July 25 2016

Jordon Mutch

Crystal Palace won their first domestic friendly with a 1-0 success away to Colchester United.

Midfielder JORDON MUTCH staked his claim for a starting place next season after notching his second goal of the summer with another long-range strike.

The goal arrived after nine minutes when Jason Puncheon fed the former QPR player just outside the area and he fired home in off the crossbar to add to his strike against Cincinnati.

A mistake from keeper Alex McCarthy when he failed to deal with a Colchester corner almost allowed the Essex side back in as Chris Porter headed against the post. Then Puncheon cleared former Eagle Alex Wynter's effort off the line.

Forgotten man Zeki Fryers, who has enjoyed a sustained run in the side over pre-season, had a 25-yard attempt just wide before Doug Loft fired into the side netting for the hosts.

After the break Yannick Bolasie tested U's stopper Sam Walker who pushed his shot out for a corner.

Sammy Szmodics missed a glorious opportunity to level the scores for Colchester but couldn't find the target as the Eagles continued their unbeaten summer campaign.

Colchester: Walker (Barnes 69), Brindley (Bonne 80), Wynter (Eastman 69), Prosser (Kent 80), Kinsella (O’Donoghue 69), Loft (Garvan 69), Lapslie (Slater 69), Wright (Vincent-Young 80), Szmodics (Johnstone 69), Dickenson (Guthrie 69), Porter (Sembie-Ferris 69). Subs not used: Elokobi.

Palace: McCarthy, Ward, Dann (Kelly 70), Delaney (Croll 70), Fryers (Binnom-Williams 78), Boateng (Jedinak 59), MUTCH (Ladapo 85), Puncheon (Lee 59), Bolasie (Kaikai 59), Townsend (Berkeley-Agyepong 70), Wickham (Campbell 45). Subs not used: Perntreou, Wynter.