This is a day late and if I’m honest several dollars short. It’s been a hectic weekend, and I didn’t take my laptop with me. We were at the O2 Friday night to see Kasabian, who were supported by The Streets (which is where this early noughties title comes from – if we had lost, I was going to call it Club Foot after a Kasabian track). After staying near Heathrow, we drove to Bristol, parked up, went to the game, and then headed to Taunton to stay with Helen’s sister last night, getting a very nice Saturday night curry in whilst there. And then the drive back from there to Crawley this afternoon. I’m also distracted typing up all the random snippets of notes from the game because it’s after six pm on a Sunday night in autumn, and so NFL RedZone is on.
Since the entertaining 2-2 draw last Saturday against Huddersfield Town, we had what turned out to be out final game in this year’s Bristol Street Motors Trophy. It was our second away trip of the season to Wycombe Wanderers this season. A Tuesday night fixture at a stupid 7pm kick off time and in an unloved competition saw about fifty Crawley fans make the trip. As it was on FSS+, it was a watch it at home sat on the sofa game for me.
The excitement’s of Saturday’s game continued into this one. Probably a little bit too much for some. We gave away an early goal following a poor pass out from the back by Joy Mukena, straight to a Wycombe player who powered into the box and put it into the corner of the net. We equalised ten minutes later as Tola Showunmi followed in and scored after a Jack Roles shot was saved and spilled. There were other chances. Jeremy Kelly hit a first-time effort too close to the keeper after pressure had panicked the keeper to play a poor clearance straight to Kelly. The Roles corner following it had the keeper in all sorts of trouble, and he only just tipped it wide to prevent it going straight in. Another Roles shot took a deflection on the edge of the area and went just past the post. But against the run of play we gave away a free kick right on the edge of the area, which didn’t look like a free kick to me. But it was executed well and went straight in, and we trailed again. And we couldn’t quite get good enough chances to equalise, let alone claim the win we needed to get through to the knockout stages. It could have been worse, Benjamin Tanimu have away a penalty with a raised arm at a corner. The penalty was pushed onto the post by Connal Trueman to keep the score at 2-1. Our best chance came from Rushian Hepburn-Murphy who after dribbling into the box and beating a couple of players put his attempt to beat the keeper at the near post into the side netting.
Other notes from the game. I don’t think I’ve seen as may foul throws in one game since I used to play for my primary school team. Including two in quick succession from Tanimu (despite showing he was good with his hands later). Roles is like a kid who’s trying too hard. He shows plenty of effort, is always up to get the ball, will chase anything, and is the most likely to try and get a shot off from anywhere on the pitch. But his tackling is usually mistimed (at best). He eventually picked up a booking on totting up numerous fouls, and quite possibly because the ref was sick of him consistently overreacting / over acting / constantly chirping in his ear at every decision. Bradly Ibrahim on the other hand is a much more cultured footballer but seems to get the red mist and play from the school of ‘if you can’t get the ball, get the man’ my dad would advocate when I was a kid, much as Jay Williams seems to be. He was a late sub and got stuck in. There were two late, nasty challenges. He got away with the first as we’d already got a free kick and therefore the ball was dead. The second should have been a yellow card. At the final whistle it would appear he took umbrage at not getting booked and got one for starting a post-game melee at the supposed hand shaking phase. He needs to cut that shit out.
Today’s game is against Bristol Rovers, who start the game five points and five places above us in the league.
I really had to dig to find any old football card for Bristol Rovers, they are rarely in the top two divisions, but A&BC did included a couple of their players for the 1964-65 season, despite them being in Division 3 at the time.
We have played Bristol Rovers thirteen times previously, six in the league, four in the FA Cup (losing replays to them twice), twice in the league cup, both wins at home, including the first win for the club under Kevin Betsy two seasons ago, and we beat them in the first of the knockout stages in the Bristol Streets Motors Trophy, with to me what should have been our goal of the season last season from Harry Forster. In the league we only have one win against them, along with a draw and four losses. And away we have never beat them, two draws in our first two games there, and four losses since.
