Saturday 28th February 2009 - U's 1-1 Crawley: Seven card trick
We all love a baddie. In every walk of life, from football to panto (not an especially large step, admittedly) there is a villain, a man (or woman) we all love to hate. The hate figure of the moment is Sir Fred 'The Shred' Goodwin, hounded by the press for almost single-handedly demolishing the British banking system then running off with a gigantic pension, no doubt sporting a black cape, rubbing his hands together and uttering "Mwah-ha-ha-ha-hah!!" with every step. Perhaps the government will send its own MWALTH, Peter Mandelson, after him to try to get some money back. What's that saying about "to catch a thief"...?
In football we have our own Captain Hooks and Ugly Sisters, of course. The Premier League can offer the likes of El Hadji Diouf, Peter Kenyon and, for many, Cristiano Ronaldo, while the Football League has hardy perennials like Neil Warnock, Robbie Savage, Pete Winkelman and the man we still songs about at the Abbey, Mr Barry Fry. But do such social paraiahs exist in the genteel, rarefied world of non-League?
Oh yes. When it comes to the man they love to hate, Steve Evans is right up there with the best of them: a convicted cheat who still seems to have an ego the size of the Empire State Building, a full-figured gent with stentorian voice to match, his ranting and raving from the touchline, aided and abetted by his protege 'Super' Paul Raynor, has brought him more dismissals to the stand than most of us, although not he, have had hot dinners. And, dammit, despite all that, he appears to be doing a pretty good job of making little Crawley Town playoff contenders, notwithstanding his repeated protests about the size of his budget.
Today was the day the panto came to town for the second time this season after the FA Trophy debacle last month. The cash-strapped visitors had enjoyed a typical week, having signed two new players while their appeal had reduced a points deduction for fielding an unregistered player from four to one. One new boy, Weymouth escapee Santos Gaia, started at the back while second debutant Gavin Hurren from Mansfield began the afternoon on the bench alongside former U's loanee Ben Gill, recently signed from Cheltenham.
Our Gary made one change from the side which won at Grays, Jon Challinor a little unlucky to be dropped for Daryl McMahon, the boss perhaps preferring to have a left-footer on one side of his midfield three. The South Stand was occupied by local youngsters, leaving Crawley's doughty away following of 69 souls to the delights of the South Habbin.
For some reason the teams were late out and the match did not kick off until five past three, and proceedings came to an almost immediate standstill when from kickoff Scott Rendell leapt for a high ball out on the touchline with Danny Forrest and fell awkwardly, requiring some TLC from Greg Reid before he was able to continue.
The match was a disjointed affair from the off, with frequent stoppages punctuated by a dull roaring noise from the visitors' technical area as their management team encouraged their charges' vigorous game plan, and ironically enough the first booking of the day on 7 was for a United player, Phil Bolland harshly adjudged to have brought down the hulking Robbie Matthews, and there was a suspicion that ref Rushton had been influenced by the opposition into brandishing his card.
The yellows were evened up, however, less than two minutes later when Glenn Wilson knocked Jai Reason to the ground, and one suspected that the ref had made something of a rod for his own back in handing out such early punishments, which he would surely have to punish in like style for the next 80 minutes. Wayne Hatswell took the resultant free-kick and tried one of his 40-yard specials, but it floated feebly wide of the near post.
Michael Malcolm, booed by the unforgiving home fans for his diving antics during the Trophy match, presented United with a free-kick on 14 when he fouled McMahon, and Reason's free-kick found the head of Rendell, but he was running away from goal and could only float it into huge keeper Simon Rayner's gloves.
The match continued to flow like a coagulated jelly, Crawley playing a snarling, snapping pressing game and United resorting to too many hopeful long balls instead of imposing their own game and playing it on the floor, although Reason was again a beacon of skill and vision in the middle. On 21 his free-kick found Mark Beesley in the box, but his snap shot was blocked by Forrest, and the latter became the visitors' next bookee two minutes later for a mean-spirited felling of Rendell. Boo. Hiss.
Reason had a shot deflected away for a corner on 24 but United could not find a breakthrough from a couple of flag-kicks, then a neat through ball sent Matthews away for the visitors, but his daisycutter from twenty yards was easily gathered to his chest by Danny Potter.
United bounced straight back and Reason latched onto a through ball to try an audacious left-footed volley from 25 yards which flew just past the upright with Rayner beaten, then on the half hour it was Crawley's turn again when Matthews set up Jon Shaw to fire wide from inside the area.
On 32 Forrest committed a dreadful foul on Bolland, only for the man in black to implement the refs' unwritten rule that no player should be shown two yellow cards in the first half, even if their first foul is as bad or indeed worse than their first. So much for consistency and clamping down, Mr Rushton. He might as well as shouted "Hack away, lads - I won't send you off!"
