Real Maryland 1

Perez 37

Crystal Palace 2

Lewis 34
Flores 56

Crystal Palace USA kicked off their preparation for tonight's' clash against the New York Red Bulls in the US Open 3^rd round with a 2-1 win over Real Maryland at the weekend.

With that game in mind Palace Co-Managers Pete Medd and Jim Cherneski opted to use some of their squad players to keep the team fresh, a decision which saw Cherneski swap the dugout and take to the field for the first time this season.

Maryland, playing in front of their home crowd, started the brighter side and tabled their first shot on target with just eight minutes gone through defender Stephen Basso, however Palace shot-stopper Brian Rowland ensured the game remained goalless.

Just five minutes later Palace's Kevin King hit a ferocious shot from the edge of the box but Maryland's keeper Emilio Zelaya was able to take the sting off the powerful effort and collect the ball.

Cecil Lewis turned provider on the 25^th minute when his corner found Cherneski on the edge of the six-yard box. The Palace Co-manager then proceeded to head the ball down towards the bottom left corner but could only watch it go wide.

Less than nine minutes later the game saw its first goal. Lewis again was the catalyst as he beat two defenders and, with the Zelaya charging out from his goal, the Palace player calmly found the back of the net.

Maryland hit back almost instantly when Angel Higuera's corner flew into the box and cannoned off Nilson Perez's head and past Brian Rowland on the 37^th minute to ensure the sides went in level at half-time.

The second half saw both sides come out looking for the next goal and shortly before the hour mark the game would see the eventual winner.

King again out-muscled his opponent to engineer some space on the left side and started his assault towards goal with Zelaya already starting to sprint from his line.

With Zelaya committed, King looked up and fed Flores with a perfect square pass allowing him to tap the ball into an empty net.

Having played and watched his side get a valuable three points, Cherneski admitted it went better than they had envisaged.

"We're absolutely thrilled, when you're a manager planning out the week, to have no injuries and three points in the bag, then it's all gone to plan."

While Palace will undoubtedly be the underdogs for tonight's match Cherneski is feeling confident ahead of the game against the New York Red Bulls.

"Every year there are upsets in this round-last year for example only three MLS teams made it to the quarter finals."

Palace midfielder Bryan Harkin who has been at Baltimore since the inception of the team last year added: "We're looking forward to the opportunity to pit our wits against a bigger team and it will be a massive game for the fans and the club and we have every chance of making it to the next round."

Crystal Palace Line-Up:
Brian Rowland, David Feazell, Shintaro Harada, Mike Lookingland, Paul Robson, Jim Cherneski (Dan Lader 69), Bryan Harkin (Pat Healey 30, Matthew Mbuta 69), Carlos Morales (Val Teixeira 45), Cecil Lewis (Andrew Marshall 82), Kevin King, Sergio Flores