The Reds were victorious this afternoon in their first pre-season friendly of the summer, with goals from Sam Ashford and Brian Galach helping them come from behind in the second half.
After an opposition trialist gave the away side the lead in the first half with a speculative effort, summer signing Sam Ashford rose above all in the area to nod home an equaliser on his first appearance for the Reds, connecting with a fantastic Brian Galach cross.
And it was Galach who gave us the lead not long later, stepping past his man and firing home from a wide angle.
The Reds first half team included four new summer signings, Archie Davies, Tyler Frost, Sam Matthews and Tony Craig. It was the Reds who started the brighter of the two sides as Ricardo German forced a tame save from the Crystal Palace goalkeeper within the opening two minutes. German again found himself one-on-one just minutes later but failed to keep his shot under the crossbar.
Despite the consistent possession from the home side, Crystal Palace found themselves ahead midway through the first half, as their No.10 curled the ball into the top corner, past the reach of Glenn Morris, from the edge of the area.
The Reds should have found themselves level just after the half hour mark, Tyler Frost was able to sharply nick the ball from a Palace defender, before feeding through Ricardo German. German, who perhaps took one to many touches, fired his shot into an onrushing goalkeeper, before Tarryn Allarakhia fired the rebound over the bar.
The half finished with more of the same constant pressure from the home side but the young Eagles outfit remained strong and held onto their lead for the final 15 minutes of the first half.
A brand new XI for both teams in the second half was unleashed with new signing Sam Ashford and Rafiq Salah-Edine featuring for John Yems’ side for the first time.
The Reds eventually found their rhythm, allowing them to create some more clear cut chances. Brian Galach fed a neat through ball through to Ashley Nadesan which saw him one-on-one with the Palace goalkeeper. A good save denied the equaliser but just minutes later the Reds found the back of the net. Good work from David Sesay on the right wing was awarded with a free kick deep inside Palace territory. A whipping ball from Brian Galach found the head of new signing Sam Ashford, who cushioned his header into the bottom corner.
The equaliser spurred the Reds on even more and they found themselves ahead shortly after. Great aerial work from Ashley Nadesan as he nodded the ball through to Brian Galach who took one touch on the chest, before thrashing home on the half-volley putting the Reds 2-1 up with just over 20 minutes remaining.
