Crawley away Saturday 26/04/25

[GrangeParkCobbler]

We have our last awayday this season as we travel down to Crawley to face The Reds at Broadfield Stadium.

Nothing on the game for the Cobblers after they assured themselves of League 1 survival with that win over already doomed Shrewsbury on Monday, but for Crawley they are still hanging on in there hoping that they can overhaul both Burton and Bristol Rovers and give themselves another season of League 1 football down in West Sussex. Three wins and a draw in their last seven games has at least given them hope and they sit three points behind the other two protagonists. Of course, if Crawley lose and either Rovers or Albion pick up a point then Crawley are down.

Founded way back in 1896 they didn't turn semi-professional until 1962 and only made it to the dizzy heights of the Southern League a year later. After many years in the Southern they won the title in 2004 to elevate themselves to National League level, winning that title in 2011 with 105 points to gain promotion to the Football League. Promotion followed again the next season to the third tier where they spent three seasons before relegation back to League 2. They clambered out again last season with playoff final victory over Crewe.

A turbulent summer though saw a raft of the players that won them promotion leave including 25 goal Danilo Orsi, goalkeeper Corey Addai and influential midfielder Will Wright, as well as Manager Scott Lindsay who headed off to what he thought would be bigger and better things at MK Dons. Fast forward a few months and Lindsey is back and those last seven games are those he has managed following the dismissal of Rob Elliott.

The Reds won the first three games of the season in all competitions but then a run of just one win in 19 sent them spiralling down the table. They have won six times at home in the league this season including last time out on Monday when they dispatched Exeter by 3 goals to 1. That game followed a creditable goalless draw at Champions Birmingham on Good Friday.

Rushian Hepburn-Murphy scored two of those goals against Exeter taking his tally for the season to nine, with 25 starts and a further 15 appearances off the bench he's been an almost permanent fixture in the matchday squad since his move from Swindon in the summer. Junior Quitirna with 8, Will Swan with 7 and Kamari Doyle with 6 have all weighed in as the goals have been spread around the squad. They have scored 52 in the league, that's five more than ourselves. The problem has been keeping them out with a whopping 82 going in at the other end, even Shrewsbury put five past them earlier in the season!

Former Cobbler Jay Williams started the season with Crawley and played his last game with them against us back in October before moving to MK in the January window. I wonder if Lindsey will try and get him back again this summer?

The head to head is limited, our first meeting with these was when we were on the wrong end of a giant killing in the FA Cup 1st round in 1991 when then Southern League Crawley beat us 4-2. Our first League encounter came in 2011 when they grabbed a 1-0 win at Sixfields, a feat they repeated in 2022. At Crawley though we won 2-1 in 2015 (Byrom and O'Toole), 1-0 in 2018 (Van Veen) and 3-2 in 2022 (Hoskins 2 and Bowie). The reverse fixture this season saw us run out comfortable 3-0 winners at Sixfields in with Fosu and Pinnock scoring either side of an own goal by the aforementioned Jay Williams.

Jacob Miles is the appointed ref for the game, 124 yellows and 4 reds in 31 games for this whistler who we last saw up at Stockport for our 1-1 draw there in October, that coming a month after his last Crawley assignment, a 3-0 Bolton win at The Broadfield Stadium.   

[Tabasco Kid]

Shouldnt this be in the other "Crawley away" thread?

[GrangeParkCobbler]

Shouldnt this be in the other "Crawley away" thread?

Shows how bad my eyesight is!!