U's:1 Creepy Crawley:1
It's a mark of how long it is since I last went to football that a lot of the players are sporting different hair cuts now compared to when I last saw them.
Dan Gleeson closely shaven head has become a lot fuzzier, Jon Challinor looks as if he's preparing to audition for the role of lead singer in My Chemical Romance, and Scott Rendell's transformation into Wurzel Gummage is continuing apace.
One thing that I'm sure will never change is the touchline antics (the word antics always makes me chuckle for some reason) of the Crawley management team, and Mssrs Evans and Raynor were bouncing up and down in typically hyperactive fashion throughout the match. You'd think someone as fat and short as Evans would try and keep a low profile, but instead he chooses to don a naff pink shirt and sport a headful of rubbish blonde highlights. You can take the man out of Glasgow...
Meanwhile Raynor seemed set on waving a piece of paper in the face of anyone who came anywhere near him. The contents of it remain unclear - the latest price list for A4 manilla envelopes perhaps? Anyway, the gruesome twosome had little cause for complaint today, as their team put in one of the single most nasty, vicious, thuggish displays of football I've ever seen at the Abbey. In fact if highlights are ever produced of the match they should probably be prefaced by David Coleman's famous intro to the Uruguay - Italy "battle of Santiago" game from 1962.
It wasn't helped by the referee, who set himself up for a fall when he carded Bolland and Wilson in the first couple of minutes. Of course, when the game turned out to be one littered with fouls he continued to dish out the yellows, but was a bit more reticent when it came to giving any of Crawley's multiple villains a red. The most blatant incident came in the early moments of the second half, when Simon Weatherstone had the Pittster in a double arm lock, a deed which would surely have earned the midfielder a yellow card were he not already on one. I have no problem with the refs not wanting to send people off at the drop of a hat, but there has to be some consistency.
United had the better of the first half of the first half, without creating a great deal. Rendell guided a Reason free kick into the keepers hands, and Beesley did will to get a cross in which zipped across goal without getting the neccessary final tough. Crawley, or to give them their old name, Halifax Town, then took control of proceedings for the rest of the half, and strikers Robbie Matthews and Jon Shaw both spurned presentable chances before they went in front. The frustrating thing was that the goal came from a double error on our part. Hats gave the ball away when he could have just cleared into touch, and Michael Malcolm fired in a fizzing cross, which Shaw reached ahead of a flapping Danny Potter to guide a header in off the post. 0-1.
The 4-3-3 set up wasn't really working that well, with the gap between midfield and the strikers taking on chasmic proportions. So it was no surprise when the Brabinator switched to 4-4-2 for the second half, with Pitt and Willmott replacing Beesley and the disappointing McMahon. Both players made an impact, and in general United looked much more cohesive. The only disappointment was delivery from the many free kicks we gained, which was invariably poor, and doesn't bode well for Monday's encounter with the Villagers where, lets face it, set pieces will play a big part in proceedings.
Pittsters goal was the honourable exception, coming as it did from a direct free kick after Hatswell had been sandwiched right on the edge of the area by two defenders. To my eternal shame I was (inwardly) calling for Jai Reason to take it, as the angle appeared to favour a right footer, but Courtney took aim and fired a beauty across Simon Rayner and into the far corner. Back of the net. 1-1.
The goal aside, United had enough chances to put the game to bed. In the opening moments of the second period Rendell latched on to a quick free kick from Pitt but fired over, while Willmott had the ball knicked off his toe as he was about to shoot from 12 yards. But the most glaring misses came in six minutes of injury time, most of which stemmed from a pointless assault by Shaw on Danny Potter which left our number one requiring several minutes of treatment from Greg Reid. First Hatswell got free to meet a Reason corner and power a header goalwards. It had goal written all over it in big letters, but somehow Rayner managed to get hands to it and palm the ball away. Then some enterprising play from Tonkin saw him whip in a cross which found its way to Willmott at the back post. He took a touch and fired a shot goalwards but Rayner lunged at the ball and somehow deflected it over the bar. Blast.
In a way the game was very much like our encounter with Oxford, but with added violence. United didn't get going properly until after Crawley scored, but once we had momentum we could and should have won the match. When they're not fouling, diving, or moaning, I think Crawley are pretty decent, so a point isn't a bad result, but it would have been nice to start this run of four tricky looking games with a win. Oh well, we'll have to do it against the Villagers instead.
Man of the Match: Jai Reason - Carden and McMahon were both off their games yesterday, so it was left to the boy from Ipswich to carry our midfield. Despite looking like Jermaine Easter, he appears to be a very decent prospect. Work required on the free kicks though.
Fall of the Match: Lewis Kileen's comical attempt to con the ref in the last minute, when he tried a shot, missed the ball completely, and fell over screaming for a spot kick. Should've been a yellow for diving really.