The run to Bristol was easy enough and we got a parking spot only a short walk away from the ground and being early as usual ventured into their club shop. Which again shows just what we are failing to do at shop level. I managed to satisfy obsessions with maps and fridge magnets in one purchase with one of the ground on a map of the locality in Bristol.
They don’t have a matchday programme anymore (not physical one anyway), but they do have a monthly magazine as we do now. It is very similarly put together as well. Their editor might need some help with proof reading, as they mention all our previous games, but seem to have forgotten about that League Cup one in August 2022. The staff in the shop also suggested looking at it when I asked about a programme. Something our own shop staff pointedly refused to do when the Huddersfield fans were asking after programmes the week before.
Bristol Rovers play at the Memorial ground, which they used to share with the rugby club after years playing over in Bath. The rugby club have moved on to a decent stadium. With it being a rugby stadium before and it’s a football stadium now, neither of which explain why they appear to have a cricket pavilion for one of their stands.
Crawley Town away fans stickers were on the water heater in the toilets well before the start of the game.
Hopefully, the match warm up isn’t an indication of how our shooting is going to be for the game. To say it is a bit wayward is a bit like saying most of the club’s communication isn’t too clear. They are a danger to us away fans sat behind the goal they are aiming for, with at least two taken out by attempted shots.
I know there is a stereotype of football fans being hairy arsed men, but surely advertising combs for those hairy arses is taking things a bit too far.
Bristol Rovers are in their traditional blue and white quartered shirts with blue shorts and blue socks, which means we are in our all-red kit.
We have an early attack down the left and Ronan Darcy’s cross is collected by the keeper. At the other end the ref gives a corner to Rovers, he is the only person in the stadium who thinks it is a corner, it blatantly wasn’t, and both sets of players were bemused that it wasn’t a goal kick. It leads to a spell of Rovers pressure and another corner from the other side which isn’t really dealt with, and former red Isaac Hutchinson’s shot hits the bar before we clear. At least he didn’t score against us this time.
A free kick thirty yards out is wasted as we manage to be offside from it. Rovers attack again down the left, get a cross in, and a header goes just wide. Another left-wing cross is met by another header, and it is tipped onto the bar and out for a corner by the still on emergency loan Connal Trueman.
A left-wing attack from us sees a cross into Will Swan and his shot is blocked, goes out to the right and that cross is cleared. At the other end Max Anderson gives away a free kick on the edge of the area and picks up a booking. It is cleared and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy is fouled on the attack, but nothing is given. Rovers break again and work it into the box and only a great save from Trueman keeps the scores level with a corner incoming, The shot from it only just fails to clear the stand we are sat in. It doesn’t take long for Rovers to get the ball back into our box and the outstretched leg of Trueman deflects the ball just over the bar and onto the top of the net.
The Rovers number 22 stands on RHM’s head, and he gets a talking to from the ref but somehow no booking is forthcoming. We get the ball in their area and RHM’s shot is saved and goes for a throw. Toby Mullarkey passes when it looked like a shot was on, he gets it back and drives into the box and attempts a pass again only for it to go straight out for a goal kick. Trueman gets a talking to from the ref for timewasting, and it’s not even half time yet.
There are two added minutes at the end of the half, and we win a corner from a tight wing attack. That is headed clear for another corner, which is taken a lot deeper and over everyone and is cleared and the half time whistle goes with the score at 0-0. Many will say mainly down to the heroics of Trueman, so much show people were calling it the Trueman Show on social media.
The second half starts, and there is a Trueman clearance. Rovers, obviously knowing what had been frustrating them in the first half, leave a boot in on the closing down and Trueman needs treatment. We don’t even get a free kick for it; let alone the booking it deserved.
We are creating the early pressure. We get crosses into the box from both wings, but both are cleared. Bradley Ibrahim is chopped down twenty-five yards out just off centre for a free kick. RHM curls the shot well high and wide and shows his frustration with his own effort.
