Middlesex vs Sussex ( att : 3,000 est ) – 2024 County Championship Division Two, Day One

May 24, 2024

Today saw a fixture between the top two sides in Division Two of the cricket four-day County Championship in England, and I arranged to meet up with a former work colleague to watch some cricket at Lord’s.

Sussex led the Division 2 table with 96 points, with unbeaten Middlesex 7 points behind on 89 points, 10 clear of third placed Leicestershire.

Middlesex Season So Far

Middlesex are seen as one of the traditional giants of English domestic cricket with 14 county championships and they were the dominant force in the land in the 1980s and 1990s under Mike Brearley and Mike Gatting. However, they suffered the embarrassment of relegation from Division One last year and would be expecting to make an immediate return to the top division.

Any idea that Middlesex would find the season a walk in the park were shattered in the opening match at home to Glamorgan as the Welsh side racked up 620 for 3 declared. Middlesex did respond with 651 all out, with allrounder Ryan Higgins plundering 221 as the game fizzled out to a dull draw.

The Middlesex bowling again suffered at Northampton, who compiled 552-6 declared but the Middlesex batsmen again showed their mettle by replying with 553 for 2 as Nathan Fernades made 103, Max Holden amassed 211 not out and former Derbyshire captain Leus du Plooy was unbeaten on 196. Du Plooy was born in South Africa but has played international cricket for Hungary !

The visit of Yorkshire, another of the big names in English cricket, to Lord’s brought a change of fortune as Middlesex won a low scoring encounter by 6 wickets, but a trip to Gloucestershire saw Middlesex bowled out cheaply on day one, but second innings centuries for Holden and du Plooy saw them safely to a draw.

Another high scoring draw at Leicestershire followed next as du Plooy again made three figures, his third century of the season, and ex-England International Sam Robson ( 7 Tests ) made 162, but in their last outing Middlesex achieved their second victory of the season, against Glamorgan in Cardiff, chasing down 213 to win by 2 wickets thanks to 63 from Mark Stoneman ( 11 Tests ) to add to his 129 in the first innings.

Looking at the statistics after 6 games, the Middlesex batsmen had scored 9 centuries and 9 scores of 50+ between them, but no bowler had taken a 5 wicket haul.

Higgins led the run chart with 531 runs at an average of 88.50 followed by du Plooy with 528 at 66.00 and Holden with 497 at 62.12. Stoneman had scored 380 runs at 42.22.

With the ball, medium pacer Ethan Bamber had the most wickets with 16 at an average of 35.18 whilst fellow new ball partner Tom Helm had 15 wickets at 37.00. Higgins fine season also included 14 wickets at 29.85. Captain and former England bowler Toby Roland-Jones had taken only 11 wickets at 45.63 and their three spinners had taken just 8 wickets between.

Sussex Season So Far

Sussex won their first county championship in 2003, and repeated this in 2006 & 2007, with Murray Goodwin, Mushtaq Ahmed, Chris Adams, Matt Prior, Michael Yardy and James Kirtley among the key contributors. However, Sussex have been languishing in the second division since relegation at the end of 2015.

Sussex have made no secret of their ambitions to be playing in Division One again, but they missed out on promotion last season as only three wins and 10 draws left them in third place. They were penalised 12 points for receiving four fixed penalties during the season although this ultimately made no difference to the final table.

At times Sussex seemed to put themselves under too much pressure to force victories so that their discipline and sportsmanship were seriously lacking at times, and the behaviour in a narrow win over Leicestershire was embarrassing, and four players missed the subsequent match due to bans being imposed by either the ECB or the club.

Ex-England wicket-keeper John Simpson ( 3 ODIs ) was recruited from Middlesex to become the new captain and provide better leadership, and all-rounder Danny Lamb joined from Lancashire. Neither were greeted with much enthusiasm by Sussex supporters on social media, but both have made important contributions early in the season.

Sussex opened their campaign with a draw in Northampton where a century from Tom Haines and a wagging tail gave them a first innings lead of just over 100, but they were unable to force a win on the final day. A trip to Leicester saw Sussex build a first innings lead of over 350 as Haines scored his second century of the season and John Simpson ( 205* ) and Danny Lamb ( 134 ) put on 255 for the 7^th wicket, but rain washed out the final day to deny Sussex the chance of forcing a win.

Sussex didn’t have to wait long for their first victory of the season, as Cheteshwar Pujura held his nerve to guide his side to a 4 wicket home win over Gloucestershire as they struggled to chase 144.

Pujura was also in good form at Derbyshire, making 113, and West Indian fast bowler Jayden Seales, who featured in these diaries earlier in the year for Trinidad & Tobago, took 5-29 to seal an innings victory.

Fragile batting then saw Sussex slump to a disappointing 9 wicket defeat to Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens, but Sussex bounced back to beat Yorkshire by 21 runs in a low scoring thriller.  The batting from Sussex was again suspect but an 89 from Tom Alsop gave their bowlers something to defend. Adam Lyth looked to be steering Yorkshire to victory, as they required just 182 and reached 158 for 6. However, in a dramatic finish England’s Ollie Robinson ( 20 Tests ) took three wickets and then Fynn Hudson-Prentice hit the stumps with a smart piece of fielding for a run-out to see Sussex snatch the win.

The Sussex batting statistics compare unfavourably to those of Middlesex, with only 5 centuries although there had been 15 scores of over 50, and the averages were nowhere near as impressive.

