Creepy Crawley:2 U's:1

On the way back from Crawley last night, I saw the man with the worst job in the world.

He was sitting on the back of a lorry moving very slowly along the motorway, and every five metres or so he had to drop a cone marking an area which is presumably going to be dug up by workmen. I imagine at 6am, or whatever time they stop digging, he goes along and picks them all up again.

Having said that, at least TMWTWJITW didn’t waste £8 of his hard earned cash watching United succumb to dismal defeat at the hands of Steve Evans’ well organised Crawley outfit. Evans refereed the game brilliantly from the side lines, and it was noticeable that in the first half Crawley got a lot of free kicks on their left (near the dug-outs) and in the second half a lot of fouls were conceded on their right (near the, er, dug-outs). I’m sure it was a coincidence though.

Anyway, it would be unfair to blame Evans for this defeat, which was all of our own making. Presumably JQ forgot to tell the rest of the players that the John Hartson lookalike who usually plays up front for us is injured now, as they decided to aim a continual stream of long, high, hopeful passes at diminutive strikers Boylan and Beesley.

With Crawley doubling up on Pitt and Gleeson, there was little space in wide areas either, and United struggled to retain possession. It was no surprise when the hosts took the lead following a spell of sustained pressure, although it was goal you would expect our usually watertight backline to have dealt with. A free kick floated over to the back post saw Lawrie Wilson beat Peters in the air and headed the ball back across the face of goal, where Kevin James arrived unmarked to nudge the ball past birthday boy Danny Potter.

We found an equaliser against the run of play, and inevitably it was Boylan who got it. Convery’s corner found Peters, whose goalbound header was deftly flicked past Ashley Bayes by LB for his 7th goal in 5 games. Crawley resumed their dominance, with Potter saving well with his legs from Pittman, and clutching an angled shot from Cook.

I don’t know whether the players got a half time rollicking, but if they did it had little effect, and Crawley regained the lead in the 58th minute. A diagonal pass from left to right found Cook, who beat Morrison and provided a cross which Danny Bulman volleyed home with Potter once more helpless.

You couldn’t really accuse our players of not trying, but quality and confidence were sadly lacking. JQ introduced Willmott and Collins in place of Peters and Convery and changed the shape to 4-4-2, and after this we were marginally better, with Willmott in particular getting some joy down the right. However, we rarely threatened Bayes (who, as ever, took the taunting of the U’s fans in good spirit). The closest we came was when a cross from young Robbie found fellow sub Jack Jeffreys. His shot was blocked but the rebound fell to Boylan, who turned in a trice and looped a shot over Bayes which clipped the bar and bounced behind.

It would have been a fortuitous point after what was the worst performance I’ve seen from a United side this season. One wonders whether, in McEvilly’s absence, a switch of formation to 4-4-2 would be prudent. The likes of Boylan and Beesley (who again had an ineffective game) are certainly more likely to benefit from quality crosses from wide areas than they are from the long ball garbage we were treated to last night. Sort it out Jimmy!

Man of the Match: Lee Boylan – Even though he didn’t do much, scoring the goal and having another shot on target puts him way ahead of any other candidate.

Bounce of the Match: A tie between the steward and the policeman who responded to the “give us a bounce” demands of the United faithful.