Another left-wing attack wins a corner, it is punched clear for a throw, and we are keeping the pressure on. A ball to Anderson in the box sees a coming together and he goes down, and the ref has a long serious look before waving the claims for a penalty away. Rovers counterattack and win a corner.
Rovers finally pick up a booking after another late challenge on RHM. Another attack down the left sees RHM get the ball over to Panutche Camara and his shot is blocked on the edge of the area. Rovers attack and get a shot which manages to clear the stand at the other end of the pitch.
We are doing most of the pressing now. Jeremy Kelly breaks into the box on the right side on the byline and is brought down, and claims for a penalty are waved away again. Charlie Barker picks up a booking for a drag back in the middle of the Rovers half to prevent a breakaway after another promising attack fizzled out. Attacking down the left again and RHM has a shot which goes a yard wide.
On seventy minutes we make out first substitutions, with Swan and Alexander off to be replaced by Tola Showunmi ad Ade Adeyemo. Scott Sinclair, only just on as a sub for Bristol Rovers gets a booking for haranguing the lino over the award of a throw in. RHM has another shot which is wide. It is his last action as he goes off to be replaced by recent signing Tyreece John-Jules.
We have a couple of close shots on target in succession, a Kelly shot is blocked by the keeper, and Showunmi’s follow is pushed round the post for a corner. That is worked back to Kelly only for his shot to be high, wide, and not so handsome. There is a brief pause in the action being down in front of us as Rovers get a corner, but then it is back to us attacking.
A free kick thirty yards out is played quickly into TJJ in the box and his cross is deflected for a corner which is cleared. Kelly is subbed off to be replaced by Jack Roles, and he gets a chance for a shot nearly straight away after being set up by Darcy which goes just over the bar. We work another attack from left to right and Adeyemo has a shot which is saved for a corner. It is played short and then crossed in, but a free kick is given to Rovers. Another ball into the box sees Darcy down and rolling out over the byline, there are muted calls for a penalty from the fans for a penalty, the ref does signal for nothing given, and the Rovers defender has a few choice words whilst standing over Darcy off the pitch.
There are four added minutes.
A ball into the box is flicked goalwards by Showunmi, but there isn’t really any power on it. A Rovers break is ended by a great tackle from Joy Mukena. We attack again and the cross comes in and TJJ is bundled over in the box and penalty claims are waved away. Showunmi is then dragged down in the box and the ref properly bottles it as that one was a stonewall penalty (the other four were all dubious at best) and instead blows the final whistle and the game ends 0-0. And Bradley Ibrahim picks up another post final whistle yellow card, this one for dissent and not starting a melee, as he was arguing about the non-award of the penalty for the foul on Showunmi. Another unnecessary booking.
The crowd is announced as people start to leave, as 7,411 with 264 Crawley fans in attendance making more noise than the home fans.
A point is better than nothing, and after the first half where we could easily have been three down if not for the Trueman show, but with it being 0-0 at half time, we should really have got more than a point from the second half performance and chances, and should have had a penalty if there were a better ref. It was amusing that at one point in the game the Rovers fans were singing, ‘it happened again, it happened again, we’ve got a shit ref, it happened again.’ Can’t disagree with the sentiment, but at the end of the game they were the beneficiaries.
There were lots of chants from a very noisy away support of ‘is this a library?’ Which personally I find a bit presumptuous. What makes us think that their fans can read?
The point doesn’t move us in the table, we stay in twenty-first, now a point behind Leyton Orient and Wigan Athletic, but they have two games in hand on us, and in fact all the teams around us have games in hand. Clean sheets, improved performances, and not losing is better, but we need to be converting some of these draws into wins.
Got back this evening and saw Helen and I made it onto the club’s twitter feed from pictures from the crowd at yesterday’s game.
We have a full week before next Saturday’s home game against Rotherham United, a chance for some quality training time for the manager (something he bemoaned he was missing), and hopefully a chance for some of those players who are struggling through games despite not being fully fit, to get some recovery time in.
Come on you reds.