CRYSTAL Palace were held to a scoreless draw by non-league Bromley at Hayes Lane this evening.

The Eagles named a strong starting line-up, which included Northern Ireland defender Tony Capaldi, Macedonian midfielder Velice Sumulikoski and former Millwall player Ali Fuseini, all of whom were on trial.

Neil Danns came close to giving Palace an early lead on five minutes with a powerful shot from just inside the area which went narrowly wide.

Calvin Andrew also came close seven minutes later with a shot on the turn and then Wes Foderingham was forced to get down low to push away Andy Dorman’s low drive from 20 yards.

Andrew’s flicked header went just wide on 17 minutes as the visitors continued to boss the early exchanges.

They should have been in front moments later when Darren Ambrose’s low first-time shot sailed inches past the post after he connected with a delightful ball from Danns.

Capaldi delivered a dangerous 25th minute cross which connected with Danns who had his back to goal but the overhead kick failed to find the target.

At the other end, Leon McKenzie blazed a shot harmlessly wide after Lewis Price had been forced to punch a cross clear in Bromley’s first real attack of the game.

Reis Boyle got a crucial block to deflect Ambrose’s shot behind for a corner before Danns tried his luck again with another shot which went off target.

Foderingham did well to just tip over Capaldi’s cross and the keeper reacted quickly to deny Ambrose on 35 minutes.

Palace’s frustration in front of goal six minutes before the break when Ambrose’s goal-bound shot took an unfortunate touch off Danns and instead went behind for a goal kick.

Ambrose turned provider two minutes later but Andrew placed his header over the bar and then Wes Daly tested Price with a shot.

Danns’ shot forced Foderingham to concede a corner, from which Claude Davis saw his header hit the bar.

But despite their complete first half dominance, Palace were unable to get their noses in front and went in on level terms with their non-league hosts at the midway point.

George Burley made half a dozen changes at the start of the second half, which included the introduction of midfield trialist Yaser Kasim.

Unsurprisingly the fresh faces took a while to gel and it was Bromley striker Nic McDonnell who had the first real chance when he fired a low 54th minute shot straight at Price.

Mark Goldberg made his first change of the game on 64 minutes when McDonnell made way for Steve Ferguson, with Andrew replaced by Kieran Cadogan at the same time.

Alan Lee headed straight at Foderingham on 70 minutes after rising high in a packed penalty area to get on the end of Sumulikoski’s free-kick, while Tony Finn placed a free-kick straight into the hands of Price three minutes later.

Price was then involved with an accidental collision with Sam Butler, an incident which forced the Bromley player to hobble off and be replaced by Jake Britnell.

Bromley had Foderingham to thank nine minutes from time when he tipped Wilfred Zaha’s header onto the bar and reacted quickly to deny Cadogan by pushing his follow up header over the bar.

Kieron Djilali wildly fired a free-kick over but Bromley almost won it at the death when a quick counter attack ended with McKenzie firing straight at Price from six yards.

Bromley: Foderingham, Graves, Dolby, Daly, Scarborough, Boyle, Finn, Henriques, McKenzie, McDonnell (Ferguson 64), Butler (Britnell 76). Subs not used: Agu, Griffin, McCleary-Stephens.

Crystal Palace: Price, Holness (Nnamani 46), Capaldi (Kasim 46), Davis, McCarthy (Barrett 46), Sumulikoski, Danns (Lee 46), Fuseini, Andrew (Cadogan 64), Ambrose (Djilali 46), Dorman (Zaha 46). Subs not used: Pinney, Holland, Speroni.