BladeInThatcham
Member
Having taken 3 trains through some places I never even knew existed I arrived in Crawley at about 11:15. I had arranged to meet Olle at 11 and ModTheGod a little later. Olle, being the tight arse that he is, had decided to save money and cycle down from London. I think it's fair to say this goes down as not one of his better decisions. Olle finally joined us at 12:40 - that's right, 1hr 40 minutes late.
Having had a a decent couple of ales in the weatherspoons, paying £1.89 for a pint of Ruddles, I went across to the Brewery Tap which was a great little pub with plenty of real ales on the go.
A few ales later we decided to cab it to the ground getting there just in time for kick off no thanks to the ridiculous queue at the turnstiles (only 2 open for us).
The first half was pretty uneventful with the blades having a decent chance whena good move ended with Flynn feeding in kitson whose shot was deflected over. Crawley showed glimpses of why they have 2 promotions under their belt in the last 2 seasons. But the key element was that they had absolutely nothing in the final 3rd to match their play. Then came a moment of quality to separate the two teams when McMahon fired in a free kick into the bottom corner. In my opinion their keeper was at fault for not lining up his wall correctly. At half time we spoke to a Crawley fan who said we were all over them.
The second half was pretty much all Crawley in terms of possession but our defence stood firm with Maguire and Collins dealing with everything that came their way - Maguire in particular was immense. Blackman twisted at the edge of their box and fired our best chance straight at the keeper. Ironside came on for the tiring Kitson and his clever play earned a free kick in a central position that I thought was too far out to shoot. McMahon knew better though as he placed an unstoppable free kick (our view) into the top corner. Cue absolute mahem in the away end. There was still time for Macdonald to burst forward and create a good chance for himself shooting low to the keeper's right that ended up a pretty routine save. Crawley continued to press without looking dangerous and the 2-0 scoreline was never really in doubt. Some great banter between the fans and stewards in the corner particularly when the 'orange jacket' gave back all the inflatables. He used to be shite, but now he's alright...
We walked back to the town centre and back to the Brewery tap for a few more ales and a chat with a Crawley fan. He said we hammered them and were one of the best sides he'd seen there. I asked him who he thought our best player was and his response: "that little feller on the wing". That would be Flynn. Didn't quite see it myself.
3 trains later I arrived back home and somehow managed to not fall asleep at all so that was a win in itself.
Cracking day, good ale, clean sheet, 2 superb goals, 3 points and top of the league. I'd have taken that at the start of the weekend.
Wizards.
Having had a a decent couple of ales in the weatherspoons, paying £1.89 for a pint of Ruddles, I went across to the Brewery Tap which was a great little pub with plenty of real ales on the go.
A few ales later we decided to cab it to the ground getting there just in time for kick off no thanks to the ridiculous queue at the turnstiles (only 2 open for us).
The first half was pretty uneventful with the blades having a decent chance whena good move ended with Flynn feeding in kitson whose shot was deflected over. Crawley showed glimpses of why they have 2 promotions under their belt in the last 2 seasons. But the key element was that they had absolutely nothing in the final 3rd to match their play. Then came a moment of quality to separate the two teams when McMahon fired in a free kick into the bottom corner. In my opinion their keeper was at fault for not lining up his wall correctly. At half time we spoke to a Crawley fan who said we were all over them.
The second half was pretty much all Crawley in terms of possession but our defence stood firm with Maguire and Collins dealing with everything that came their way - Maguire in particular was immense. Blackman twisted at the edge of their box and fired our best chance straight at the keeper. Ironside came on for the tiring Kitson and his clever play earned a free kick in a central position that I thought was too far out to shoot. McMahon knew better though as he placed an unstoppable free kick (our view) into the top corner. Cue absolute mahem in the away end. There was still time for Macdonald to burst forward and create a good chance for himself shooting low to the keeper's right that ended up a pretty routine save. Crawley continued to press without looking dangerous and the 2-0 scoreline was never really in doubt. Some great banter between the fans and stewards in the corner particularly when the 'orange jacket' gave back all the inflatables. He used to be shite, but now he's alright...
We walked back to the town centre and back to the Brewery tap for a few more ales and a chat with a Crawley fan. He said we hammered them and were one of the best sides he'd seen there. I asked him who he thought our best player was and his response: "that little feller on the wing". That would be Flynn. Didn't quite see it myself.
3 trains later I arrived back home and somehow managed to not fall asleep at all so that was a win in itself.
Cracking day, good ale, clean sheet, 2 superb goals, 3 points and top of the league. I'd have taken that at the start of the weekend.
Wizards.