After the midweek high I had lots of potential happy titles for this piece, such as ‘Dancing Shoes’, ‘Out Of The Sinking’, ‘Goody Two Shoes’, ‘I Know You Got Soul’, and on and on, but after two hours of watching so-called football, I’m left with goddamn Alexandra Burke.
After the strange old game and loss to Shrewsbury, I’ve not been at a couple of games, I swerved the Reading away because it was going to be tight to get there and then back to Brighton for a Paul Weller gig, and as I’ve missed two previous attempts at seeing the Modfather due to illness, I wasn’t missing this one for any reason. The updates to that game were watched on a phone in a pub/restaurant on the BBC website, and it was difficult to put the crushing 4-1 loss with the match stats and live report updates coming through.
It would seem the obvious issue is the defence – perhaps it’s time to upgrade. Getting an A-Fence or B-Fence might be out of our league, but let’s at least try for a C-fence.
And we seem to pick up a disproportionate number of yellow cards to fouls committed. Not sure how a team can rack up twenty-five fouls and only pick up one booking, especially when there were two players who committed five fouls, there should be bookings on totting up alone for those. Yet we had four fouls and two bookings. It has been a similar issue all season so far.
I did a bit of prep for the Lincoln game and the first thing that came to mind was the John Ward 1976-77 Topps Card – one of their random cards with players from lower league clubs they included that year (I’ve already highlighted Wrexham’s Arfon Griffiths in the away game last season). It’s strange what my mind remembers.
I had thought of the title of Abraham, Martin & John by Marvin Gaye, but instead I was sitting it out at home not very well and trying to make sure that the weekend away in Northampton for this game wasn’t put in jeopardy as well. I was fine walking to the stadium on Monday to get the Northampton tickets, but once back at home I took a dive. I did manage to find it on Now TV and watch it “live.” And there is a mini report below.
It’s odd watching it from the cameras perspectives. There were images from every other angle apart from the one where I usually sit in the east marquee. The commentator was useless, he called us Swindon once in the first half and kept referring to Wollacott conceding lots of goals in the last few matches, despite him not playing in two of them.
I can’t tell who it was doing the shouting from our dug out, but they were shouting instructions constantly. Something we don’t hear from the east marquee usually, although I wonder if the mic was turned right up and was next to the tunnel.
It was a different performance, not so much passing about at the back, and there seemed to be more solidity to the team at the back. There were still the odd heart in the mouth moments, but on the whole the team dealt with the opposing attacks well, and with the majority of set pieces as well.
Aside from the early Darcy chance, there wasn’t much attacking first half, and it looked like Lincoln had the upper hand, but we avoided conceding in the first half, and going into the break 0-0 was an obvious improvement on the last ten games. As the officials went off, there was the rare sight of a Lincoln sub getting a booking for gobbing off at the ref as they left the pitch at half time.
I went to do some washing up at half time and missed our first goal, only seeing it on replay at the end. There are some absolute clown show comments on the forum. Anyone who thinks that was an easy chance or a tap in needs to give their head a wobble. It was a great ball through, but Swan had to adjust the run as the defender got a touch on it, and he absolutely rifled it in at the near post from a difficult angle.
From that point on it was as if we had swapped personalities with Lincoln, they were doing the possession thing we usually do, and we were doing the quick counter attacks which have seen them unbeaten away from home all year.
The second goal looked on when the ball found Darcy in loads of space, but the chance looked to have gone when he checked inside and the defence were regrouping, only for him to fire it between the defenders legs and into the corner well out of reach of the keeper.
The break with RHM and Camara looked to be a shoe in for a third goal, and RHM having chosen to shoot had to hit the target, as the cross to Camara would have been a simple tap in (you know, like the one Swan scored at the start of the half). I threw my head back at the miss and smacked my head on the wall behind me having forgotten where I was whilst watching it.
The commentator was a cockwomble and kept banging on about that missed chance coming back to haunt us as Lincoln kept trying to attack, but we broke again with a good ball from Camara finding RHM and there was no mistake this time as he cooly slotted it in to make it 3-0.
And it was a 3-0 win. Wollacott played well, he saved when required, and he went up and caught a lot of balls in congested areas. People moaning (on here, surely not) about his kicking need to wind their necks in. There is an obvious change in him being asked to put the ball long, which is a complete about face from playing the short ball as he has all season. The long ball is always low percentage, especially as we don’t have tall attacking players.
All in all, it was an important win, and showed we can change style and tough games out. A win and a clean sheet are both confidence building, let’s hope that carries on to Saturday, where hopefully I am well enough to make use of the Northampton tickets I’ve bought.
