Palace Casuals

[talisman]

Just a brief report of the two games played today as the Management is in a Premier Inn in Portsmouth prior to sailing for France tomorrow...

Cup Play-off Round 1st Leg, away at Modena FC of Modena Italy. Level 23, AQ +3.3
Set up to counter the home side's formation and with defend/counter orders, Palace Casuals more than matched their opponents in the first half, but fell foul of their recent tendency to concede a goal just before half-time, Shahdael poking a cross past the diving Zoltan Bieder in the final seconds before the break. One counterpart of the 'concede before the break' syndrome is the equaliser (and more) after it, and within 10 minutes of the restart, the team was happy that they had ensured that Omar Hansen had his set-piece boots with him. Johan Shaqiri was bundled over in the area, and Hansen took the chance with to equalise from the penalty spot. Final score 1-1, Palace Casuals take an away goal back to the second leg. Defender Ben De Wree played his 50th game for the Casuals in this match.



League Round 6, home vs Graziano FC of Bari, Italy. Level 22, AQ +1.9
Palace Casuals stay at the top of the League courtesy of a 2-1 home win over Graziano FC. The visitors opened the scoring in the first half, but it didn't take long for Casuals to equalise, Johan Shaqiri's corner having been handled in the area and Omar Hansen doing the business from the resultant penalty. Shaqiri's exquisite corner kicking came into play again in the second half, Freddy Jones forcefully heading home to score the winner. Midfielder Michael Muscroft celebrated his 50th appearance in a Casuals shirt...



Further reports will be sketchy and brief until the Management returns from his holiday on 19th June...