Haines was the leading run scorer with 380 at 42.22, closely followed by Pujura with 372 at 53.14. Five batsman had scored more than 275 runs, James Coles ( 348 at 43.50 ), Alsop ( 332 at 36.88 ), Simpson ( 326 at 40.75 ), Lamb (  320 at 40.00 ) and Hudson-Prentice ( 279 at 31.00 )

On the other hand, the bowling figures for Sussex were much superior to those for Middlesex and there had been three 5 wicket hauls ( two for Seales and one for Hudson-Prentice ). Seales was the leading wicket taker in the division with 23 wickets at an average of 21.86 and five other bowlers were in double figures for wickets. Robinson had 15 at 24.46, Jack Carson, Lamb and Hudson-Prentice all had 12 each ( at 29.00, 32.83 and 33.25 respectively ) and Coles had 10 at 24.90. The two Sussex spinners had taken 22 wickets in their 6 games.

Previous Visit To Lord’s

My only previous visit to Lord’s was in July 2009 to see Sussex vs Hampshire in the Final of the Friends Provident Trophy, the 50 over knockout competition.  I paid £52 for a ticket in the Upper Grand Stand, which had an excellent view from the side of the pitch, and there was a bar only a few steps away !

Despite a battling 92 not out from captain Michael Yardy, after losing four early wickets Sussex were only able to score 219 for 9 in their 50 overs, which Hampshire knocked off with nearly 10 overs to spare to win by 6 wickets.

The Sussex side that day also included internationals Ed Joyce, Luke Wright, Matt Prior, Murray Goodwin, Dwayne Smith, Yasir Arafat and James Kirtley. Hampshire’s side featured Jimmy Adams, Michael Carberry, Sean Ervine, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Chris Tremlett, Imran Tahir, and man-of-the match Dominic Cork, who took 4 for 41.

 

Watching Sussex

The first time I watched Sussex play was in July 1973, when my father took me to Hove to see the touring West Indies side play a three-day match. As an Essex fan he wanted to see Keith Boyce bowling for the Windies, and was happy when early on Boyce dismissed Geoff Greenidge, a white West Indian who opened the batting for Sussex. Former England International Roger Prideaux came in at number three and proceeded to cart Boyce around the ground as Sussex raced to 83 for 1. However, Bernard Julien had Prideaux caught behind for 43 and Sussex collapsed to 205 all out, with Julien taking 5 wickets.

At least I got to see John Snow bowl, and he dismissed Deryck Murray with the new ball, although Lawrence Rowe and Rohan Kanhai then put on a partnership to leave the Windies in a strong position at the close of play. The game was rain affected and ended in a draw.

My next visit to Hove was in June 1974 to watch a 40 over John Player League match against Hampshire. Gordon Greenidge scored a century, but four wickets for Tony Greig and two for Snow kept Hampshire to 190 for 9. At tea the Sussex supporters around us were confident of winning, but most of them knew little about young Antiguan fast bowler Andy Roberts. Even off the reduced run up enforced in the JPL he was seriously quick, and far too good for Sussex, who crumbled to 92 all out as Roberts took 5 for 13. My main memory of the innings was John Barclay coming out to bat in very cold conditions and dark clouds above, wearing just a short-sleeved shirt, to which a wag nearby observed “he doesn’t expect to bat for long !”

Working in London in the 1980s I got into the habit of taking a day off work once a year and driving down to Hove to watch one a day of country cricket. The last time I did this was in September 1990 when Middlesex were the visitors, knowing that a win for them would secure the championship. Sussex were no match for an attack of Angus Fraser, Norman Cowans, Simon Hughes and John Emburey, and when Neil Williams sustained an injury, Mike Gatting bowled 18 economical overs and took two wickets.  Even Desmond Haynes bowled a maiden as Sussex were skittled out for less than 200. I left early as Haynes and Mike Roseberry were flaying the pop-gun Sussex attack to all parts. Middlesex went on to win by an innings to become the 1990 champions.

Watching Middlesex

As well as the match at Hove in 1990, I have seen Middlesex play on one other occasion, when they played Essex at Uxbridge in July 1994. I was able to park in the company office car park and walk to the Uxbridge Cricket ground, to see Mark Ramprakesh and Mike Gatting tear apart an Essex attack spear-headed by Australian Mike Kasprowicz ( 38 Tests ), and also including England spinners John Childs ( 2 Tests ) and Peter Such ( 11 Tests ), to both reach three figures, and Haynes and Roseberry both got 50s. Such was Essex’s plight, Graham Gooch had to turn his arm over !

 

Matchday Information

Tickets for the day’s play were £20 for adults, £10 for over 65s and £5 for under 16s but a Lord’s’ account was required in order to be able to purchase the tickets. Tickets are automatically sent to the Lord’s App, but it was possible to then get the tickets sent to an email address to be printed-off at home.

 

My off-peak return train ticket to Marylebone on Chiltern Railways cost £32.50 and the walk to Lord’s took around 20 minutes but only 15 minutes on the way back via a shorter route !

Ground regulations limited the amount of alcohol allowed to be brought into the ground to one bottle of wine or champagne, or two 500 ml bottles/can of beer or cider. As I was going out in the evening I didn’t bring any drink with me.

The weather was I arrived was overcast and 16 degrees, and a dry day was forecasted.  However, with bad weather forecasted on Sunday and Monday, the two sides might struggle to force a result.

Morning Session

Middlesex won the toss and elected to field. Their XI included seamer Henry Brookes and spinners Luke Hollman and Nathan Fernandes. Strangely, the scorecard handed out free inside the ground showed Toby Roland Jones in the line-up but he must have been replaced at the last minute by Brookes. As a result, du Plooy was their captain for the match.

