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Day 24 - Day of Reckoning (1/2)
Ecstatic scenes at Selhurst Park-ish as Palace Casuals qualify for only their second Cup Final tie, and a dramatic end to the League game of the day...
First, the League Round 22 match at Olympiacos of Thessaloniki Greece, and Casuals were attempting to make amends for their performance in their only home League reverse of the season. In what turned out to be a titanic struggle, the home side were two goals to the good inside the first quarter of the match, through their striker Kraus, but gradually the visitors got back into the match and five minutes before half-time Andres Ramos scored a fine solo goal to reduce the arrears. Eleven minutes into the second half and the match was all square again, as Ramos made a direct run through the home defence before passing to Freddy Jones, and he rammed the ball past the home custodian. After a long period without an injury, Palace have picked up two in two matches, Charles Salami pulling up with a Hamstring strain just on the hour. Midfielder Ayman Gomaa was asked to put in a stint at DMC and acquitted himself well, as the visitors repelled many home side attacks as they tried to regain the lead. Just as the match was petering out to an unhelpful (to Palace Casuals) draw, Ramos popped up with a speculative 25 yard shot which beat the home keeper all ends up for an 89th minute winner. Yet again the Man-of-the-Match committee avoided giving the award to the most deserving player on the pitch, but at least Johan Shaqiri at last got the award he deserved for his performance in the Cup Semi-Final 1st Leg a couple of days ago.
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Full house at Palace Casuals for the Cup Semi-Final 2nd Leg match against Nemanja FC from Belgrade, Serbia. The home side were 3-1 up in the tie after their superb away performance, and would have to be on their top form to beat their Level 22 opponent, who had a full 2.0 quality superiority. Palace Casuals had a full-strength side to select from as captain Anurak Arma and defensive midfielder Charles Salami had both passed late fitness tests. The visitors started the match with a full-press attack, having several narrow chances before Pinto put them into the lead in the 8th minute. Casuals refused to panic and although Jack McCaul took one for the cause when he was cautioned for a clumsy tackle soon after the opening goal, the defensive line repulsed the ensuing free-kick. Half-time was reached with no further score, and the opportunity was taken early in the second half to replace the yellow card holder to avoid any further damage on that front. Replacement Ayman Gomaa picked up where he left off in the earlier League game and put in a couple of good runs, and from the second of those, eventually came the equaliser. The ball having been put behind by a defender, Johan Shaqiri had the chance to put the ball in a dangerous part of the Nemanja defence. This he did, Catalin Neagu bursting through and heading in the equaliser to a great roar from the crowd. A full 20 minutes was to pass before the visitors got another chance, and Stranzl obliged with a header to put them ahead again. This then resulted in a frantic final 10 minutes in which the visitors tried to get the goal which would take the tie into Extra Time, but the home defence held firm and Palace Casuals ended the game beaten but happy to qualify for the Final.
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Day 25 - Day of Reckoning (2/2)
Another Final beckons, but no hopes of the treble as Palace Casuals slip up in the league...
Suppellettile FC were the hosts of the Champions League Semi-Final 2nd Leg in Galatina, Italy and Palace Casuals arrived with a 2-0 advantage from the home first leg. Again the team was set up for a 'smash-and-grab' tilt at a quick away goal, and the players duly obliged in the first minute. After a foul tackle ended the first visitors attack prematurely, Omar Hansen was given the opportunity to slot home a free-kick. The home keeper had a lucky fingertip save and the ball went to the corner. Johan Shaqiri put the set piece ball into the centre of the home defence and Andres Ramos glanced the ball into the corner of the net. 1-0 Casuals, 3-0 on aggregate. It was then that the opposition manager turned up, along with 9 supporters! Immediately the home side got stuck in and it was virtually one-way traffic for the rest of the half but the visitors defence held firm until just before half time, when Cifuentes popped up for the equaliser. Just after half-time Suppellettile took the lead through Korkmaz, and the home side really had their tails up. The home manager made a raft of substitutions and this temporarily unsettled the side and Casuals took advantage with a couple of counter-attacks. A foul on the edge of the area gave Hansen a chance to score, and this he did, bending the ball round the defensive wall and past the watching keeper. Mirosavljevic immediately replied for the hosts but with two goals needed for the win and time running out, all Palace Casuals had to do was hold their nerve, and despite a 2-3 defeat they qualified for the final 4-3 on aggregate.
