Back In The UK
Nothing to do with the fact we have had players away on international duty, or anything to do with the two teams today, but just that I fancied a bit of Scooter on the end of season playlist. So, hold tight posse.
Anyway, speaking of international duty, it has been two weeks since our last game due to the fact our game against Burton was postponed due to the fact that they had had (at least) three international call ups. Ours was one of nine League One games which were postponed for the same reason. I don’t know which is more surprising to me, that there are at least nine teams in the division with at least three internationals, or that Wrexham weren’t one of them.
Since our last game and a couple of days after the transfer window had been shut it turns out we have made another signing, which was just awaiting international clearance. It wasn’t fake news as thought last time, but we have signed Nigerian international Benjamin Tanimu had signed for us from Tanzanian league side Singida Black Stars, with the ridiculous figure of £650k being bandied about as the fee.
It does mean that we may become one of those sides with three international call ups in future international break windows, as both of our keepers were called up last week, and the new signing was in the Nigerian squad.
We have the new signing, but we have also lost our loan signing from Bournemouth Anthony Dacosta Gonzalez, as it would appear he picked up an injury in preseason, and it has been decided it is best if he goes back to his parent club to be treated. And yesterday it was announced that Antony Papadopoulos has joined Maidstone United on loan until January. Quickly followed by Muhammad Faal being sold to Worthing for an undisclosed fee, which puts an end to my neither Fish nor Faal statement about the matchday squads.
The international break meant there was a need to find something else to fill the time. I’ve joined the Crawley Camera Club, in an attempt to improve my photography skills, and to try and move to quality over quantity for photos taken. Because that has worked so well with all the writing groups I have joined.
There was also the weekly obligatory visit to the club shop where I bought myself the insulated / padded lunch bag. Mainly for the triggering effect it will have in my office. I work in Hove, and so the CTFC logo in the fridge amongst all the BHA fans will be interesting. I didn’t buy another different top though.
And my other main sporting love started last weekend with the first week of the NFL season. Only for Fuck Sky Sports to make a hash of that coverage as well, cutting off the last fifteen minutes of RedZone and replacing it with adverts and highlights from random games from last season. It’s not just League One coverage which they are incompetent over.
Then on Tuesday the club shop rang to say my shirts were back with the custom printed name and number. In less than the two weeks they had advised, so it meant another Friday trip to the club shop. I’m happy with them, safe in the knowledge I’m unlikely to be sold on at the end of the season.
I’ve also been on eBay looking for some of the old programmes from games I went to before I became a Crawley fan. It’s a surprise just how few Crawley programmes from the last ten years there are on there. Plenty of older ones going back to the sixties though. Not a rabbit hole I should be going down though, stick to the actual ones I’m looking for, such as this one from beating Ipswich in the Capital One Cup (as it was then), when I got guest tickets from the ref, and was amused by the fact the officials had to discuss and then ring and check to see what the extra time / penalties rules were for the competition for that season.
And it’s been announced that we will be having a new ticketing system from the start of October, which will require season ticket holders to get new season tickets which can be scanned by the new system. The announcement caused uproar amongst the usual suspects on the forum, as the window for swap was shown to be between the Bolton game on the Saturday at the end of the month, and the Mansfield game on the following Tuesday. Which isn’t a large window of opportunity, but when in the club shop I did hear the staff saying that window is worst scenario, they are hoping to have the new season tickets a week before the Bolton game.
Anyway, onto today’s game. We went into today in twelfth place in the table, only to have dropped to fourteenth before kick off due to other early kick offs in the division. Whilst our opponents Stockport County, had been top but were overtaken in the international window as they didn’t play either and start the game in second in the league. They were another of the promoted teams from League Two last year, winning the title along the way. Our two games against them both finished in draws, and our two games the season before that saw one victory apiece.
Plenty of happy looking Stockport fans were milling around the stadium pre-game and they had four coaches parked up when I arrived. Stockport were playing in blue shirts and socks with blue bases to their white shorts. They have one of the heroes for us last season — Corey Addai — in goal, let’s hope there are no heroics from him today.
There is still no sign of Reggie the Red, and no update on the misper. If he is being held to ransom somewhere he might well be shit out of luck as all the money has reputedly gone on our new Nigerian signing.