We are away against Northampton Town, who haven’t had the best start to their season either, they are two places ahead of us in nineteenth and two points ahead of us on twelve points. When Northampton got promoted the season we only just escaped relegation from League Two, they beat us home and away, but overall, the record between the two clubs is fairly even, five wins apiece and three draws. At the Sixfields stadium it is dead level, two wins apiece and two draws. I saw someone point out that Northampton were the first ever league club who Crawley beat in the FA Cup, back in 1991. And of course, Northampton is the hometown of our current on the field captain, Jay Williams, let’s hope this inspires him to a great performance today, and not an over the top, trying too hard one.
There are no Northampton Town football cards from the Topps era, I had to dig back into the A&BC sets, where there were a couple from their only season in Division one in the mid-sixties.
Nowadays there is no hope of cards of clubs outside the Premier League unless you get unauthorised knock off sets off eBay. Of course, it was too tempting not to get the Crawley Town set, just a shame the club don’t do something similar in the club shop.
We travelled up to Northampton yesterday after picking up tickets for next week’s FA Cup game away at Maidenhead. They were loading the team coach up at the Broadfield Stadium when we were there. We had a wander around Northampton both on Friday afternoon and Saturday before the game. There is a lot of the museum about shoes, which is what the town is known for. I know a lot of people (quite a few on the forum) for who this pair of trainers would be wholly appropriate.
However, we found out that a Cobbler is only a fixer of shoes, or a dealer of second-hand shoes. Which means that Northampton Town’s nickname relates to dealing with duds, perhaps if they were nicknamed after the makers of new shoes – Cordwainers – then they might be faring better.
Not only that, but the museum had Elton John’s mega DMs from the film Tommy, nearly enough to have “Pinball Wizard” as a title for this piece.
We also passed the famous lift tower on the way down to the ground. It is where lift companies test their new lifts, the tallest test shafts in the world, where the lifts can go up to twenty miles an hour. I was oblivious about it, but my brother had told me about it earlier in the year as he had been especially to see it some years ago. Strangely my mate Chris, who designs and builds lifts as a job, has never mentioned it. It is the only permanent abseil set up in the UK.
Word is, planning permission for the Midlands longest zip wire to be installed from the top of it down to the Sixfields stadium so that Northampton Town’s mascot Clarence The Dragon can zip wire down to the ground is under consideration. If successful Crawley are looking at getting their own shorter version from the top of the Broadfield Park flats to the stadium for Reggie the Red to do a similar thing at our ground, and his non-appearance at our games is due to the intense training he is undergoing. ** (see note 1)
It was a nice slow amble to the ground after a morning’s sightseeing. At the ground there was someone doing a piece of research on could people tell the difference between “real” replica kits and knock offs. Not sure if we got them right, but there isn’t much difference between any of them. The approach from the north gives a good view down over the ground, which is in a nice dip.
I got a programme, always good, always a tick.
Calling themselves ‘Shoe Army’ at the club shop amused me anyway.
There were plenty of Crawley fans in the ground early on. And up to this point I was enjoying writing this piece, enjoying the trip to Northampton, and had a good feeling about how things would go.
And then we kicked off.
Northampton were in their traditional maroon shirts and socks and white shorts, and we were in out all grey/white second kit. It was a cagey start, but it didn’t take long for the mistakes to start creeping in. Bradley Ibrahim gave the ball away in the middle of our own half which led to Northampton’s first shot, which flew over the bar. The play was nervy, and Northampton got a corner, they took it short and were two on one with Harry Forster, which meant they played around him and got a shot off which Ibrahim managed to get a block on. It was played back in and their striker rounded JoJo Wollacott but put the shot into the side netting from a tight angle.
There seemed to be little let up. Another shot. Fortunately, over the bar again. Then we attack for a change and Max Anderson has a shot from outside the box, which is deflected out for a corner, which is taken too long and easily cleared.
Northampton get another corner, this time from the other side, but it is the same two on one from the short corner against Forster, this time the shot isn’t blocked, and it ends up in the corner of the net and we trail 0-1. Pure stupidity as we obviously didn’t learn from the previous corner on the other side. There are words between some of the players, but anyone having a go at Forster needs to give their head a wobble as there was no support.
This wakes us up a bit and we finally get a bit of decent pressure, down the right wing, a cross is put in, a shot blocked, picked up again and the follow up shot is deflected for a corner, but that is cleared.
However, Northampton are making it look easy every time they attack. They work another ball into the box, and the shot is saved by Wollacott for a corner. We clear and break and Forster has a shot which is saved for a corner. Which is caught easily by their keeper.
Northampton break down the left again, the cross comes over and is just about kept away from their striker as Josh Flint puts it out for a corner. It comes in and Wollacott comes to punch but misses, and it hits Jay Williams and bounces into the net, and it is 0-2.
