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CRAWLEY TOWN 2 SOUTHPORT 0
Reports from Alan Jones Southport.gb.com
and Ron Ellis CHAMPION NEWSPAPERS
It is surprising that despite a torrid
initiation to life back in the Nationwide Conference, Southport have so far
managed to keep themselves above the relegation zone. Much more of this,
however, and it won’t be long before the Sandgrounders are finally drawn into
the dreaded bottom two.
Only a single point keeps them above twenty-first placed Forest Green Rovers and
the mere fifteen points accumulated to date means the side from Haig Avenue have
amassed their lowest return from sixteen matches since 1983.
Another miserable trip south, which again exposed numerous fallibilities, was
Southport’s ninth reversal so far - meaning they have now been defeated more
times than any other side in the Conference. Two wins from their last eleven
league outings inspires little and while diverse distractions have given cause
to cheer, they have faltered frequently when asked to obtain vital results.
An unbridled, unquestionable honesty will ensure the Sandgrounders keep fighting
and while eight teams remain notably compact at the foot of the table, a single
win, as shown by Scarborough this afternoon, is enough to transform the outlook
of victorious strugglers.
Despite a potential quest for glory, the FA Cup first round replay at Woking on
Tuesday evening is a fixture Southport could genuinely do without. Just days
later, in their final home Conference fixture before Christmas, the
Sandgrounders play Halifax Town in the most significant match of their season to
date. With five teams who currently occupy the top seven positions lying just
around the corner, it is imperative that the slide of Liam Watson’s men is
halted ahead of a packed winter period.
The opening of January’s transfer window will hopefully give manager Watson an
opportunity to address the fundamental issues which continually hamper his
side’s potential to progress. But with two players already known to have
rejected a switch to Haig Avenue, one wonders whether the prospect of a
potential relegation slog will attract the quality of player necessary to
rejuvenate the Sandgrounders’ dwindling fortunes.
By common consensus, Crawley Town, who began the afternoon two points below
their opponents, will finish well above the relegation quagmire. Competent but
not inspiring, the managerless Sussex side posses enough quality and experience
to suggest they have the ability to clamber away from an embarrassingly low
position.
Simon Wormull, Jamie Cade and Daryl Clare were a trio the Southport rearguard
struggled to contain and had it not been for goalkeeper Steve Dickinson, the
scoreline this afternoon would have reflected the hosts’ dominance more truly.
When Southport last lost three successive outings, Dickinson was cruelly axed,
but any repeat would sincerely unjustified despite witnessing another hat-trick
of Conference defeats.
The frustrations of Southport’s afternoon were epitomised shortly before
half-time when Chris Lane was instantly dismissed for a reckless two-footed
lunge on Town livewire Cade. The Sandgrounders’ lack of discipline worryingly
rose as they were continually left wanting, resulting in a further five players
receiving cautions.
Crawley, who are expected to appoint their new manager next week, established
the necessary requirements to obtain victory inside twelve first-half minutes.
The hosts engineered opportunities to add more as play progressed as they
persistently maintained the upper hand, while were seldom troubled by an
ineffectual visiting attack.
Jamie Cade opened the scoring on twenty-two minutes, when he tucked a low shot
beyond Dickinson from ten yards after being released by creative debutant
Tristram Whitman.
And Daryl Clare, whose thirty goals fired Chester City into the Football League
two seasons ago, bagged his fourth of the campaign shortly after. He drilled a
shot into the top right-hand corner from inside the area after approach play
involving Wormull and Lindegaard.
Crawley had previously threatened as Paul Armstrong’s effort was turned aside by
a smart stop from Dickinson, before Andy Lindegaard also shot at the Southport
‘keeper and Whitman flashed wide of goal.
While Town’s Clare was lured from Boston United for a fee reported to be
£60,000, Nick Rogan, the new Southport striker was plucked from Lancaster City
where he played on non-contract terms. Despite a promising start against Grays
Athletic two weeks ago, it remains too early to judge the former Morecambe
youngster, who fought admirably and recorded his side’s solitary shot on target
on forty-one minutes despite being largely sounded out.
To their credit, Southport dug deep after being reduced to ten men and although
were fortunate not to have conceded more, showed a commendable desire to
compete. Dickinson was alert to foil both Wormull and Lindegaard, while
substitute Giles shot over and Clare wasted two opportunities upon which he
should have capitalised.
Alan Jones
Match photos will be online on Sunday evening
Southport.gb.com Match Facts:
Southport: (4-4-2) 1. Steve Dickinson, 2. Chris Lane, 12. Farrel, Kilbane,
4. Neil Fitzhenry, 16. Michael Powell, 5. Carl Baker (21. Robbie Booth '57), 10.
Dominic Morley 14. Kevin Lynch, 20. Matthew McGinn (24. David Brooks '90), 7.
Kevin Leadbetter (3. Jerome Fitzgerald '71), 9. Nick Rogan.
Unused Substitutes: 15. Jamie Speare, 11. Steve Daly.