Two minutes later it got worse for the U's. Hatswell was sloppily caught in possession and robbed by Matthews in his own half, he found Malcolm who floated a hopeful cross towards the box and Potter, rushing from goal, totally misjudged its flight; Shaw jumped just in front of him, the ball sailed over Potter's flailing gloves and bounced queasily into the unguarded far corner of the net. Shaw claimed the goal although any touch must have been minimal as the flight of the cross did not seem to change at all: 1-0.
Evans' portly pink-bellied shirt wobbled in approval. United seemed to have little response, the midfield struggling to exert any control and supply to the forwards therefore extremely limited in terms of both quality and quantity. McMahon cut in from the right and shanked a lame left-footed shot wide of the near post when a cross or even a shot for the far post might at least have created some sort of scoring opportunity.
The yellow cards continued to mount for the visitors, however, Simon Weatherstone for bringing down Chris Holroyd on 40 and Matthews for holding off Reason on 44 with what looked like a palm to the face. Final indignity of the half, however, came in added time when Reason challenged Malcolm in the centre circle, the latter overreacted like an hysterical Violet Elizabeth Bott and Mr Rushton added the unfortunate United man's name to his bulging book. Not a satisfactory half at all.
Our Gary gets flak (sometimes deserved) for being a bit of a tinkerman, but who could blame him on a day like this when a system which had functioned perfectly well for several matches suddenly looked utterly ineffective? To his credit he took decisive action, removing two underachievers in McMahon and Beesley and introducing Robbie Willmott and Courtney Pitt to go 4-4-2 for part two.
The ref remained consistent in his inconsistency in letting Weatherstone off a second yellow on 47 for a cynical tug on Pitt, but United had started the half positively and actually trying to pass the ball on the ground. Evans introduced Hurren for Forrest within five minutes of the restart, which at least saved the latter from a red card later.
Seconds later Gaia brought down Holroyd and Reason took a quick free-kick which almost caught the visitors napping, Rendell getting a shot away from fifteen yards which just cleared the bar. Reason found Willmott on 52 and his shot was deflected behind for a corner, then up the other end Matthews sent a cross into Potter's midriff, which did not stop Shaw cynically following through and flattening the U's number one, causing a stoppage of several minutes while Greg did his stuff. Another booking for Crawley - five, if you've lost count.
Now United were in the ascendant, albeit the match was still studded with stoppages, although Weatherstone fired wide on the hour, and Hurren received his side's sixth booking on 62 for a nasty lunge at Pitt. Reason lofted the free-kick into the box, but an unmarked Bolland could not get proper purchase on his header and it bounced wide of the far post.
Willmott and Carden tried a short corner routine on 65, Willmott cutting inside and shooting, but a crowded box blocked it away, then Rendell screwed a shot wide under pressure. Frustration began to squeeze players and supporters like a pair of underpants two sizes too small.
Bolland tidied up a Matthews break on 74, then Gaia felled Holroyd as he made to sprint clear to collect his side's booking number seven. Reason stepped up to take the free-kick 25 yards out, but it skimmed over the wall and just cleared the bar.
Lewis Killeen was introduced in place of Shaw on 77, the latter ambling off as if he were on a nature ramble, then came a remarkable incident in which Reason and Wilson collided accidentally five yards from the ref and the latter kicked out and tripped the U's man as they both got to their feet. Somehow none of the three wise officials saw anything amiss.
Next minute Reason found Holroyd with a free-kick, but Jake Wright deflected his shot wide for a corner, but the pressure continued and it finally bore fruit eight minutes from the end. Hatswell, now almost an auxiliary striker, was jumped on by Gaia just outside the box, Pitt this time stepped forward, and he curled a quite superb free-kick over the wall and into the far corner to leave Rayner helpless. Vintage Courtney: 1-1!
Chris Giles replaced Wilson for the visitors on 87 as both sides searched for a winner, Killeen forging forward to take an air shot in the United box then having the temerity to claim a penalty which the man in black predictably laughed away. Missed the chance of another yellow there, ref.
United were only denied a winner in the six minutes of added time by the brilliance of Rayner. First Reason whipped a corner into the middle and found Hatswell, rising unchallenged in the centre of goal; his header was powerful, but somehow Rayner managed to paw it away into the air and it was eventually scrambled clear. Then following another corner Anthony Tonkin arrowed a cross that arced over everyone to the far post where Willmott was arriving unseen, but Rayner flung himself at the United man and made another heroic point-blank block. Dagnabbit.
It was not to be, and after another corner for the hosts and another free-kick for the visitors, it was all over. Somehow we had got through the afternoon without a red card, and United had just fallen short against opposition which is frequently unpalatable but always difficult to beat. Would that the standard of the first half had matched that of the second.
