Palace Terriers

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Cup Preliminary Round 1st Leg, away at Dinesh FC, in Chilaw, Sri Lanka. level 3, AQ +0.7
Palace Terriers visited Dinesh FC, facing their first upper-level opponent, and came away with a win and three away goals. Striker Ben Atkins is making a case for being the main striker in the absence of the injured Nicky Jones, his two second half goals adding to the important contribution he made during the league run-in last season. It took Terriers 16 minutes to make an impact on this match, midfielder Luis Omar Soto diving in to head a Xabier Moran corner past the helpless home 'keeper. In the second half, Atkins turned on a one-man show, netting a shot past the 'keeper after a solo run and 1-on-1 challenge, then throwing himself at another Moran corner to complete his brace.

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Cup Preliminary Round 2nd Leg, home vs Dinesh FC, of Chilaw, Sri Lanka. Level 3, AQ +0.6
Palace Terriers held a 3-0 advantage for this home leg, and ran out comfortable 4-1 victors in this match, for a 7-1 aggregate. The first-half was goal-less, and for the visitors, chanceless, as their shooting statistics at half-time read Shots 0, On-target 0. Three minutes into the second half, and Ben Atkins was at it again, challenging the 'keeper after a defence-splitting run and slotting the ball past him. Luis Omar Soto got onto the scoresheet again with a 25 yard pile driver on the hour and Nathan 'Shoot-on-Sight' Masegela had a couple of long-range shots before he received a through ball from midfielder Ondrej Kadlec and shot into the net off the underside of the bar. Dinesh managed to get a shot in, and on target, but home custodian Adriano Mateus was equal to the header from a corner, but the 'keeper couldn't do anything a couple of minutes later as Morales fired a 20 yard shot into the corner of the goal. Late on, Terriers' other striker, Edward Armstrong-Ford restored the three-goal lead when he shimmied through the defence and planted a shot past the 'keeper.

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Champions League Group H Round 1, home vs Trieu FC, of Thanh Hoa, Vietnam. Level 2, AQ +1.0
Terriers started out in their very first Champions League competition with a 2-3 home defeat to Trieu FC, with goals from midfielder Luis Omar Soto and left-winger Nathan Masegela, but had midfielder Martin Silny injured (6 days, heavy ankle strain).



Overview of the League for Palace Terriers 2nd season:



League Round 1, home vs FC Mikey, of Wroclaw, Poland. Level 2, AQ +0.3
Palace Terriers won 3-1 at home to FC Mikey, with goals from defender Gonzalo Scornaienchi and two from Masegela, but two more injuries were incurred in the last 10 minutes, right-back Aad Roemgens (5 days, knee cartilage tear) and utility defender Guilio Migliorati (3 days, calf strain).



Palace Terriers injury stats 4 injuries, 20 days.

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League Round 2, away at FC Groningen, in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Level 2, AQ -1.3
Palace Casuals made the short hop across the channel for their second League match of the season and came home 3 points richer after a splendid 3-0 win. After suffering the usual injury, this time to midfielder Ondrej Kadlec, Terriers asserted themselves on the game and second-half goals from Xabier Moran (2) and substitute Craig Powell were enough to earn victory. Terriers 'keeper Adriano Mateus earned the Man-of-the-match for his first half display, almost single-handedly keeping the scores level. Kadlec has been diagnosed with a Thigh strain (2 days).



Cup Qualifying Round 1st Leg, away at Moussi FC, in Alger, Algeria. Level 3, AQ -1.0
Palace Terriers continued their awayday with a Cup tie against another Level 3 opponent, and earned a 3-0 win to take the match advantage back to the Terriers stadium in two days' time. After Xabier Moran's 16th minute opener, the side exchanged injuries, the Terriers victim being newly-fit defensive midfielder Giulio Migliorati, who limped to the touchline and was eventually replaced by striker Ben Atkins in a formation reshuffle to the Hexagon. In the second half, Man-of-the-Match Moran helped Atkins and Nathan Masegela add two goals to the tally, a corner swung in for Atkins to dive in and head home, and a free-kick which Masegela volleyed into the net. Migliorati is now suffering an ankle strain (3 days).



Palace Terriers injury stats - 6 injuries, 25 days.

Rather than try to scrape up another set of Red Packs to get a defensive midfielder player fit again, the Management turned to the Transfer Market and picked up this player for 1T/$184k:

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League Round 3, home vs Maratea FC, of Maratea, Italy. Level 2, AQ -0.3
Palace Terriers made it three wins from three in the League this season as they won 1-0, with a goal a minute from half-time by Ben Atkins, heading home a corner from Xabier Moran. Goalkeeper Adriano Mateus is obviously in a purple patch as he earned the Man-of-the-Match award for the second game running.



Champions League Group H Round 2, away at Christian FC, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Level 2, AQ -2.2
After a 2-3 defeat in their first Champions League outing, Palace Terriers turned on the juice as they edged this absorbing and competitive match 3-2. Taking the lead in the 3rd minute, Taulant Doda firing home from a cross by Craig Powell. The home side equalised five minutes later, before new signing defensive midfielder Paul Harnett dived in to head home a Nathan Masegela corner, only to see Christian FC equalise again a minute before the break. In the second half, tiredness forced a couple of personnel changes on the Terriers Management, Nicky Jones replacing fellow striker Ben Atkins, and Masegela making way for right winger Dan Briggs, MoM Xabier Moran moving to the left wing in consequence. With the second-half being tighter than the first, the latter move proved to be the match winner, as Briggs fed a defence-splitting pass though to Moran, who made no mistake with his shot. Luis Omar Soto picked up a late caution, which will mean he will miss the next CL match.