When I arrived at Lord’s, Sussex had raced to 56 for 0 off ten overs with Haines on 32 and Clark on 24. I met my colleague in the Warner Stand and we had a good view of the action close to behind the bowler’s arm and next to the Member’s Pavilion. The outfield looked in fantastic condition.

Middlesex vs Sussex is apparently a traditional bank holiday weekend fixture, which may have accounted for the very healthy crowd in attendance. The Member’s Pavilion was very crowded, and I was informed that it had not been that full all season. Furthermore, they all seemed to be watching the match, although perhaps later in the day after a few drinks a number would be fast asleep !

Higgins was bowling around the wicket from the Pavilion end with three slips but Clark immediately slapped a wide ball to the point boundary. Play was then held up for several minutes as Middlesex tried to get the ball changed, and I couldn’t figure out if they had been successful.

In the next over Haines drove Bamber through the covers for four and then steered a leg side ball to deep square leg for two more. A very short bouncer to end the over was then easily avoided.

Higgins produced a play and miss from Haines but in the next over Haines was surprisingly bowled by Bamber to be dismissed for 40 off just 37 balls. 66 for 1 off 13.1 overs.

Alsop came in first wicket down to be the third left hander in the top three and played his third ball off his legs for a single to get off the mark. There was then a loud LBW appeal against Clark, but the ball appeared to be too high and not out was the decision.

In Higgins’ next over Alsop edged but the difficult chance was spilled at slip by du Plooy. After 16 overs the scored had moved to 71 for 1.

Higgins had another LBW appeal against Clark but this one looked to going down the leg-side and again the umpire kept his finger in his pocket. Alsop then produced a nice drive down the ground off Bamber but a good piece of fielding limited it to three runs.

Higgins srtuck the pad of Clark again but this also looked to be going well down the leg side. After 19 overs the scored had progressed to 79 for 1, with Clark on 30 and Alsop on 7. Higgins had figures of 7-0-20-0 and Bamber 7-1-41-1

Sussex took a quick single, but a poor throw to the wicketkeeper avoided any danger, and more sloppy fielding followed with another poor throw towards the keeper leading to an overthrow.

Clark then tried to attack but a wild swing outside off-stump presented a regulation catch behind the wicket for Davies and gave Higgins his first wicket. Clark was out for 32 off 62 balls. 80 for 2 off 20.4 overs.

Pujara was next in and played and missed at his first ball, although a no-ball was signalled, which in the Country Championship counts for two runs. Pujara then showed good judgement to leave a ball outside off-stump which appeared to narrowly miss the stumps, perhaps indicating the Indian test batsman knows where his off-stump is !

In the next over, Pujara pushed nicely off Bamber for two to get off the mark, and after 23 overs it was 87 for 2.

Brookes was introduced for the first time, and forced Pujara into another play and miss, but the next ball was calmly pushed off his legs for a single.

Helm returned to replace Higgins at the Pavilion end, bowling very wide of off-stump to Pujara, but the one straight ball found an inside edge and the batsmen ran a single. Pujara’s scratchy start continued by nearly playing on to Brookes but then squeezed the ball through the slips for two. After being bogged down, Alsop then decided to play tip and run for a quick single to move to 11 runs off 40 balls.

On the stroke of lunch, Middlesex made another breakthrough when Brookes found the edge of Alsop’s bat and Higgins took a fabulous diving catch at second slip, grabbing the ball left-handed an inch off the ground, almost as if the ball was behind him, and lunch was taken at the fall of the wicket. Honours were just about even after the first session. Alsop was out for 11 off 45 balls. 92 for 3 of 27.5 overs

Surprisingly the crowd were allowed onto the hallowed turf during the lunch interval, although a ring of stewards were on hand to prevent anyone walking on the square. I was told this was the first time this had been allowed this season !

Wondering around the ground during the interval I was able to observe that a pint of Carlsburg was £7.50, Hobgoblin IPA was £7.25, Wainwright ale was £7.00, with Cider £7.50 and Guinness £8.00. Wines were £7.75 for a medium glass, Pimms and Lemonade was £12, and soft drinks ranged from £2.50 to £3.50 for a bottle of water. An expresso was £3 whereas latte, cappuccino and flat whites were £3.90.

Food wise, a hot dog or chicken sub was £9, a bacon bagel was £7, a salmon bagel £8, with chips being £5.

Afternoon Session

With the temperatures getting warmer, Brookes completed his unfinished over to start the second session, and Coles clipped his second ball off his legs for a boundary.

Higgins opened the bowling from the Pavilion and although Pujara played two nice cover drives they went straight to the fielders, and the only runs from the over was from another no-ball to bring up the 100.

After Coles pushed a single into the covers, Pujara played a nice back foot drive off Brookes for a boundary, after which Higgins tried to test the middle of the wicket with little impact, apart from recording a maiden over.

Coles managed to squeeze a full ball from Brookes towards the square leg boundary and poor fielding from Bamber resulted in four runs as he made contact with the boundary rope as he stopped the ball. However, there was little he could do to stop the next ball Coles played off his legs for four more. At the end of the over the score had progressed to 116 for 3 off 32 overs.

Higgins was milked for two singles before Coles played a streaky drive through the vacant gully region for three.  Coles then slapped a Brookes long-hop through point for three more, and Pujara played a controlled edge past slip for four.

After 36 overs it was now 131 for 3 with both Pujara and Coles on 20 not out. Higgins’ figures were now 13-2-31-1 and Brookes 7-0-35-1

Bamber returned at the Nursery end and bowled a maiden, and Helm replaced Higgins at the Pavilion end only to see Coles guide him first ball for four down to third man. Coles followed that up with a waft outside off-stump but then imperiously despatched a half-volley past point for four more and finished the over with a steer down to third man for another boundary to take 12 from the over.

