Palace Casuals

[talisman]

Cup Qualifying Round 1st Leg, home vs Osmanli FC of Izmir, Turkey. Level 24 AQ -0.9
Palace Casuals made a great step forward in their quest for Cup glory with a patchy 4-2 win in front of a packed home crowd. First event of note was a rare yellow card picked up by Omar Hansen, and 6 minutes later, the visitors took the lead. It didn't take long for the hosts to equalise, as three minutes later recent striker signing Liam Cashman surged through the defence and instead of taking the shot, made a late pass to midfielder Michael Muscroft, who made no mistake with the opportunity. Into the second half, and Muscroft was the next Casuals player into the referee's notebook, after a trip. The 'Flying Wingers' were a stuttering force last season, but got a rare chance to relive old times when right-winger Johan Shaqiri's corner was glanced into the net by Hanson, to put the home side into the lead for the first time. With eleven minutes to go, the visitors equalised, but again a three minute period passed before Shaqiri made a weaving run through the defence and toe-poked the ball past the 'keeper. With four minutes to go, Hansen pulled up with a leg injury and spent the rest of the match nursing himself up and down the left-wing. A foul in the final minute saw Shaqiri taking the free kick, and he crossed to Juan Sebastian Garcia, who headed into the net. Shaqiri (1 goal, 2 assists) was awarded Man-of-the-Match. Hanson was later diagnosed as having an ankle strain (2 days).



League Round 2, away at Malta FK, in Gracanica, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Level 24, AQ -0.4
Palace Casuals travelled to Bosnia-Herzegovina for only the second time for this League match, and came away with a creditable 2-2 draw, but will feel it was two points lost, rather than one gained. Having showed promise with a debut goal in yesterday's Champions league match, Anthony Petrovski was in the starting line-up for this game, and added two more goals to his tally. The match was only three minutes old when Casuals were awarded a corner, and Valentin Ndjengue, in for the injured Omar Hansen, sent over a ball which hung invitingly for Petrovski to head home. It took Malta until the last five minutes of the first-half to get really involved in the game, and with four minutes to go to the break, they equalised. On the hour, the corner-Petrovski combination worked again, this time the set-piece was by Johan Shaqiri on the opposite side of the pitch, but the header was just as effective, putting the visitors ahead again. As the second-half wore on, the hosts came increasingly into the game, but the Casuals defence was firm and Zoltan Bieder between the posts was efficient when the ball did evade the 4-man cover. Four minutes from time, though, the by-line run and late square pass undid the previous good work as the home team equalised again.