Crawley Town FC
Pre season has seen
the Red Devils joint
top of the new
signings table in the
Football League,
having secured the
services of18 new
players over the summer!
Rather than list them all, I thought I’d
attempt to highlight some of the key
signings you should hear more about
as the season progresses. Both Andre
Blackman and Billy Clifford have come
in as defenders with a connection to
Head Coach Dermot Drummy, having
worked with the Reds Manager as an
Arsenal trainee and as part of Chelsea’s
academy respectively. Goalkeeper Yusuf
Mersin played at U-18 and U-21 level
for Liverpool, while another goalkeeper
Mitch Beeney has joined from Chelsea’s
U-21s. Mitch is the son of former Leeds
and Brighton custodian Mark Beeney.
Midfielder Jason Banton is a former
England U-17 winger who played youth
football for Liverpool and had a spell
at Leicester City, while also joining the
Reds ranks is defender Lewis Young,
Sussex Cricket Club
With the season
having started in April
(when it was still largely
cold and wet I seem
to recall) and having
reported in the last
edition of Re: Magazine
that Sussex had begun life in Division 2
with a series of 4 consecutive draws, I’m
delighted to add that by the middle of
August, the Sharks STILL remain unbeaten
in the County Championship. Despite
this painting a somewhat misleading
picture with Sussex having drawn 9 of
their first 10 games, they managed to
secure only their second win with victory
over Gloucestershire at Hove. This was
largely thanks to 120 from Luke Wells and
113 from Ben Brown, while bowler Chris
Jordan took 4 for 36 as Sussex won by an
Innings and 2 runs, in other words, a damn
good thrashing!
Other highlights from the four day games
include centuries from Ed Joyce and
Luke Wells in the 10 wicket win over
Derbyshire, followed by another ton from
Joyce and 159 not out from Ben Brown,
either side of a terrific knock of 181
from Wells in the draw with Glamorgan
in early July. Overseas player and Kiwi
International Ross Taylor secured his first
and only century as he finished 142 not
out, coupled with a 5 wicket haul from
spinner Danny Briggs against Kent a
the brother of Manchester United player
Ashley Young. Josh Yorweth has agreed
a 1 year contract having been on loan last
season while defender Mark Connolly has
re joined the Reds on a 2 year contract
from Scottish side Kilmarnock. Midfielder
Jimmy Smith has taken over the Captains
armband, while perhaps the top signing
is that of striker James Collins, who has
become the first Crawley player to sign
a 3 year contract while they’ve been in
the Football League, having joined from
Shrewsbury. Collins has proved himself a
prolific goal scorer, having netted 76 times
in 222 appearances that have included
time with Aston Villa, Swindon Town and
Hibernian as well as a successful spell
for last season’s eventual champions,
Northampton Town.
Pre season form saw the Reds win 4
out of their 6 outings with their 2 defeats
coming against Championship Brighton
(0-4) and League One Millwall (2-3), while
the opening day 1-0 win over Wycombe
Wanderers maintained the extraordinary
statistic of never losing a game on the
opening day of the Football League
campaign. The only down side being
the sending off of Andre Blackman after
he collected his second yellow card in
few weeks later. While returning England
player Chris Jordan hit a magnificent
131 at Essex which contained 11 x 4’s
and 3 x 6’s. In essence it doesn’t take a
genius to recognise the fact that too many
draws instead of victories and automatic
promotion back to the top flight becomes
more difficult the further in to the season
you go – just ask Brighton & Hove Albion!
So what happened in the fast and frenetic
world of the Natwest T20 Blast? After
a promising start, winning 3 out of their
opening 4 matches, the Sharks bite
became more of a nibble as they only
managed to secure 2 more victories out of
their next 10 matches. This wasn’t helped
by two games being abandoned due to the
weather and the last match being declared
a ‘no result’!? Even Duckworth Lewis
couldn’t help then! Despite not managing
a century in this competition, Ross Taylor
top scored with a total of 394 runs at an
average of just over 56 per innings; his
best score was 93 not out in the first game
at Gloucestershire which included 4 x 4’s
and 8 x 6’s. The one century in this year’s
competition came from the reliable Chris
Nash who hit 112 not out in the 48 run
victory over Somerset at Hove.
Meanwhile in the other limited 50 overs
competition, known as the Royal London
One Day Cup, Sussex faired little better,
managing to win only one of their eight
matches this summer. The individual t op
scorer with the bat was Harry Finch with
stoppage time. This was followed up by an
unfortunate 2-1 defeat at Championship
side Wolves in the EFL Cup, despite an
excellent Crawley display, which was only
spoiled by a Conor Coady winner for the
hosts 15 minutes from time. There followed
a long trip up north which resulted in a
hugely encouraging 1-1 draw at one of
the favourites to go up, Doncaster Rovers,
thanks to Collins who opened his account
with a close range tap in. The Reds
moved up to 4th in the League thanks to
a midweek 1-0 win away at bottom club
Exeter City. Early days, but a 1-1 draw
at home to much fancied Barnet on the
Saturday, meant Town had hit the giddy
heights of 2nd in the league, thanks to Joe
McNerney’s equaliser.
Things have started well and are looking
up for the Red Devils in League 2 then….
so what are the fixtures to look out for in
the first quarter of the season? A short trip
to Portsmouth and home games against
Luton Town and Colchester in September;
Cambridge United at home in November
and then Leyton Orient away on Boxing
Day and a delightful 460 mile round trip
Plymouth Argyle on New Years Eve!
C’mon you Reds!
87 not out v Gloucestershire, while there
were two half centuries each from Finch,
Ross Taylor and Luke Wright. On the
bowling front, the top two performers were
Jofra Archer and Chris Jordan who were
the only Sussex players to achieve a five
wicket haul each with the latter claiming 13
wickets in his 7 matches.
The end of term report for the Sharks then;
a disappointing season perhaps in terms
of results, but with this year being one of
transition after the departure of long term
Coach Mark Robinson at the end of last
season and Luke Wright experiencing the
taste of Captaincy full time, new coach
Mark Davis will see the emergence of up
and coming talent as a positive for the
future. That talent amongst others includes
Hastings born Finch and 19 year old
George Garton, who despite only playing
2 matches in the T20, managed to record
the best bowling figures in this competition
of 4 wickets for 16 runs. Include top order
batsman Philip Salt, who made his debut
last year, right arm bowler Jofra Archer who
debuted for Sussex against Pakistan in the
tourists’ warm up match and 22 year old
pace bowler Stuart Whittingham who also
made his first Sussex start this summer
and the future certainly looks bright.
Exciting times are ahead for the Sharks,
there’s no doubt about that, we might just
have to wait a few seasons to see some
silverware back in the Sussex Cabinet.
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