Premier League side win 3-1 at Selhurst Park
Reds were beaten 3-1 by a strong Crystal Palace side at Selhurst Park in a behind closed-doors friendly on Wednesday afternoon.
Both Mark Yates and Palace boss Alan Pardew signaled their intent by fielding strong sides, with the experienced Brede Hangeland, Marouane Chamakh and Joe Ledley among those lining up for the hosts.
The Reds held firm for the majority of the first half before the hard work was undone when a floated corner found a leaping Hangeland to head Pardew’s side ahead.
Lee Barnard struck the post with a diving header just before the break, but Palace had enough time to double their lead when Patrick Bamford led a counter attack that set up Chung Yong Lee for a simple finish past Callum Preston.
Mark Yates’ side had the better of the second half, but it was Palace that scored first after half-time when they made it 3-0 with a well worked goal that ended in midfielder Jordan Mutch hammering home from five yards at the far post, despite Preston’s best efforts to save it.
Roarie Deacon (pictured) pulled one back when his free-kick deflected off the wall and past Julian Speroni into the bottom left corner.
Mark Yates called for energy and competitiveness before the game and the players heeded his words onto the pitch and despite the scoreline this was a good workout for Reds and there was no disgrace in losing to a very strong Eagles’ side.
Reds: Callum Preston, Christian Scales, Jon Ashton, Sonny Bradley, Josh Emmanuel, Gwion Edwards, Luke Rooney, Ross Jenkins, Shamir Fenelon, Roarie Deacon, Lee Barnard. Subs: Josh Yorwerth, Mitch Hancox, Simon Walton, Jimmy Smith, Lewis Young, Gavin Tomlin (all used). Unused sub: Matt Harrold.