Ibrahim is having a bit of a mare, giving the ball away yet again, and playing Northampton in, and they get another corner. It is headed out, but another shot comes in, this one going over.
We are playing so slowly out from the back, it is slow, slow, slower, slower, slow. There are glaciers moving forward quicker than we are. The lack of movement is just not funny. It would be ideal if they were playing musical statues, but someone needs to tell them the music is playing again.
Finally, there is a speedier attack down the right. Forster’s cross is half blocked, there is a shot, that is blocked for a corner. That is headed behind at the front post for another corner, that is taken short before being played in and cleared for a third corner which is taken long into the box only for the ref to blow for an imaginary foul and the pressure to come to an end.
There is a guy behind me spending much of the game giving the ref grief, so much so even his family are telling him to give it a rest. He continues saying the ref needs to hear it, only to be told, no, he doesn’t.
There is one added minute before the half time whistle goes with the score at 0-2. It is the best period of play for us before the second half kicks off. As the Northampton keeper takes his place in front of us, I have a double take at the name on the back of his shirt. It says Burge, but I read it as Bulge, which would have been a much more appropriate name. Instead of the usual whoa…… you’re shit chant, you’re fat would have been better (and yes, I know pot and kettle and all that).
Anderson was subbed off at half time, one of half a dozen who could have been, and he’s been replaced by Panutche Camara. Not even thirty seconds into the half and Flint is down injured, didn’t see any contact, but it doesn’t look good as he is helped off and around the pitch in front of us. He is replaced by Rushian Hepburn-Murphy.
We attack down the right a ball is played into Will Swan; he plays it back to Forster to cross and a RHM header bounces across the goal and Swan can’t get his touch on target just beyond the right post.
Northampton attack down the left, it is crossed, a shot blocked, and it is pushed across to the right and another shot comes in and goes in to make it 0-3. It is not a good day.
Heads haven’t dropped completely, and another attack down the right sees a ball come over and Jeremy Kelly gets it on the left-hand side of the penalty area only for him to shank he shot high and wide. Ronan Darcy gets a shot off from the edge of the area and that is well over as well. Another ball into the box sees passes made but it doesn’t fall quickly enough for Swan to be able to get a shot off and the ball is cleared.
Darcy picks up a booking for a nothing challenge in midfield. Another right-wing attack sees RHM fizz a ball across the six-yard box, but no one is there, and it goes out on the far side for a throw. Darcy and Ibrahim are subbed off with Gavan Holohan and Benjamin Tanimu coming on. The latter not being listed in the Northampton programme, seems they are as tardy as our programme makers used to be, as they also have Gonzalez and Papadopolous as being in our squad.
There is a week late tackle which leaves Toby Mullarkey on the deck, but which was so late no one saw it, and play goes on for a while before the ref allows treatment. They announce the crowd as being 6,445 but can’t be arsed to say how many are away fans. Forster is hacked down as he goes down the wing, but no booking is forthcoming. Williams has a late tackle in midfield and does get one. One is also shown to a Northampton player for the resulting melee.
We make our final substitution with Swan going off to be replaced by Tola Showunmi. We get a corner which goes deep, there is a coming together and a clash of heads between a defender and Charlie Barker, and the free kick goes to Northampton. The ref is just guessing at this stage. We have a couple of shots which are blocked. There are five added minutes, which considering the injuries, the number of substitutions and the hours of time wasting is taking the piss, but on the plus side it’s only five more minutes of agony to endure.
A Barker shot is tipped over for a corner, and Holohan has a shot from that which is over the bar, but then play migrates up the other end for corner after corner for Northampton before the final whistle goes to signal the end of the 3-0 defeat.
It’s hard to reconcile that performance with the one from Tuesday night. It’s been pointed out that I’m the one jinxing things. But looking at the match stats we spent far too much time fannying about passing the ball around at the back very slowly. With tortoises and snails moving up the pitch quicker than we were. Much less possession on Tuesday saw quicker counter attacking and goals. More of that and less of the painfully slow tippy tappy shit is desperately needed.
The defeat, coupled with the third win in as many games for Cambridge United sees us drop a place back to twenty-second, still only a point off safety, but with an ever increasingly poor goal difference.
** (Note 1) none of that paragraph is even remotely true. Seriously, Reggie has trouble walking and waving at the same time, who in their right mind would allow him anywhere near a zip line? I did take another picture of it on the way back into the town centre for a commiseration curry, just to make sure there weren’t any Crawley fans at the top planning to throw themselves off.
Anyway, it is a week off from league action, as next Saturday sees the FA Cup first round game away at Maidenhead, a there and back in a day trip.
Come on you reds.