The score was now 145 for 3 after 39 overs, with Coles on 33 and Pujara on 21.

Brookes then beat the edge of Pujara, and although the Indian appeared to withdraw his bat, it looked to be after the ball had gone past him. Unfazed he then stroked the next ball through the covers for three.

When Helm over-pitched, Pujara drove him straight down the ground. Brookes’ slow-motion dive could have been better, but another boundary was added to the total as Sussex reached 150 for 3. More sloppy fielding followed as Davies failed to gather a ball left by Pujara and a bye was run.

At the other end Pujara played a lovely leg glance off Bamber for another four and then produced a classy back foot drink for another boundary. He looked to now have got his eye in ! The score had moved to 164 for 3 off 42 overs, with Pujara now on 38 and Coles 33. Bamber’s figures were now 12-2-59-1

Out of the blue, Bamber found the edge and Coles was caught behind by Davies, making a diving one hand catch to his right. Coles had to go for 33 off 39 balls to make 164 for 4.

Ex-Middlesex wicket-keeper John Simpson received a good reception from the home crowd, and the fourth left hander in the Sussex top 6 received a friendly full-toss first ball to drive for a single to get off the mark and keep the strike. The scoreboard initially gave four to Simpson, but quickly corrected their error !

Helm continued with a 6-3 field and Simpson was watchfully letting most balls pass through to the wicket-keeper.

Bamber was still bustling in only for Pujara to score two more past the vacant gully area but with all of the Middlesex seamers appearing to be much of a muchness it would have been interesting to have had the speed gun to see how fast each of them was bowling.

There was still no sign of a Middlesex spinner as Helm continued to bowl wide of Simpson’s off-stump but with two fielders behind square on the leg side boundary. Simpson continued to leave most balls but did work a single to long leg. A bouncer to Pujara landing in Helm’s half of the wicket and sailed harmlessly over the head of Pujara, and a wide was awarded.

With Bamber also bowling well outside of Simpson’s off-stump it seemed Middlesex had a cunning plan against their former team-mate, but whatever it was it wasn’t working. Simpson did play and miss at one ball and there was a half-hearted appeal for a caught behind but nothing was given, and it was a maiden over

Although the runs were mostly drying up, there was still some loose balls for boundaries. A long-hop from Helm was despatched to the third man boundary by Pujara then Simpson played a lovely cut behind point for four off Bamber. It was now 178 for 4 off 50 overs.

Brookes replaced Helm at the Pavilion end and Pujura swivelled to pull a short ball to the leg side boundary, then easily clipped off his legs for a single. Simpson then punched a loose ball through the covers for 4 more as Brookes appeared to be bowling significantly slower than his first spell. The 9 runs from the over made Brookes’ figures to 8-0-44-1 as Sussex progressed to 187 for 4 from 51 overs.

Higgins was summoned to bowl from the Nursery end in an attempted to break the partnership, bowling with a 5-4 field, but Pujara took a single to reach 50, which was greeted with warm applause by the crowd. Higgins again attempted to get the ball changed, but after the Umpires conferred, the ball was thrown back to Higgins.

With tea approaching, the game was going through a quite spell, with the only boundary being a cover drive by Simpson off Brookes. Simpson played and missed at Brookes, but wicket-keeper Davies failed to take cleanly anyway.

By the time I needed to leave to catch my train back home, Sussex had moved to 199 for 4 off 57 overs, with Pujara still unbeaten on 53 and Simpson not out 16.

Postscript

By the close of play, which came early due to bad light, Sussex had gone through the post tea session without losing a wicket, having taken the score to 295 for 4 off 30 overs. Pujara was closing in on a century on 91 not out and Simpson was 71 not out.  

Middlesex had finally given their slow bowlers a twirl, with Hollman bowling 9 overs and Fernandes 3 overs. Bamber had 2 for 82 off 20 overs, but the pick of a steady but mostly unthreatening attack had been Ryan Higgins with 1 for 41 off 20 overs.

Sussex will feel that they had much the better of day one.

Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXqU8LXhvZk

 

Crawley Town 2-0 Crewe Alexandra ( att : 33,341 ) -2023/24 League Two Play-Off Final

May 19, 2024

The League Two Play-Off Final unexpectedly saw Crewe Alexandra meeting Crawley Town, as the sides that finished sixth and seventh in the regular season overcame the sides that had finished above them in the table.

Crewe remarkably halted the Doncaster Rovers juggernaut that had won 19 and drawn one of their last 20 matches, including a first leg 2-0 play-off win at Crewe. However, two early goals in the return leg levelled the tie, and with neither side being able to make a further breakthrough the game went to a penalty shoot-out, which Crewe won 4-3.

Crawley were a revelation in their tie against MK Dons, convincingly winning the home first leg 3-0, and then were outstanding in romping to a 5-1 victory in the return for an 8-1 aggregate triumph, which was apparently the biggest winning margin in EFL play-offs since they were introduced.

Being born and raised in Crawley, it was an opportunity to witness Crawley’s first ever visit to Wembley ! It would also be Fatbear’s first Football League match since the Covid Lockdowns………….

Previous Visits To Wembley

Working in Stonebridge Park in the 1980s and 1990s, it was convenient to attend matches at Wembley, being able to walk-up from the office to the stadium, and then driving home from the office car park afterwards, usually avoiding most of the traffic.

