Reality Check at Crawley.
Morecambe made the long journey to West Sussex today in an unusual position: top of the League Two table. Hosts Crawley Town – under the leadership of John Yems – were in eleventh place They were already a whole five points worse off with only five games played of which they have won two; lost two and obviously drawn the other one. In eleven previous meetings with Morecambe, the Red Devils have lost four – once famously 6-0 when the delightful Steve Evans was in charge and they were leading the division – and won three.
There was no place for new signing, ex-Southend midfielder Henry Burnett in Town’s first team but Sam Matthews was promoted from the team which lost at last time out by two goals to nil at Cheltenham. For Morecambe, Derek Adams named exactly the same line-up which won at Oldham seven days ago, which means that there was disappointingly no place for A-Jay Leitch Smith yet again this season.
It was grey but dry at the Broadfield Stadium as Morecambe kicked-off. The visitors looked as if they had twelve men on the field for the first four minutes or so because Referee John Busby was dressed in head to foot in black – as were the Shrimps team. This was a rare aberration from the ref who I thought had an otherwise outstanding game today; allowing the match to continue whenever possible and having words off the ball with players on both sides following poor challenges when a fussier official might have been flashing yellow cards instead. The most interesting of the opening moves was when the ball burst after eight minutes. Two minutes later, Aaron Wildig did brilliantly to dig the ball out of his feet and manage to send a shot just over Glen Morris’ crossbar despite the attentions of five Crawley defenders. John O’Sullivan and Wildig then combined well after a quarter of an hour but Carlos Mendes-Gomes was unable to stop the final ball going out for a goal-kick on the Crawley right. The best chance of the game so far arrived with twenty-four minutes on the clock. Adam Phillips set-up Carlos on the Morecambe right for Town to concede a corner from which an unmarked Sully headed weakly wide. Up the other end, Harry Davis did well to control a cross from the Cog’s left virtually on his own goal-line, controlling and then clearing the ball expertly. Things started to go wrong for the visitors after half an hour though, when Alex Kenyon went down with what looked as if it could be a long-term injury and had to come off. Five minutes after this, a corner kick to the visitors finally found its way to the Shrimps’ left and Carlos nodded the resulting cross quite a long way wide. Thirty-seven minutes had been played when Liam Gibson lost the ball on the Morecambe left to the impressive Tom Nicholls, who advanced quickly and fed Tyler Frost in the middle only for the Town Number Eleven to miss tamely with a poorly-executed shot. But the best chance – and only actual save – for either side arrived with just five minutes left of the half. Ryan Cooney made an excellent run down the Morecambe right and unleashed a fierce shot which Morris saved well at the expense of a corner. But the half ended with few opportunities for either side and little sign of the calamity which would befall the visitors in the second period.
Right from the start of this, the Red Devils’ went onto the front foot, playing faster and more incisively than their opponents were ever able to. Gibson was kicked in the head by Sam Matthews early on and looked dazed by an incident that prompted even Crawley’s trainer to come onto the pitch to attend to him. He might have had an excuse from then onwards but the rest of the team didn’t. Crawley found themselves on the attack after 51 minutes; Morecambe were unable to clear despite blocks and sliding tackles before the ball fell kindly for incoming Town Skipper George Francomb who scored with a fantastic shot which beat Turner to his right and went in off the post. Four minutes later, Matthews made space for himself cleverly in the centre of the pitch but spoiled things with a wild shot way off target. But the turning-point in the game arrived after an hour. As the visitors broke effectively, Carlos was about to latch onto a lovely forward pass when Morris raced from his area and flattened him. Would Mr Busby award a penalty? Would the home keeper get a red or a yellow card? – all the evidence pointed towards a red. But the man in the middle kept calm, consulted with his linesman – and gave a free kick to Crawley instead: Carlos was offside. He perhaps should have cautioned Morris anyway and probably sent himself off for a very crude foul – but he got the decision right. And from then on, the Shrimps simply fell apart. They shipped another goal after 66 minutes when a cross from the Crawley right was headed home far too easily by substitute Max Watters. Morris then saved well for the home side before Wildig missed the target after clever approach play by Morecambe. But, down the other end, the performance of Derek Adams’ men was summed-up after seventy minutes when the normally rock solid Captain Sam Lavelle played a suicidal back pass when under no pressure whatsoever to set-up Watters for the easiest goal he will ever score. Four minutes later, only Turner’s brilliant reaction save with his legs prevented the hosts going even further ahead. But still Town were not finished. With 76 minutes played, Francomb picked-out Matthews who set-up Frost, who was able to turn far too easily in the box and score the Cogs’ fourth. And in injury time, only the left post stopped the final score being five.
This was a really poor display by the team from Lancashire in the second half, which undid all the good work they did in the first, when they were marginally the better side. They seem to collectively have a glass jaw – just as we saw against Cambridge and Newcastle earlier in the season, they don’t just lose; they actually capitulate. But sixth in League Two is still no disgrace for the team with the smallest budget in the EFL. The win propelled Crawley into ninth place. On this evidence, they could well go much higher.
Crawley Town: 1 Glenn Morris; 4 George Francomb (C) (Y); 19 Jordan Tunnicliffe; 24 Tony Craig; 3 Josh Doherty; 30 Jake Hessenthaler; 8 Jack Powell (12 Nathan Ferguson 87’); 20 Sam Matthews; 10 Ashley Nadesan (36 Max Watters 45’); 11 Tyler Frost 14 Allarkhia 78’); 16 Tom Nichols.
Subs not used: 32 Thomas McGill 5 Joe McNerney; 15 Archie Davies; 26 Brian Galach.
Morecambe: 1 Jake Turner; 5 Sam Lavelle (C); 6 Harry Davis; 11 Carlos Mendes-Gomes; 9 Cole Stockton (4 Nathaniel Knight-Percival 80’); 10 Aaron Wildig; 14 Alex Kenyon (24 Yann Songo’o 31’); 20 Adam Phillips; 16 John O’Sullivan; 21 Ryan Cooney; 22 Liam Gibson.
Subs not used: 13 André Da Silva Mendes; 2 Kelvin Mellor; 7 Jordan Slew; 18 Ben Pringle 19 Liam McAlinden.
Ref: John Busby.