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After their exertions in the Champions League match, one can forgive the side for an 'after the Lord Mayor's show' performance in League Round 23. Alianza FC of San Salvador, El Salvador were the visitors, and at the start of the day they languished in 13th place in the League table. Having given some more senior players a rest, it took a while for the home side to get started and after a few missed shots and misplaced passes, it was only to be expected that the visitors got their noses in front first. Djordjevic took a 25 yard punt and home keeper Mihaita Dragut was helpless to stop it. Thus stung, it took the Casuals only a minute to respond, Catalin Neagu weaving his way through the defence before providing a smart pass to Charles Salami for the equaliser. A couple of bookings either side of half time gave the Alianza players food for thought, but eventually they got back into it and Lizarizo put them in front again. The home Management made a few positional and personnel changes, and his charges started to react better, but is wasn't until the 85th minute that Neagu repeated his first half actions, but this time he finished off by himself to make the scores level again. After a frenetic last 5 minutes, neither side could score a winner and the referee blew the final whistle on a 2-2 draw.
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Palace Casuals are now 7 points behind the leaders with 3 games to play, so it looks like they will be beaten to the League Championship for the second season running.
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Day 26 - What time do you call this?
Palace Casuals were up before dawn to make the trip to a neutral venue for the Cup Final match against My Inter FC of Jakarta, Indonesia. With a full squad fully prepared and charged up for action, all the Management could now do was let them get at it. The teams were equally matched for most of the first half-hour, My Inter being slightly more aggressive and were paying with yellow cards, the second of which was for a nasty tackle which left Michael Muscroft hobbling off with an ankle injury. His replacement took a while to get ready and come on, but the Casuals could bask for a while in the resulting opening goal, Johan Shaqiri taking a free-kick which was met by the head of Freddy Jones as he advanced through the area. The rest of the game was more of the same. Two teams battling against each other, one with slightly better quality, the other with more guile and deceptive play. Eight minutes from the end of the match, Casuals got a bit of breathing space as a rare corner concession by the opposition was punished, Shaqiri putting the ball in the area and Andres Ramos finishing it off for a 2-0 lead, which was held to the end. Palace Casuals are at last in possession of a Cup Trophy and winners medals...
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Back to the normality of the League, and Round 24. Palace Casuals had a trip to Italia Dalat and again the team produced a sub-par performance, most of which we will draw a discrete veil over. Again resting senior players tired from their efforts in the earlier Cup Final game, the visitors performance was littered with errors and wasted chances against their low-placed opponents and they were again guilty of having their thoughts on the half-time orange than the game, as Thornberg slotted home a cross to give the home side the lead a minute before the break. The second half was just as bad, the Management eventually had to put some of the rested players back on the pitch and eventually Catalin Neagu kept up his top-scorer rating by forcing an equaliser home eight minutes from the end.
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Thus the Championship aspirations, slim at the start, are now non-existent, and the only thing now is to patch up the side for the Champions League Final tomorrow, and the last two League games are inconsequential.
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Day 27 - You don't get this on 'Match of the Day'
The day dawned with heavy rain and it certainly rained on Palace Casuals' parade...
In the Champions League Final match against Pupusyikalo of Le Neubourg, France, Palace Casuals were the favourites in quality terms but the match proved that false thinking. Various T11 experts have called the effectiveness of the Casuals defensive formation into question, but the Managements take on that is they put out the strongest side possible, motivated them to get a win and could only look on in horror at the car crash that happened. Pupusyikalo were fastest out of the blocks and scored an opening goal in the 5th minute through Halatiu, and there the scoring finished. Whatever the Palace Casuals Manager saw of the match on his dodgy mobile connection was a side that was doing everything asked of them but the end result was lacking. Hansen spurned four good free-kick attempts, Neagu and Ramos had left their shooting boots at home, and the midfield were acting as if they didn't want to be there. The only thing that held up was the back three of Jones, Arma and De Wree, who did all they could to stop the against score getting any higher. In short, Pupusyikalo were the better team on the day, and Casuals have to pick themselves up for the League 'big match' later.
