Re: Autumn 2016 | Page 109

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. 107