The less said about United's last two performances the better, as Cambridge travel to Crawley Town in an attempt to rescue a disastrous season so far. The Red Devils will be a tough prospect, John Yems' side in 14th position and by no means completely safe, but they're unlikely to be relegated. They have hit a little blip in form recently but will look to take advantage of a U's side in disarray. As we capitulated to York, Crawley suffered their own personal agony by conceding a 93rd minute goal against Weymouth, the match finishing 3-2 to the Terras.
It's hard to know where to start when introducing Crawley, even their own fans don't know what's happening at the club on a daily basis, such are the off-field problems. Last season a couple of local businessmen, the Majeed brothers, took over Crawley Town promising investment and a path to the Football League. Manager at the time Francis Vines spent the promised money on some good players on good contracts, but money guarantees nothing in football.
Despite splashing out £60,000 on Daryl Clare and securing players like Lee Blackburn and Tony Scully on expensive three year contracts, their start to the season was horrendous and Vines was axed.
John Hollins was the man charged with saving Crawley, and did so with a seven match winning streak, one of those against the U's. By then the bills were stacking up, crowds were diminishing and the promised money was nowhere to be seen. Crawley were struggling and falling fast.
After the season had ended, players' contracts were cancelled and those who weren't were not being honoured. Come pre-season training only four players turned up and it was confirmed they'd be starting the season with minus ten points as punishment for administration. Hollins had a low wage budget and little time to sign players, his pre-season made up of hungry trialists and inexperienced youth players. The former Chelsea manager used his long list of football contacts to snap up some Conference stalwarts on non-contract terms, players such as Dannie Bulman, Scott Hiley, Jake Edwards and Gary Mills.
Not even the most ardent Town fan could predict how their season could go, and suffice to say they stunned many. Within five games Crawley's patched-up side had wiped out the ten points, including beating the likes of Rushden and Stevenage. The start of September yielded a superb 3-0 drubbing of York, but then Crawley slipped to four consecutive defeats, keeping them firmly entrenched in the bottom four. Crawley didn't do draws either; the 1-1 result at Altrincham on November 18th was only their second, after one at Exeter in August.
They consistently won one and lost one consecutively for weeks which slowly dragged them out of the relegation mire. Crawley defeated the U's at the Abbey before falling to Forest Green, then beating St Albans, and so it continued.
Unbelievably, after the FGR defeat, controversial Crawley owner Chas Majeed sacked Hollins as part of a 'cost cutting' measure despite Hollins admitting he was working for free. It was a staggering decision to sack a manager who had overcome a ten point deduction, a low wage budget and lack of a squad a week before the season to guide Crawley to midtable. Ben Judge and David Woozley, as the two most experienced players, were asked to mind the team until a suitable candidate was found, and it was almost two months before Horsham head coach John Yems was coaxed to Crawley. During the absence of a 'proper' manager, Crawley suffered a downturn in form which threatened the hard work Hollins had achieved.
Yems' first four games were unbeaten, Tamworth and Forest Green dispatched before creditable draws with Altrincham and St. Albans. A defeat to Aldershot signalled the end of the honeymoon period and despite a victory three days later at Burton, Crawley's last two games have ended in defeat, 1-0 away to Morecambe and last Tuesday's Weymouth heartbreak.
Crawley's home form is average, winning nine at home but losing six, usually by the odd goal. They rarely do draws at home; only ten games have ended all square in the 60 Conference home games Crawley have played since promotion.
One job for most at Crawley is keeping track of transfer comings and goings. Despite administration (this does not cover non-contract players) the Red Devils have been by far the most active of all Conference clubs. This season they've used a staggering 41 players, which is more than one new player every single game.
The more consistent players, in regards of games played, are the experienced heads of Tony Scully, David Woozley and Ben Judge. Youngsters Ben Hamer, Lee Blackburn and Scott Rendell have all played over half of the season. Rendell in particular will be one to watch, having scored 11 times in 22 starts. His strike partner is the pacy Elliott Benyon, signed on loan from Bristol City.
Crawley have three former U's in their midst - the aforementioned Blackburn, Scully and Marcus Richardson. Scully is a favourite at Crawley, scoring seven times in over 40 appearances, although its his pace and power on the wing which has made many goals for the strike duo.
Lee Blackburn made a few fleeting appearances during our Football League relegation season, turning down a short term contract with Cambridge for the security of three years at the Broadfield Stadium.
Marcus Richardson is the most recent U, having joined Crawley from United in January. He has struggled to hold down a first team berth at Town due to the prolific form of Rendell. In his two spells at the Abbey, Marcus made a total of 36 league appearances, scoring five times.
On the other side, United's Danny Brown will be returning to the Broadfield as an ex-captain of the Red Devils, making 37 starts over two seasons, scoring just once.
United have only met Crawley three times, once at the Broadfield, a miserable 1-0 defeat in the rain which saw Rob Wolleaston sent off for two harsh bookings.
Earlier this season Crawley triumphed 2-1 in front of over 3,300 fans, Jake Edwards and Scott Rendell scoring for Crawley before a Jon Brady wondergoal was confirmed as nothing more than a consolation.
But fear not, United have beaten Crawley before, in last season's clash at the Abbey. Jamie Cade gave managerless Town a one goal start after three minutes before a quickfire response from David Chick and Ritchie Hanlon resulted in a 2-1 success for the U's.
Current form -
CRAWLEY TOWN - DDLWLL (14th)
CAMBRIDGE UNITED - DDDWLL (20th)
Chris Vessey
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