Wilmington NC 2

Holmes 67

Alexander (pen) 80

Crystal Palace USA 2

Healey 2

Teixeira 25

A 2-0 lead at half-time wasn't enough for Crystal Palace USA on Tuesday night as they drew 2-2 against Wilmington NC.

The Eagles American counterparts could not have asked for a better start when with two minutes on the clock Pat Healey received a square pass from Dan Lader,Healey proceeded to strike the ball from the edge of the box and into the top left corner for his fifth goal in five games.

Minutes after the opening goal two Palace players contributed to bringing down a Wilmington forward inside the box and the referee was left with no option but to award a spot kick.

However, Brian Rowland proved his worth as he guessed the right way and kept his side one goal to the good.

The penalty miss proved even more decisive as five minutes later Larry Mark stole half a yard on his marker to swing a cross into the box.

Luckily for Palace the ball bounced off the head of a Hammerheads defender and fell for Val Teixeira who spun around and smashed the ball home with his left boot from six yards out.

In the second 45 the Hammerheads continued to plough the ball forward in the air at every opportunity and on the 67^th minute the game saw its third goal.

Jerrit Thayer was the provider as his cross from 40 yards found Jamie Holmes who had only took to the field minutes earlier and headed the ball past Rowland from eight yards.

With Palace now on the back-foot the Hammerheads could smell another goal and with the clock on 80 minutes the referee awarded another penalty to the home side. Terry Alexander made no mistake in finding the net and ensured that the Hammerheads would maintain their unbeaten run to three games.

"We struggled all night with the long ball into their strikers" explained Palace Co-Manager Jim Cherneski after the match. "We allowed their forwards to bring those long balls down too easily, too often. It was route one football but we just couldn't clear it out well enough and we left them with too many free balls. As well as we played against Cleveland, that's how poorly we played defensively here tonight."

Looking ahead to Palace's next match, Cherneski added: "We have to come together and correct the problem by Tuesday." That game sees them travel to Harrisburg PA to take on the City Islanders in the US Open Cup second round, with kick-off set for 7:05pm. The winner will be rewarded with a home tie against the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer in the third round.

Crystal Palace Team:
Brian Rowland, Andrew Marshall, Ibrahim Kante (Mike Lookingland 45), Shintaro Harada, Paul Robson, Val Teixeira (Cecil Lewis 77), Dan Lader, Pat Healey, Larry Mark (David Feazell 77), Kevin King, Gary Brooks (Sergio Flores 19, Bryan Harkin 86)