Palace Casuals

[talisman]

...was the order of the day as Palace Casuals turned on the goal machine again.

Man of the day was utility left winger Omar Hansen, two 9/10 performances with Man-of-the-Match awards to go with them...

First objective of the day was to get an away goal in the Champions League Quarter-Final 2nd Leg match in Ordu, Turkey against Hakan FC. One goal to the good from the 1st Leg, an away goal would need the hosts needing 3 goals to win the tie on aggregate. The intention was to set the side on attacking to get an early away goal then switch to defensive for the rest of the game and rest players for the League match which would follow soon after the cup game. The Casuals Manager was having to attend the match over a dodgy mobile connection, so having seen the home side go ahead in the 4th minute and level the tie on aggregate, a certain amount of head-scratching went on. All this was to be pointless as the visitors wingers got into their stride again and dominated procedures from the 21st minute onwards. Hansen netted a free kick from the left and then turned provider as the Palace flying wingers got their act together again, Johan Shaqiri gleefully ramming home a cross. Ten minutes into the second half, a recognised striker got into the act, Catalin Neagu waltzing through the home defence to put the visitors 3-1 up on the day and into an unassailable lead on aggregate. The home side briefly threatened on the hour when Trabelsi scored a second goal to add to Amenta's opener, but Hansen added a second goal soon after with a dose of individuality and recent midfield recruit Ayman Gomaa opened his club account by slotting home a 25 yarder four minutes from time.



A tired team bolstered by a liberal application of green packs greeted today's visitors in League Round 19, xhxcx FC of Jeli, Malaysia. After a disappointing goalless draw on the road and seeing the League leaders thereby extend their lead yesterday, the chances of a Championship depend on Palace Casuals winning all their games and maintaining a healthy goal difference advantage over Dimitris, so a good win here against a low-placed team would do those chances no harm. A couple of early fouls by the visitors gave the set-piece team some early target practice, and after a great save denied Omar Hansen, a minute later captain Anurak Arma seized the opportunity to lead from the front and scored direct from his centrally-placed free-kick. Just after the half-hour, the wingers combined as Hansen crossed and Johan Shaqiri headed home. Early in the second half the flying wingers combined yet again and this time the roles were reversed, Hansen side-footing home from Shaqiri's defence-splitting pass. A couple of substitutions followed as tired legs were replaced, and soon after, Hansen was involved in goal scoring again, his free-kick from the left being headed home by midfielder Michael Muscroft, and then weaving though the defence to beat the visiting keeper one-on-one. For the last half-hour, the pressure was eased and the home side cruised home for a 5-0 win.