My first visit to Wembley Stadium was against East Germany in September 1984, when Bryan Robson scored the only goal in a 1-0 win. I saw England play 22 times at the old Wembley, including the last game before it was demolished and rebuilt, the 0-1 defeat to Germany. 

 

The only ever other England defeat I saw at Wembley was my previous visit, the 0-1 loss to Scotland in the Euro 2000 play-offs, where a 2-0 win at Hampden in the first leg was sufficient for England to proceed to the finals.

I was able to watch three of England’s matches in Euro 1996, the 1-1 draw with Switzerland, the 2-0 victory over Scotland and the penalty shoot-out triumph over Spain in the quarter finals after a 0-0 draw. I was also present for the Euro 96 final, where Germany beat the Czech Republic 2-1 thanks to Oliver Bierhoff’s golden goal.

Three other finals I attended at Wembley were the 1990/91 Division Two ( as was ) Play-off final where Brighton lost 1-3 to Notts County due to a Tommy Johnson hat-trick, the 1992 European Cup Final where Barcelona beat Sampdoria 1-0 with a Ronald Koeman free-kick in extra time, and the 1993 European Cup Winners Cup Final between Parma and Royal Antwerp, where the Italian side were victorious 3-1.

I have made one visit to the “new” Wembley after it re-opened, when a Manchester City supporting friend got me a ticket for the 2012/13 FA Cup Final, when Wigan caused an upset by beating Manchester City 1-0. In the chaos to catch the train home afterwards, the heavens opened and we got drenched !

Watching Crawley Town

The first Crawley match I can remember being taken to was in August 1969, when in their first home match after being promoted to the Southern League Premier Division, they drew 0-0 with Romford at Town Mead. I only watched two more games that season but was virtually an ever present for the next 10 years, through the glory days of the goals from Phil Basey and Eric Whittington and the goal-keeping of John Maggs, and the FA Cup First Round matches at home to Chelmsford City and Exeter City. There were also the low points of several seasons at the bottom or the lower reaches of Southern League Division One. I was there when Dartford won 10-0 in a Floodlight cup tie………..

I stopped watching Crawley when I went to University, but after starting work in London I would watch a handful of games every season, including FA Cup ties at Brighton, Exeter, Hayes, Met Police ( twice ), Hampton, Erith, Worcester, Sutton, Barton Rovers, Horsham and Tring, and home Cup ties against Northampton, Horsham, Bromley, Merthyr ( twice ), Hastings, Yeovil and Barnet plus, of course, some league games, many of them against Wealdstone.

Moving abroad prevented me from watching Crawley for a dozen years or so but since returning to England I have watched some of the more local games to where I now live, including 4 visits to Cheltenham, three at Wycombe Wanderers and Oxford United, plus Brentford, and Coventry City when they played at Northampton. I also saw Crawley’s first ever Football League match, a 2-2 draw at Port Vale in August 2011. 

 

Watching Crewe Alexandra

I had only seen Crewe on one previous occasion, travelling to Gresty Road in January 1995 to see Crewe thrash Brighton & Hove Albion 4-0 in Division Two as it was called at the time ie the third division of English Football. The Crewe side that day included Danny Murphy, Neil Lennon and Dele Adebola.

 

Crawley This Season

Crawley were amongst the favourites for relegation this season. The 2022/23 season had been one to forget, finishing in 22^nd place, three points ahead of Hartlepool.  A 2-0 win at Hartlepool three games from the end of the season had been decisive in the battle to stay up, and safety was confirmed a game later with 0-0 dull draw at home to Walsall, not that any Crawley fan complained about the lack of entertainment that day.

Crawley’s squad had been weakened during that season by the departure of many of their senior players due to a combination of the fallout of the John Yems racism case and getting high wage earners off the payroll. Manager Scott Lindsey, the third manager of the season, had to manage his small, injury prone squad wisely, and targeted the key games to pick-up points, and readily wrote-off games at Barrow and Mansfield, and the subsequent heavy defeats were irrelevant in the big scheme of things.

The signings made by Crawley during the summer hardly suggested ambition, with two players joining from National League South ( Klaidi Lolos from Oxford City and Jay Mukena from St Albans City, who had played against each other in the National League South play-off final ) and St Kitts & Nevis international Jay Williams signed from National League North side Brackley Town. Ade Adeyemo was recruited from Isthmian League South East Division side Cray Valley Paper Mills.

Two wingers were signed from the National League, Harry Forster from Bromley and Adam Campbell from Gateshead, and ex-Reading midfielder Liam Kelly had been released after Rochdale were relegated from the Football League. Danilo Orsi joined after being released by Grimsby as a replacement for last season’s top scorer and two goal saviour at Hartlepool, Dom Telford, who had been allowed to join Barrow. Defender Lawrence Maguire, brother of Harry, was deemed surplus to requirements by National League Chesterfield, so signed on a season long loan with League Two Crawley.

Against the odds, Crawley started the season well, winning 6 of their opening 10 league matches to sit in second place. The normal order seemed to have returned with just 6 victories in the next 20 games, as The Red Devils dropped to 15^th in mid-February. With Jeremy Kelly then joining from second tier US side FC Tulsa, and Lolos finally getting an extended run in the side, 8 wins in 11 games propelled Crawley back up to 7^th, including eye-catching away wins at Tranmere ( 3-1 ), Newport Country ( 4-0 ) and Mansfield ( 4-1 ). They remained in the final play-off slot despite then going 4 games without win, until a final day 2-0 home win over Grimsby secured their place in the promotion play-offs.

