Palace Teams report for Tuesday, 21st July...
Late report tonight as matches were played at either end of the day.
Casuals had a mid-morning kick-off in Vietnam against Ngoc Duc FC, and had an unexpectedly easy 2-1 win. The home side had challenged for Championship spot, but have faded recently and were clinging on to a promotion berth in 6th place. Casuals were 2-0 up by half-time, striker Mourad converting a penalty and netting a 20 yard effort in a one-man scoring show. Just after the hour, however, he suffered an injury and had to be substituted, and the visitors efforts were strangely muted thereafter. The home side pulled one back with 6 minutes to play, but Casuals hung on for the win, and later learned of their immediate challenger's results (all defeats) and were very pleased. Palace Casuals now hold a 4 point lead at the top and have guaranteed promotion for next season. The Management have banned all mention of the 'C' word...
The Terriers match was late evening, and they entertained the League leaders from Indonesia, with revenge on their minds for their heaviest defeat so far. Although supposedly inferior by AQ, Astri FC were using team orders which somehow enabled them to overpower and defeat all-comers - although they might have slipped up this time tactically by presenting a Narrow Diamond to the Terriers 4-5-1V which has seen them undefeated in their past 6 games. Staying defensive, which had prised a point out of the hands of the 'I-6' team in the previous game, Terriers matched their opponents in the first-half, and blew them away in the second. Central midfielder Kadlec gave Terriers an early advantage by splitting the defence and scoring his first Terriers goal in the 5th minute, but the defence had to endure a torrid time for the rest of the half, but kept their goal intact. In the second-half, left-winger Nathan 'Shoot-on-Sight' Masegela peppered the Astri defence with long-range shots, one of which resulted in the corner which DMC Migliorati headed in for his first goal for the Terriers. Masegela then added two goals himself as the home side ran out 4-0 winners. Palace Terriers move up to 4th in the table, goal difference keeping them in a coveted Champions League slot.