Referee: F. Graham
Attendance: 2,055
Southport.gb.com Southport Man of the Match: 1. Steve Dickinson
Final Score: Crawley Town 2, Southport 0
Possession: Crawley Town 60%, Southport 40%
Shots on Target: Crawley Town 5, Southport 1
Shots off Target: Crawley Town 3, Southport 0
Corners: Crawley Town 11, Southport 4
Fouls Committed: Crawley Town 2, Southport 9
Bookings: Crawley Town 0, Southport 5
Sent-Off: Crawley Town 0, Southport 1
CRAWLEY
TOWN 2 SOUTHPORT 0
BY RON
ELLIS
Most of
the fifty plus Southport supporters who watched this wretched display at
Broadfield Stadium on Saturday agreed that their team turned in their worst
performance of the season when they went down 2-0 to the second from bottom
club, Crawley Town. This ninth defeat of the campaign means they have now lost
more games than any other side in the Conference.
To make things worse, they had five players booked in the bargain and one sent
off. With the size of the squad they have, they just cannot afford to have too
many suspensions. The defeat now leaves them in 20th place in the
Conference, just one point and one place above the relegation zone. Ominously,
the next two league games are against teams in the top six.
Once
again, only another superb display of goalkeeping by Steve Dickinson kept the
score down to respectable levels whilst, at the other end, Southport had but two
efforts on target in the whole game.
After dominating play from the start, Crawley opened the scoring after 21
minutes when Jamie Cade slid in the rebound after Dickinson had blocked a shot
from new signing from Tamworth, Tris Whitman.
Whitman himself nearly added a second but the much-travelled Daryl Clare showed
he hasn’t lost his touch when he latched on to a loose ball in the 34th
minute and gave Dickinson no chance with a well drilled shot into the bottom
corner.
With
the game virtually lost by half time, the Southport players’ frustration bubbled
over. Chris Lane was dismissed after a two-footed lunge on Cade and five other
players (Leadbetter, Lynch, Kilbane, Powell and Baker) all received yellow cards
thereby probably landing the club with a disciplinary fine.
The
ten men battled throughout the second half and managed to stop the opposition
scoring without creating any worthwhile chances themselves apart from one header
from Kevin Lynch which grazed the crossbar. Other than that, it was a case of
booting the ball upfield in either hope or blind panic only to see it boomerang
relentlessly back.
Things look more hopeful for The Yellows on Saturday when Halifax Town visit
Haig Avenue. Barring injuries in last night’s cup replay at Woking, a full
squad is likely to be available. Halifax are one of the form teams of the
moment , lying sixth in the table after taking 11 points from their last six
games.
SOUTHPORT
Dickinson Lane Powell Kilbane Fitzhenry Baker (Booth 51) Morley Lynch
MccGinn (Brooks 90) Leadbetter (Fitzgerald 70) Rogan Subs not
used Speare Daly
ATTENDANCE
2055 REFEREE Mr F. Graham MAN OF THE MATCH Steve
Dickinson
LIAM
WATSON TALKS TO RON ELLIS
‘To be honest, I took a gamble on Saturday. I played Pickford,
Robinson and Krief in the Reserves on Friday night as I wanted them to have 90
minutes under their belt with the Woking game in mind. Therefore they didn’t
travel down to Crawley which, with Davis being suspended, didn’t leave me with
many options on the day. I rested Daly as he wasn’t really match fit.
I’d put our performance on Saturday on a par with Gravesend. Pretty
awful. Crawley were OK. Not as bad as their position in the table suggested but
certainly nothing special. But they were far better than us on the day. We
don’t seem to do well on these long trips. Luckily, we’ve got most of the really
distant ones out of the way. There’s only Exeter and Grays left now.
Chris Lane deserved his sending off. There’d been some niggling
going on for about five minutes. Baker had just been booked and Laney goes in
with a two footed tackle at just the wrong time when the referee was looking to
make an example of someone. With his experience, Lane should have known better.
I feel let down. I took Leady off because it was a racing certainty he’d be next
to go.
The first goal was a classic example of our defensive errors. Powell
was turned by Whitman onto his wrong foot, Dicko pushed the ball out front
instead of for a corner and Lane was asleep. Cade just waltzed in to pop the
ball into the goal. We’ve let in 31 goals in 16 matches, nearly 2 goals a game.
It’s obvious where we are falling down.
With Pickford, Krief and Robinson back in the squad for Tuesday, I
feel we’ve got most of a decent team. I bought Krief to play alongside Morley in
a midfield two but I’ve never had chance to do that until now due to injuries
and suspensions. I know the side needs strengthening but, at the moment, there’s
not a lot available out there to make us that much better. Crawley paid £60,000
for Daryl Clare who is reputed to be on £2000 a week. Stevenage have just turned
down £150,000 for one of their players. This is what we are competing against.
We’ve got no points from out last three league games. We need seven
from the next three to get us back on track. But, I repeat, I am totally
confident we won’t be relegated.’
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