Including his hat-trick at MK Dons in the play-off semi-final, Orsi had scored 24 goals in all competitions this season, followed by Lolos with 14. Keeper Corey Addai had gathered some media attention for often playing like a right-back wearing gloves ! According to Transfermrkt, Jeremy Kelly was the most valuable player at €350K.

Average attendances at the Broadfield Stadium this season were 3,571, up from 3,106 in 2022/23.

Crewe Alexandra This Season

The Railwaymen were in their second consecutive season in League Two after finishing rock bottom in League One in 2021/22. Last season they finished in mid-table obscurity in 13^th place.

Crewe didn’t appear to unduly strengthen their squad during the close season, although experienced centre-back Mickey Demitriou joined from Newport County and playmaker Jack Powell joined from Crawley, only to be ruled out in October for the rest of the season with a cruciate ligament injury. Demitriou had been on the losing side on his three previous appearances at Wembley, losing twice in the play-off finals with Newport, and an FA Cup tie against Tottenham when Spurs were playing at Wembley whilst White Hart Lane was being rebuilt.

A couple of astute loan signings were made though, with right-back Aaron Rowe joining for the season from Huddersfield and defender Ed Turns joined on loan from Brighton in the winter transfer window. Wycombe Polish keeper Max Srtyjek joined on an emergency loan in April, and was the hero of the penalty shoot-out in Doncaster, especially for earning a yellow card for throwing the Donny keeper’s water bottle with notes on the Crewe penalty takers into the crowd behind the goal !

Crewe had been in the upper echelons of the table for most of the season and started with just three defeats in their opening 19 games to sit in third place. They then went on a run of 6 games without a win to drop down to 7^th, but then won 7 of their next 10 games to climb back into the top three. Unfortunately for them, a run of only 2 wins in their final 12 games saw them drop out of contention for automatic promotion and they needed a final day 1-1 draw at Colchester to ensure a place in the play-offs.

Ex-Tranmere striker Elliot Nevitt was their top scorer with 18 goals and had previously scored a hat-trick at Wembley, for Warrington Rylands in the FA Vase. Demitriou was next on 10 goals.

Of their other players that started in the second leg against Doncaster, three had come through their famed youth system ( Lewis Billington, Rio Adebasi and Joel Tabiner ), whilst forward Chris Long had Burnley, Brentford and Motherwell on his CV, Shilow Tracey was previously with Cambridge United and midfielder Conor Thomas was ex-Coventry, Swindon and Cheltenham.

Transfermrkt had two of the loanees as the most valuable players, rating Srtyjek at €600K and Turns at €400K.

The average attendance at Gresty Road, or the Mornflake Stadium as it is now known for Sponsorship reasons, was 5,090 compared to 4,289 last season.

Previous Meetings

These two sides first met in the 2011/12 season when they played out two 1-1 draws. However, in total Crewe have had the edge, with 12 wins against only three wins for Crawley, and five draws. Crewe were on a run of six wins and a draw in the last 7 meetings and won both encounters this season.  Back in October, Crawley twice led at home but three second half goals gave Crewe a 4-2 win. At Gresty Road in February, a goal from Adebisi gave Crewe all three points in a close encounter.

Matchday information

The weather at the 13.00 kick-off time was sunny with the temperature around 20 degrees, but it felt warmer than that.

Bet365.com made Crawley strong favourites at Evens, with Crewe at 5/2 and the draw at 12/5.

Both sides were allocated up to 38,000 tickets each, with the prices ranging from £27 to £65 for audits, with half price for concessions ( OAPs and Under 16s ) although strangely the age was 65 for Crewe supporters but only 60 for Crawley. There were also price reductions for young adults ie 17-21 year olds. 

However, the Ticketmaster booking system was shambolic. Category 1 tickets ( the most expensive ) were not initially made available, and it was very difficult to select a specify category 2 ticket, and in the end I had to let the system randomly allocate a ticket. I immediately received an email booking confirmation which stated the ticket would be sent by email up to 48 hours before kick-off, and the pdf with the ticket arrived on the Thursday evening.

 

On the Friday evening before the match it was said that Crawley had sold just over 16,000 tickets, with Crewe selling just over 14,000. Five blocks of seats on the far lower tier were empty, and surprisingly, a long line of stewards were in place on both sides, presumably to prevent anyone trying to spread out into more space. My seat had a pretty decent amount of space and didn’t feel cramped, and the view was good.

My off-peak return train ticket to Wembley was £28, and the match programme cost £10, but Wembley is a cashless venue so I had to pay for it by card.

 

The Crawley Fan Zone had Camden Hills beers on sale for £7.50 with Budweiser and Magners at £7.25, and wines were £9.90, but I didn’t see what the measure was. The South African Street Food stall was selling food for astonishing prices. BBQ Crispy Chicken was £13.10, Chicken Curry Wraps were £11.50, Joburg Stack Burgers were £12, and Chips were £4.90.

Prices inside the stadium were actually better value. There were several craft ales available for £7.25 which is not that much more expensive than my locals in Oxfordshire. Budweiser and Brakespear’s pale ale were £6.99. Gin and Tonics were £9.00. Pies were £5.75 and Cumberland Sausages were £8.30.

Crewe were in their usual red shirts with white shorts whilst Crawley were in a change kit of all white, a colour they had worn to clinch three previous promotions.

After a full season without VAR, including the play-off semi-finals, it was announced that it would be in operation for the play-off final. This would prove to play a crucial role in the game !

Crawley made one change to the side that started at MK Dons with Kellan Gordon replacing the injured Harry Forster. Crewe were unchanged from the side that took to the field at Doncaster.