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League Round 4, away at Besiktas FC, in Tokat, Turkey. Level 2, AQ +0.4
Palace Terriers travelled to Turkey for this top-of-the-table clash, and returned with a 2-1 win. Xabier Moran opened the scoring with a direct free-kick in the 9th minute, and Ondrej Kadlec converted Luis Omar Soto's pass in the second-half, putting the visitors back into the lead after Besiktas had equalised just before the break. Soto later picked up a yellow card, which means he misses the next League game.



Cup Qualifying Round 2nd Leg, home vs Moussi FC, of Alger, Algeria. Level 3, AQ -1.2
Palace Terriers overcame Level 3 opponents for the second time this season, winning 5-0 in this leg, for an 8-0 aggregate. Xabier Moran gave a lesson in scoring, a hat-trick before half-time, including 2 solo goals and a direct free-kick. The Terriers Management felt that Moran deserved a rest, so made a double half-time substitution, Luis Omar Soto the other player substituted, Daniel Briggs and Ondrej Kadlec being the replacements. The team continued where Moran left off in the second half, Nathan Masegela living up to his 'shoot-on-sight' nickname with a 30 yard pile driver and Kadlec with a run and shot past the 'keeper to complete the scoring.

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Champions League Group H Round 3, home vs Santa Maria FC, of Milan, Italy. Level 2, AQ +2.0
Palace Terriers inaugurated their new 200-seat extension to their spectator facilities, but the occasion could not be any less festive. A 1-4 defeat in the match left their Champions League progression hopes looking a little frail. A goal by Nathan Masegela in the second half gave the home side some hope, but they were already 2 goals down at the time, and a further two goals were scored by the opposition. Terriers chances were reduced further when Craig Powell picked up two yellow cards and the Order of the Early Bath, he misses Terriers next CL outing.



League Round 5, home vs □□.□□, of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Level 2, AQ +2.0
Palace Terriers failed to attract a full house to a home game for the first time this season, and a review of entry pricing is in progress. On the pitch, despite dominating for a long while and taking the lead in the 34th minute through a Xabier Moran free-kick, the visitors eventually overwhelmed the home side with two goals in the last quarter of the match.

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Cup Play-off Round 1st Leg, away at Peaceful FC, in Warsaw, Poland. Level 4, AQ -0.7
Palace Terriers went on the road and found their winning ways again, as the came back from this match with a team two Levels above them with a 1-0 win. With 14 minutes to go, striker Ben Atkins unselfishly passed to midfielder Luis Omar Soto for the only goal.



League Round 6, away at , in Cairo, Egypt. Level 2, AQ +0.1
Palace Terriers continued their away trip in Egypt, and obtained a 2-2 draw in this match between two evenly matched teams. The home side opened the scoring just after the half-hour, but Terriers roared back after the break with goals from Luis Omar Soto and defender Tom Clare. After Soto was booked for an edge-of-the-box foul, the hosts missed the ensuing penalty, but seven minutes equalised from open play. Soto misses the next league game through accumulated yellow cards.



Terriers now find themselves in 3rd place in the table after Round 6:

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Champions League Group H Round 4, away vs Santa Maria FC, in Milan, Italy. Level 2, AQ +2.2
Palace Terriers continued their recent away trip by travelling to Milan for the return Champions League match against Santa Maria. The home side had changed their formation, which meant that Terriers could being their trusty 4-5-1V into play, and despite being dominated in all areas, countered their way to a 2-0 win. After the early loss of Luis Omar Soto to a Knee cartilage tear in the second minute, Xabier Moran put the visitors ahead from the free-kick. The Terriers then defended their lead all the way to the 83rd minute, when Moran made the game safe with a shot from just outside the box.



League Round 7, away at Santiago FC, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Level 2, AQ -1.8
Final leg of the away trip was in Argentina for a League match, and fighting off the jet lag all the way, Terriers gave an object lesson in finishing in a 7-1 victory. Ben Atkins gave the Terriers the lead two minutes before half-time, but the home side equalised with virtually the last kick of the half. Changing to 3-5-2V early in the second-half, the visitors then scored six goals without reply, Ondrej Kadlec leading the way with a hat-trick, and Craig Powell, Paul Hartnett and Nicky Jones contributed the others. Palace Terriers go back to the top of the table on goals scored.

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League Round 8, home vs Ampoeh FC, of Jakarta, Indonesia. Level 2, AQ +0.5
Palace Terriers suffered a 0-2 defeat at home which cost them their top-of-the-table spot.



Player news: The Management moved swiftly to shore up the Terriers midfield and try to stem the opposition attacks down the right flank when the formation called for does not accommodate attacking midfielder and main playmaker Xabier Moran in the squad. A 5T/$104M purchase followed:



Cup Play-off Round 2nd leg, home vs Peaceful FC, of Warsaw, Poland. Level 4, AQ -1.1
Palace Terriers went in to this match expecting a heavy reaction from their visitors after escaping from the 1st Leg with a 1-0 win, but Peaceful FC went quietly out of the Cup after this 6-0 win, Terriers winning 7-0 on aggregate. Craig Powell and Nathan Masegela held court in the first half, the latter providing a corner for Powell to head home, then a minute before half-time, Masegela scored himself from 20 yards out. The second-half belonged to Man-of-the-Match Aad Roemgens, scoring his first goals for the Terriers, and assisting Ben Atkins with his goal. Debutant Julien van der Plas added himself to the score sheet with a long-range shot for the fifth goal.