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Although it was a 'dead rubber' in terms of affecting the final positions in the League Table, the League Round 25 match between Palace Casuals and League leaders Dimitris FC was a chance for the home side to restore some pride dented in previous games and gain some revenge for the narrow defeat in the reverse fixture earlier in the season. Palace were on the score sheet within three minutes, Valentin Ndjengue swinging in a corner that Claude Pinto forced past the keeper. That spurred the visitors into attacking action, and the Casuals defence was on top form, and the odd occasion that the attack found its way past them Zoltan Bieder was up to the task, making two great saves from close in shots. The home side's lead was doubled with four minutes to the break, a foul on Pinto at the edge of the box resulted in a free-kick which Omar Hansen despatched past the wall and Gaudin in the visiting goal. Ten minutes after half-time Aguilar reduced the lead when he headed home a cross from Wallace. In the last quarter-hour, the home side made a couple of substitutions, the first brought on Andres Ramos for Pinto, and seven minutes after his introduction, he added to his recent good form by making the game safe with a 25 yard screamer that the keeper could only look on and admire. Final score 3-1 to Palace Casuals, who took the opportunity to parade the recently won Cup Winners' Trophy in front of the packed home crowd.
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As is usual, Palace Casuals held their annual dinner and awards evening after the last home game of the season.
Candidates for Player of the Season were
Catalin Neagu ST (42 matches, 9 MoM, 27 goals, 10 assists and 7.57 ave. rating) for goal scoring,
Omar Hansen DML/ML/AML (44, 6, 24, 8, 7.34) for goal scoring and set-piece play,
Club Captain Anurak Arma DC (46, 4, 3, 1, 7.47) for marshalling the defence, and
Johan Shaqiri DMR/MR/AMR (45, 2, 11, 18, 7.30) for set-piece play.
The voting was close between the two 'flying wingers', but Hansen pipped Shaqiri at the post.
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Day 28 - ...and in conclusion...
With all the excitement of the Cup Finals over and dusted, just one more match left in the League season.
League Round 26 involved a trip to PMT FC of Da Nang, Vietnam, in 3rd place in the League and 9 points in arrears of Palace Casuals. In fitting with the 'end of term' feeling, all the remaining peripheral players got a final game in and several 'first teamers' were on the bench. PMT took advantage of the reduced quality of the team facing them and put three goals on the board in the first 15 minutes through Golan, Endler and Poznanski, but Casuals were not ones to be brushed aside lightly, as on 20 minutes, Ayman Gomaa fed a through ball to Captain-of-the-Day Johan Shaqiri and he coolly slotted it past the keeper to reduce the arrears. Just after the hour mark, Endler scored his second to increase the lead, and again the visitors came back ten minutes from time with a solo run and score from defensive midfielder Charles Salami. Final score was 4-2 to the hosts.
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Palace Casuals End of Term Report
League: 2nd - In contention for top spot until last few games where a couple of draws against lower-order teams made overhauling the leader impossible - but did prove what might have been by beating them 3-1 at home in penultimate game.
Champions League: Runner-up - Final possibly a game too far, but some observers have questioned the defensive formation put on the field.
Cup: Winners - for the first time - second time lucky in a Cup Final as Casuals have some silverware to boast at the end of a long and difficult season.
Final League Table:
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Player Stats - only the second time that Palace Casuals have completed a 52-game season, and some players have played nearly all of them:
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Tie at the top of the League Top Scorers chart but it's all Casuals:
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When the 'Flying Wingers' really got going the opportunities for Neagu to assist dried up but he still ended up in the Top 5 Passers table - Shaqiri with 7 and Hansen with 6 are just off the table:
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Neagu remained in the Top Performance table despite an erratic last part of the season:
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PS: A nice touch if Nordeus were minded: A 'Fair Play' table - winners this year:
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A Player Retention list is being scrutinised for next season's squad - 5 players are out of contract so will be discussing terms very soon. As mentioned elsewhere, next season is going to be very much a holding season for consolidation, so no great things are expected from the club.
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Day 1 - Here we go again...
