A fan's view: FA Cup tie's not over yet!

On Saturday Dermot Drummy’s team showed once again just what’s been missing in recent seasons, with a hard fought performance full of grit, determination and passion against a Bristol Rovers side who have been flying in League One.

If Crawley are to progress to round two then they certainly have to do it the hard way by going to Bristol next week.

But the belief is there between players and fans that this tie isn’t over just yet.

For 70 minutes Crawley more than matched their higher league opponents and only the red card Reds’ defender Blackman received for a second yellow with 20 minutes to play altered the pattern of the game.

What was a welcome sight was seeing the much loved Matt Harold back in a Reds shirt.

He could have a huge part to play from now until the end of the season. With Josh Payne, Jordan Roberts and Dean Cox all looking to come into the match day squad things are certainly looking good on the playing front.

Quite a lot was made of the 12pm lunchtime kick-off on Saturday.

The original reason being given for this was due to Police resources being needed in Lewes later in the day for the fireworks display and even though the game attracted just short of 2,300 fans, you can’t help but think had the game been played at 3pm or even on the following afternoon I’m sure you could of added several hundred more to that figure.

A lot of people who live in and around the town work shift work at Gatwick.

They have always been the main employer to the local area. Shift work and early kick-offs just don’t work.

Add to that the amount of kids teams that play on a Saturday morning and the club really have missed a trick here by not moving the game to the Sunday afternoon.

This Wednesday the club travel to the impressive St Mary’s Stadium to take on Southampton U23’s in the newly formed EFL Trophy. A competition that Crawley have already progressed in thanks to victories over Colchester and Charlton.

A result at the Saints would guarantee top spot and a home tie in the next round.

Crawley have never had much success in this competition so it’s refreshing to see us doing well for a change and although it might not be the Champions League, it’s still an opportunity to pit ourselves against teams outside of League Two, not to mention a day out at Wembley for the finalists. How amazing would that be for the town!

With a home league fixture to come against Cambridge United this Saturday it would be great to see as many local people attend the game as possible.

With it being International week and England playing Scotland on the Friday evening there is just no excuse not to get yourself down to the Checkatrade stadium and cheer on this exciting looking new Crawley team. The new owners have done their part by lowering the kids’ prices, just £4 for under-16s and £1 for under-11ss.

You can help us push on up the table, just imagine how exciting an end of season play-off would be, something the club have never experienced! #RedArmy!

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