Match Report

Crawley kicked off and fairly quickly looked to play keeper Addai into the right back position, but Crewe were primed for this with Nevitt immediately closing him down and forcing the clearance to go into touch for a Crewe throw-in.

Crawley had most of the early possession but neither side looked like creating any danger. The first attack of the match came in the 6^th minute when Crewe’s Tracey got past Jeremey Kelly on the right wing, but his cross was straight at Addai, who made a comfortable catch.

A minute later a long cross-field ball from Addai led to a nice move involving Jeremy Kelly, Campbell, Orsi and Campbell again but the final pass was intercepted by Adebisi who launched a swift counter attack for Crewe, but Williams was covering back for Crawley to avert any danger. At this point Adebisi was looking lively for Crewe and looked a danger on the left.

With 10 minutes played Liam Kelly was scythed down close to half-way line, but no card was shown by the referee, and I didn’t see who the offender was. Williams was then surrounded by three Crewe players and looked likely to lose possession but was perhaps a shade fortunate to be awarded a free-kick.

Demetriou then went marauding down the left for Crewe but his cross into the 6 yard box was easily claimed by Addai. At the other end, Turns was forced to make an acrobatic clearance to a cross from the right-wing, and when Crawley reworked the ball to Liam Kelly, the 25 yard effort went narrowly over the bar.

With 16 minutes on the clock Tabiner ran into a dead-end but was awarded a free-kick after going to the floor. However, he wasted the free-kick, which was overhit and went off for a goal-kick to Crawley.

Crawley then responded with a lovely flowing move with first time passes between Maguire, the two Kellys, Orsi and Liam Kelly again but the ex-Rochdale man’s effort on goal lacked power and Stryjek dived to make the save.

The first yellow card of the match arrived in the 18^th minute when Rowe chopped down Maguire close to the half-way line.

In the first twenty minutes, Crawley seemed to have a deliberate ploy of cross-field balls from the right to the left presumably thinking Billington against Jeremy Kelly was a potential opportunity ?

After twenty minutes Crawley had a throw-in deep into Alex territory and the Railwaymen brought all their players back to defend, but although Williams got his head to the throw, he was strangely judged to have fouled despite being ahead of the defender.

Crawley were getting on top and starting to probe. Wright’s long ball down the right-hand channel was just a little too strong for Gordon to keep in play, and a minute later Williams’ chip down the right saw Gordon crowded out by the Crewe defence for a goal-kick. Liam Kelly’s chip was then just a fraction too heavy for Campbell, and Stryjek was off his line to gather.

Then just like a game of cricket, the two sides took a drink break. However, Crawley were still on top and Lolos received a pass from Liam Kelly, cut back inside onto his left foot, but again the shot from outside the area lacked power, and Stryjek made a regulation save. Liam Kelly was the game’s most prominent player, but another attempted killer pass was a fraction too long for Orsi and again Stryjek dived on the through ball.

Crewe though started to get into the match and a free-kick into the danger zone was unconvincingly cleared by the Crawley defence for a throw-in. Demetriou’s long throw was headed away by Maguire, and when Crewe reworked the ball back out to the left, Adebisi’s cross was headed away by Conroy ahead of Nevitt.

Crewe were enjoying a good spell and another long throw by Demetriou was headed clear by Maguire and with Orsi about to make a dangerous break, Crawley were awarded a free-kick in their own area, with no advantage played by the referee.

After 36 minutes, Gordon pushed the ball past Adebisi and then ran into the Crewe left-back, but the referee deemed there was no foul and a goal-kick accrued for the Railwaymen.

Crewe’s best chance of the game to date came in the 37^th minute when Nevitt was able to slip away from Williams, and his 20 yard effort was pushed past the post by the diving Addai. The corner wasn’t dealt with by the Crawley defence and a stabbed shot from 8 yards was blocked, and eventually cleared for a Crewe throw.

Demetriou then released Thomas down the right but his shot was blocked and eventually the linesman’s flag was raised for offside. Nevitt then produced a delightful flick with the outside of his right foot to put Adebisi in space but good defending by Wright won a goal-kick for the Red Devils.

It was therefore slightly against the run of play when Crawley took the lead. Another flowing move saw Liam Kelly find Orsi inside the Crewe area, and the striker wriggled past Turns. Would he ever shot ? Yes, it seemed like an age but after great composure he fabulously finished with the outside of his right foot from 12 yards sent the ball past Stryjek and into the corner of the net ! 1-0 after 41 minutes.

Crawley were now rampant, and Lolos released Gordon down the right. Orsi was able to hold off Demetriou to allow the low cross to reach Jeremy Kelly but his first-time effort deflected off a defender to go narrowly wide for a corner. When the set-piece was played into the area, it bounced awkwardly high into the area and although Maguire got his head to the ball it sailed over the bar. Maguire hit the deck and appealed for a foul, but the referee ignored his claims.

Demetriou then released Long down the right, and although the Crewe striker was at least 5 yards offside, the linesman was 10 yards out of position and in no position to give the offside. Fortunately for Crawley the effort was blocked and cleared for a throw, which Addai leapt high into the air to claim.

Crawley finished the half strongly, the two Kelly’s combined to set-up Lolos, but his 25 yard effort flew a few feet wide, then Wright delivered a long free-kick across the Crewe area for Conroy to head back across goal, but the linesman’s flag was raised for offside.

At the half-time interval, Crawley deserved their one goal lead, but there was a long way to go.

Thirty seconds into the second half Crawley looked to be in trouble after giving away possession close to their area, but Conroy was adjusted to have been fouled and Crawley had a free-kick.