Which all leaves Our Gary with something of a selection quandary for the next two matches against the two teams which are above United in the table. There are no easy or guaranteed answers, but all we ask is that the players play their very best and give 100%. The rest is in the lap of the gods. And if all else fails, we will have a splendid choice of pantomime villains to boo on Monday...
Statto Corner
United and Crawley have now been Conference rivals for four seasons, and in eight league meetings neither side has managed to score more than two goals in a match against the other: United's home scores are 2-1, 1-2, 2-1 and 1-1, while away they have gone 0-1, 1-1, 1-2 and 2-2. In that time only one player from either team has scored more than one goal in total: Scott Rendell, who notched both of Crawley's goals when they gained their only win at the Abbey on Valentine's Day 2006. He has yet to add to that total for the opposing side.
Our only other meetings have been in the FA Trophy this season - you might remember Crawley's 5-0 win here - and in United's last season in the Southern League, 1969-70, when they won 2-0 in Sussex and by a mammoth 8-0 at the Abbey. Paul Gilchrist, on loan from Charlton Athletic at the time, notched a hat-trick, although his greatest claim to fame was to be part of Southampton's 1976 FA Cup winning team. At the end of the season United were voted into the Football League while Crawley, along with Burton Albion, were relegated from the Southern League's Premier Division to the First Division, to be replaced by Bedford Town and Cambridge City. Burton won only three league games all season.
Courtney Pitt's league goalscoring record now stands at exactly one in ten after he scored his thirteenth goal in 116 games plus 14 as sub. Curiously enough, he has never scored in any cup match for United despite participating in 24 of them (including ten as sub), nor in any of the three playoff games in which he has appeared. He has, however, scored in the League Cup for both Boston and Luton.
Player Ratings
Potter 7. Held his hand up for the goal, otherwise fine.
Gleeson 7. Decent effort and offered good support going forward.
Bolland 8. Always in the right place at the right time.
Hatswell 7. Also at fault in the build-up for Crawley's goal, but did not let that affect him.
Tonkin 7. Assured performance.
Reason 8. Again the creative hub of United's team.
Carden 7. Solid display.
McMahon 6. Unconvincing and no surprise when he was withdrawn at half-time.
Beesley 6. No lack of effort but unable to create anything of note in his 45 minutes.
Holroyd 7. Pace and movement always a threat.
Rendell 7. Put in a decent shift as target man.
Willmott 7. Good, lively contribution wide right.
Pitt 7. Helped change the game with the switch to 4-4-2 then a brilliant equaliser.
Match Summary
It's always tin hat time when Steve Evans and his cynical kicking, shoving and arguing team come to town, and today was no exception. United did not cope well with them at first (neither did the ref) and gifted them a poor lead, but the return of the wingers heralded a revival and they so nearly snatched the win they deserved at the death, only to be denied by some brilliant goalkeeping in injury time.
Man of the Match
Phil Bolland. Time and again he was on hand to stop Crawley attacks in their tracks in the first half, and he helped provide a solid base for United's revival in part two.
Ref Watch
Rushton 3. You almost feel sorry for any ref who has to take charge of a match involving a team as cynical and, ahem, 'robust' as Crawley, but after a firm start with a couple of early bookings to show who was boss he gradually let things slide, and his failure to hand any visiting player the second yellow he deserved smacked of double standards and lily-liveredness.
Becky's World of Wit and Wisdom
"Courage consists not in blindly overlooking danger, but in seeing it, and conquering it." [Stoke, 22/9/92]
Hello... Goodbye
Today's birthday boy is Jimmy Calderwood (1955). Jimmy was a Scottish Under-23 international right-back who fell out of favour at Birmingham City after over 150 appearances and played eight games on loan for the U's in the 1979-80 season. His most memorable game for United was his second, at Burnley: the U's had their entire six-man wall booked for failing to retreat at a free-kick, Derrick Christie was subsequently dismissed for a second yellow, and Calderwood followed him for protesting about the decision. Burnley eventually won the game 5-3 win two goals in the last three minutes.
Jimmy plied his trade in Holland after leaving Birmingham, and also started his managerial career there before taking charge at Dunfermline in 1999, then at Aberdeen in 2004 where he remains to this day. He has put on a pound or two since his playing days.
Today's debut boy is Ricky McEvoy. The only United player to have been born in Gibraltar, the Irish youth international midfielder made his U's debut on loan from Luton Town on this day in 1987 in a 1-0 home win over Scunthorpe. He scored once in eleven games, in a 2-0 win at Burnley, before returning to Kenilworth Road, but he only made one substitute appearance for the Hatters and thereafter never appeared in a League game again.
Soundtrack of the Day
The Welcome Wagon 'But For You Who Fear My Name'
Andrew Bennett
Andrew's previous match reports
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