Palace Casuals

[talisman]

It appears the Palace Casuals squad is getting used to two matches a day for this long into the season - two more games today and more progress in the Cup, into pastures rarely traversed before...

First up was a visit to Sofia, Bulgaria for the League Round 8 game against levski. With an eye to preserving the fitness of the first XI players for the quickly following Cup match, a few of the Second XI were drafted in for a match against a team of lower quality. At first the tactic seemed to be working as right-back Sergio Gomes arrived on the blind side of the levski defence and headed in a Catalin Neagu free-kick to open the scoring after just 8 minutes. Levski gradually came back into the game and went into the break 2-1 ahead after two goals either side of the half-hour mark. A couple of substitutions early in the second half revitalised the visitors and Jack McCaul scored a fine equaliser with a 25 yard screamer 16 minutes from time. Bearing in mind the reduced strength of the side, Casuals can be fairly happy with a 2-2 draw on the road.



Having given Onur Haubner some more match time, including the full match against levski, he has still to produce a satisfactory performance - so it is with regret that he was offered to the market and eventually departed to Cedric FC in exchange for $84.9M.

2-0 down from the first leg, the Palace Casuals management decided to play a nearly full-strength team for the Cup Playoff Round 2ng Leg game at Fikikrki FC in the Czech Republic. It took just 15 minutes for the Casuals forward line to cancel out the first leg advantage, midfielder Michael Muscroft finishing off a Claude Pinto forward surge and the same player provided Catalin Neagu with an easy tap-in after splitting the home defence. Neagu scored a solo goal in the second half to put the visitors ahead on aggregate before the home side's cause was made more difficult by Balasko picking up a second yellow card. Casuals made the extra man count, Pinto was provider again as his cross was headed home by defender Anurak Arma and Omar Hansen bent a free-kick around the home defensive wall to end the scoring at 5-0 to the visitors.