounced back from two consecutive defeats to grab a draw against the Carolina RailHawks at the weekend
The travelling Baltimore outfit were pinned back in their own half for the opening ten minutes as Evan Bush dealt with an onslaught of shots from the WakeMed Soccer Park based side.
On the 22nd minute the home supporters were shocked into silence when Jim Cherneski's men took the lead through slightly fortuitous circumstances. A strong clearance by David Hayes from a Mattehw Bbuta cross came back off of Matt Bobo and goalkeeper Eric Reed could only watch as it screamed off the underside of his crossbar and into the net.
Palace rarely stretched their opponents for the remainder of the first half, only calling Reed into action one when Yiakel Perez struck a shot into his arms in the dying seconds of the first half.
As the referee blew his whistle to start the second 45 it was barley five minutes before he blew it again to point to the penalty spot.
Floyd Franks was the victim as he was fouled in the box and promptly stepped up to smash the ball home and level the proceedings.
The Caroliona Rail Hawks nearly grabbed a second on the 58th minute when second half sub Tiyi Shipilane danced around a few Palace defenders and put a menacing ball across the six-yard box, somehow it found its way into Bush's grateful hands.
Palace faced a barrage of pressure deep into the the second half and in the dying seconds of the match they nearly grabbed a goal against the run of play. Randi Patterson squandered a rare four onto two opportunity on a counter and allowed the Carolina to snuff out the threat and ensure both teams left the pitch with a point each.
Following the draw Palace coach Cherneski admitted his team are still capable of doing better:
"It's a point after coming off a few losses and we are moving in the right direction. To come in and take a point from a team like the RailHawks is nothing to hang your head about, but we still want to and can do better."
Baltimore next home fixture will see then take on the Minnesota Stars on Saturday,26 June at the Paul Angelo Russo Stadium.