First step in the defence of their Cup Trophy.
Cup Preliminary Round 1st Leg, away vs FSV Andi Beck, of Heringen Germany; Level 22 AQ +0.8
In a tight match, early exchanges were equal until the 28th minute when Omar Hansen was given the opportunity to open his account with a free-kick on the left. The set-piece ball was a well-disguised high cross into the centre of the box, where Catalin Neagu was waiting to nod the ball into the net. Things were equally close in the second half, and the visitors ran out winners by a goal to nil. Midfielder Michael Muscroft earned the wrath of the referee for a shirt-pulling incident which somehow caused an injury to FSV's Van de Velde, and new recruit Juan Sebastian Garcia fitted in very well at the back, earning the Man-of-the Match award.
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Day 2 - Don't get too excited...
Cup Preliminary Round 2nd Leg - home vs FSV Andi Beck, of Heringen Germany; Level 22 AQ +0.8
Palace Casuals completed another qualification from the Preliminary Round, making it two years running that they have failed to go out at the first hurdle in this competition. As he was making his 50th appearance for the Casuals, Freddy Jones was given the Captain's armband for the duration, in the absence of Club Captain Anurak Arma from this match. Zoltan Bieder was in sparkling form early on making three fine saves, as FSV tried to overcome the home side's 1-0 advantage from the 1st Leg. Casuals made a few forward forays themselves, and the half was fairly even until near to half-time, when Casuals were caught thinking of the break again, Eriksson converting a cross from a free-kick conceded by Valentin Ndjengue. After the break, Palace Casuals rose a bit in intensity and after a Omar Hansen free-kick was deflected for a corner, Johan Shaqiri provided an ideal ball for Catalin Neagu to head into the net for the equaliser. Andi Beck were not finished, however as Van de Velde headed them in front again and Casuals were in danger of falling victims to the away goals rule. But all was to be settled in the hosts favour as substitute Andres Ramos latched onto another Shaqiri corner to bring the scores level again. Casuals endured a final ten minutes of visitor's pressure before settling for the draw at the final whistle, and a win 3-2 on aggregate.
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Playing staff news: Wilson Rossi (63 appearances, 9 goals) has been released by the club, joining Croydon FC for the fee of $95.6M. Andrey Tikhiy (38 appearances, 8 goals) has also been released, joining Real Madrid CF for $89.3M.
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Day 3 - Let's get serious...
Up and at 'em early to see the results of the League Level 22 draw for Palace Casuals.
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Very strange draw, only three teams with any achievements for last Season - Graziano, League Champions; Levski, League position 4; and Palace Casuals, League Runner-up, Champions League Finalist, Cup Winner. All the other sides are ones which have not levelled up, and will therefore be playing one League game a day plus another for the Cup every other day until they get knocked out. The majority of them are also running small squads with high numbers of 6* players.
Palace Casuals are running a slimmed-down squad this Season:
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Todays games started with the Champions League Group Stage, Round 1 visit of Sherif FC to a packed Selhurst Park-ish, and the combination of a 4-4-2 Classic formation of the visitors to Palace's 3N-4-1-2 produced a deadlock in which neither side gained any material advantage. Casuals switched to a more attacking 4-5-1V formation early in the second half, and although this got them more chances on goal, both defences were in miserly form and a goalless draw ensued.
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The League Round 1 match at Sturm Juniors of Knittelfeld, Austria was to be more of the same, at least until the second half. Using a 3N-5-2 formation to counter a modified Narrow Diamond with a wide right midfielder, Palace Casuals defence was more than a match for the home side's attack and three of Zoltan Bieder's four saves during this match were to be found in the first 45 minutes. The home side finally found the net just after the hour through Horvath, and eventually the Palace Management decided to replace forward Andres Ramos with defender Ben De Wree to stem any further goal attempts. This seemed to free up striker Catalin Neagu, who within three minutes turned the game on its head, taking on the Sturm defence single-handed and scoring two individual goals. He nearly had a third in the 86th minute, but it took a last ditch tackle to dispossess him of the match ball. Palace Casuals escaped from a tricky match with a narrow 2-1 win. Johan Shaqiri celebrated his 50th game for the club.
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