Gordon then got past Adebisi on the right-wing but his cross was headed away. Crawley managed to get the ball back to Gordon, but this time his cross was deflected off Adebisi for a corner. The set-piece was played short and wasted.

Long then made a dangerous run for Crewe and got past Wright, but Conroy was covering and was able to play the ball back to Addai.

The game’s controversial moment occurred in the 51^st minute. Campbell needlessly played a pass back to no one in particular, which Long latched onto and headed for goal. The ex-Motherwell man was clear and attempted to go around Addai and then fell to the floor. Referee Ben Toner awarded a penalty but with a couple of Crawley defenders making the TV screen signs, VAR intervened, and the referee was sent to the pitch side monitor to review. After some deliberation, the decision was reversed, and the TV screen in the ground showed a replay which showed Addai had got his foot to the ball and there had been no contact with Long, who had clearly dived. Fortunately, VAR was there today to overturn a clear miscarriage.

Confusion continued as the referee then awarded a corner, before deciding it was a goal-kick to Crawley. Perhaps in all the confusion the referee forgot to show Long a yellow card for simulation.

In the 57^th minute, Demetriou attempted but failed to prevent Orsi was getting to a long ball, but the referee awarded a soft foul against Orsi on the keeper.

Crawley still had the upper hand. Another cross from Gordon was deflected for a corner, from which Gordon showed good control to brush past two defenders only to see his goal bound effort pushed away by Stryjek.

Gordon continued to be in the action, and another ball in from the right found Lolos, and although the ball struck the arm of a Crewe defender, the referee deemed it not to worthy of handball and a penalty. Gordon then combined with Orsi in another flowing move, but a great tackle from Adebisi prevented more danger at the expense of a throw-in.

In a rare foray into the Crawley half, Adebisi sent a cross from a promising position far too long and off for a goal-kick to Crawley.

Both sides started to make substitutions, and Crawley surprising took off Gordon, who up till then had been a thorn in the Crewe left-hand side.

After 66 minutes Tabiner entered the referee’s notebook after bringing down Jeremy Kelly after a nice 1:2 with Lolos. The free-kick was headed out by the Crewe defence as far as substitute Adeyemo, who lashed a 20 yard effort over the bar.

Whilst Crewe had created very little, there was always the possibility that Crawley would make a defensive clanger, and Williams duly obliged in the 68^th minute. With ample opportunity to play the ball forward, Williams inexplicably decided to turn and play back towards his goal, where Long was lurking. Fortunately for Crawley, Long wasted a good position.

Despite this, it was Crawley who were looking the most likely to score the second goal and Liam Kelly made a strong run from the half-way line and slid the ball to Darcy, whose 20 yard shot was deflected over the bar. A minute later another good move saw Lolos play in Darcy, but his first time effort curled narrowly over the bar.

After 72 minutes, the teams took another drinks break, and Crewe made two more substitutions. The break didn’t change the pattern of play as Jeremy Kelly got to the left-hand by-line but his cross was too high for Darcy. The ball was reworked to Liam Kelly on the edge of the area, but his effort was tipped over the bar by Stryjek. The corner was headed away and for a moment Crewe looked to have a dangerous counterattack but a good tackle re-won possession for Crawley and they forced another corner.

As the game entered the last 10 minutes, Rowe cut in from the right and sent a bullet shot towards the Crawley goal, but Maguire was bravely in the way to head away. Crewe’s best chance was created in the 83^rd minute. Kirk floated a ball into the Crawley area for Demetriou to run onto but his header from a tight angle was pushed away by Addai at close range, who then claimed the loose ball.

It was to be an important miss as two minutes later Crawley doubled their lead. Conroy stepped past Nevitt and delivered a fabulous defensive splitting pass through the heart of the Crewe defence for Liam Kelly to run clear. His attempt to give Orsi a far post tap in was prevented by Demetriou, but the rebound fell kindly for Kelly, and with Stryjek on the floor having been committed to attempt to stop the ball to Orsi, Kelly placed the ball into the empty net from a tight angle. 2-0 after 85 minutes.

Crawley looked home and hosed at this point but their fans gasped when 10 minutes of added time were announced. To be fair the VAR penalty decision had taken nearly 4 minutes, and the drinks break nearly three minutes, so it wasn’t too unreasonable.

Crewe attacked for all of their lives worth, but lacked quality in the final third. Kirk played in Leigh, but his cross was appalling, then when a cross from the right reached Kirk, his volley went into the ground for an easy save for Addai. Turns then sent a long-range effort a couple of feet over the bar. Adebisi then stepped inside Adeyemo, but only to send a ball straight at Addai for another routine save.

The final minutes saw Crawley mostly time wasting near the corner flag, but Orsi surprised the Crewe backline by instead cutting back inside past two defenders, but Stryjek made a fine save to prevent another goal.

At the final whistle, Crawley had deservedly on the day achieved promotion to League One having dominated most of the game, and in Liam Kelly had by some distance the man of the match. Crewe were disappointing and didn’t really show up on the day.

Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa0zJPZYGVo

Crawley Town : Addai – Wright, Conroy, Maguire – Gordon ( Adeyemo ), Williams, L. Kelly, J. Kelly ( Tsaroulla ) – Campbell ( Darcy ) , Orsi, Lolos ( Roles )

Crewe Alexandra : Stryjek – Billington (Holicek ), Turns, Demetriou, Adebisi – Tracey ( Baker-Richardson ), Thomas ( Austerfield ), Rowe, Tabiner ( Leigh ) – Long ( Kirk ), Nevitt