We start brightly and on the front foot, but it is Stockport who get the first attempt on goal, when a header from a cross goes over the bar. There are a few early long balls pumped from JoJo Wollacott down the right wing looking to find Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, but they aren’t quite working. And on six minutes a Stockport attack down the left sees the ball worked across the box and a shot is drilled back across Wollacott and into the bottom corner and we are down 0–1 early doors again.
But we aren’t letting them steamroll us like Barnsley did a couple of weeks ago. The ball is worked well down the left between Ronan Darcy and Jeremy Kelly and the cross finds RHM on the far side of the box, but it is whipped off his toes for a corner. We have a similar attack a couple of minutes later, which goes out for a long throw from Josh Flint. A Crawley player is dragged down in the box, but no penalty is forthcoming, and we get a corner instead. It is cleared and Max Anderson picks up a booking for a pull back to prevent the break.
There are a couple of off the ball challenges from Stockport which if not unnoticed are certainly being ignored. We have a nice long spell of possession, knocking the ball around neatly all over the pitch, and end up with a corner, which goes all the way across the box and runs out to Panutche Camara who attempts to drift it into the top corner, but it floats just over the bar.
At the other end there is a bit of frantic play in the box and appeals for a Stockport penalty are waved away. We attack again and Camara gets another shot off from just outside the box, but it is dragged wide. It is a bit back and forth and Stockport have another shot which is well wide. In the middle of the park Jay Williams picks up his customary booking after lunging after a ball he has mis controlled and given away.
There is a bit of sloppy play, and we give the ball away again and Stockport pounce and get another shot off, this one is on target and Wollacott is down well to save and push round the post for a corner. There is a clash of heads in the box and a Stockport player is down and requiring treatment. And when play is restarted Stockport win another corner. The board goes up for four added minutes at the end of the half, and right at the end of that we win a free kick, dead centre, twenty-five yards out which Kelly lines up to take and puts well over with it crashing into the boards above the KRL Logistics stand, and with the miss comes the half time whistle.
We start the second half brightly as well, and get an early corner, it is cleared, but we put another cross back into the box only for that to be cleared as well. We attack again and get the ball into Camara in the box and there is a clash of bodies and Camara and a Stockport defender go to the ground. Darcy goes down in another challenge, but the ref gives it as a foul against him and Stockport can clear.
The next attack is intercepted, and Stockport break quickly and get a shot off which goes wide. Ball one disappears out over the top of the west stand from a Crawley clearance and from the throw Stockport attack again and get a decent chance which is only just wide. A couple of challenges in midfield see both managers up off the bench and berating the fourth official and the ref comes over and books the pair of them.
Another attack sees the ball worked to Darcy in the middle of the field and he has a shot along the ground from outside the box which is an easy save for Addai. We win a free kick on the edge of the area to the right of the D, and before it is taken we make three substitutions, with Will Swan, RHM, and Williams coming off (the latter probably to save him from being sent off after a talking to following another challenge a couple of minutes before), and Ade Adeyemo, Bradley Ibrahim, and Armando Junior Quitirna coming on. The latter takes the free kick, it comes back off the wall and he takes it into the box where he is fouled, and the ref does point to the spot this time. Having won the penalty, he gets up and takes it and sends Addai the wrong way and it is level, 1–1.
We attack again almost immediately, but Camara is robbed in midfield and Stockport break and force a good save from Wollacott. It’s a mad twenty seconds as the corner is dropped, half cleared, and a shot is blocked out and then another shot comes in and is cleared for a corner, which gets put behind on the other side for another corner, which is thankfully put straight out of play and things calm down again.
We are forcing some mistakes at the other end, and get a corner from an error, which is cleared, Stockport go up the other end and get a corner themselves. We get a free kick in midfield, it is played into the box and cleared for a corner. It is worked to Alexander whose shot is blocked. We are applying some pressure, but the final ball isn’t quite there. There are three added minutes and the game peters out and finishes 1–1. A decent point against early pacesetters.
The crowd was announced as being 4,538 with an away contingent of 803. The point saw us claim back one of the spots we dropped at lunch time, and we are now thirteenth in the table, whilst Stockport dropped two places to fourth.
No post-match curry this week as we headed straight into town and Crawley Live on the high street and had pizza instead sat outside watching various performers, none of whom were as entertaining as the game this afternoon.
Next up is the away trip up to top of the table Wrexham, one we aren’t making this year. But hopefully it will be a rewarding trip for those making it.
Come on you reds.
Originally published on my own website (without the pictures) at the link below.
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