Ah yes, Crawley Town. For those of you making the trip down to sunny West Sussex for this one, we’re told that there is no rain forecast. It means you don’t have to check your travel insurance policy to make sure it covers “wasted time” – we can’t see how this one will be called off, but lets not underestimate Crawley’s ability to pull the plug at 7.30pm when someone discovers a family of clown fish setting up home in the centre circle.
Looking back, we have form for picking up the points at Crawley when it matters most – there was that 2-1 win back in 2005 when we were chasing down the playoffs, and the 3-0 victory when Joel Byrom netted from the halfway line in pursuit of the Conference crown. This, you could argue, is another one of those games that matters. After two straight wins lifted us off the foot of the table, a victory tonight could see us gain another place.
Now, let’s be honest – we haven’t lost at the Broadfield (or Checkatrade) Stadium in three attempts and you have to go back to August 2007 for the last time. But that suggests they are due a break at some point. And their home record against teams in the bottom half is formidable – as it stands, it’s the third best in the division, with 13 points from a possible 15. That’d be four wins and a draw from the five games in those circumstances.
But in shaping that record, Crawley have only managed to score seven times. We have the worst away record against lower half teams, but we’ve still managed to find the net on 10 occasions. We’ve also scored in each of our last nine league games against the Red Devils; the last time we drew a blank is March 2007. No doubt scoring goals is still a problem for us, but a few more worldies from Luke Freeman and we’ll be laughing all the way.
Here’s What You Need To Know:
[expand title=”WE’VE MET BEFORE…”]
| 26 Oct 2013 | H | Sky Bet League One | 2-0 |
| 29 Mar 2013 | A | npower League One | 1-1 |
| 15 Dec 2012 | H | npower League One | 1-2 |
| 27 Mar 2010 | A | Blue Square Premier | 3-0 |
| 06 Mar 2010 | H | Blue Square Premier | 2-0 |
| 13 Apr 2009 | A | Blue Square Premier | 2-0 |
| 25 Aug 2008 | H | Blue Square Premier | 1-1 |
| 01 Mar 2008 | H | Blue Square Premier | 3-1 |
| 11 Aug 2007 | A | Blue Square Premier | 1-2 |
| 31 Mar 2007 | A | Conference National | 0-3 |
| 19 Aug 2006 | H | Conference National | 2-3 |
| 17 Apr 2006 | H | Nationwide Conference | 2-1 |
| 17 Dec 2005 | H | FA Trophy R3 | 0-2 |
| 29 Aug 2005 | A | Nationwide Conference | 2-1 |
| 19 Apr 2005 | A | Nationwide Conference | 2-1 |
| 21 Mar 2005 | H | Conference Cup QF | 2-1 |
| 16 Oct 2004 | H | Nationwide Conference | 1-0 |
| 17 Mar 1988 | A | Knights Floodlit League QF | 0-1 |
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[expand title=”REFEREE WATCH”]
It was supposed to be him last time, and whaddya know, it’s going to be him again. Iain Williamson found himself in a bit of an awkward position last time, having to call off a game that Crawley Town had earlier that day said would be taking place. And you can be sure that no person wants to make two trips to Crawley in a season, let alone two wasted ones with the promise of a third somewhere down the line.
We’ve taken a look through the BoroGuide vaults and found just three games in which Mr Williamson has been in charge. The most notable thing, however, is that there was nearly a decade between the first two – Margate in March 2002 and Gillingham in January 2011. In total, our record with him present is the proverbial mixed bag. We’ve won one and lost one, which means we’ve also drawn one too. You see? Mixed.
• This season for Iain Williamson:
Games: 18 — Yellow: 49 (2.72pg), Red: 1
• Our record under Iain Williamson:
P3 W1 D1 L1 F3 A2 — Yellow: 4, Red: 0
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[expand title=”FIFA 14 VERDICT”]
Team:
Day; Obeng, Dembele, Ashton, Hartley; Akins, Smith, Doughty, Freeman; Charles, Zoko
Two wins on the spin – that’s our justification for keeping things as they are for this game. However, this was the first time we had Bira Dembele at our disposal after the tardy guys at FIFA HQ decided to update the game. What they don’t seem to understand is that here at BoroGuide, our word soup has to be served up long before Friday night. We don’t want them to go by our schedule… oh, actually, yes we do.
Back at the first time of asking, we won this one thanks to a Lucas Akins’ brace during the second half. We could’ve settled for that outcome, and we should’ve settled for it. After an excruciatingly bad first half, we were relieved to take the lead soon into the second period through Jimmy Smith. But then we got complacent. And Dannie Bulman got lucky. And it turned the air a deep, dark shade of blue at BoroGuide HQ.
FT: Crawley Town 1-1 Stevenage
(Bulman 68′; Smith 51′)
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[expand title=”BOOKIE BASHING”]
Risk-free £10 wager you say? Sign up with Titan Bet and it can be yours. So where’s your money going? Nine of Crawley Town’s 14 home matches have yielded fewer than 2.5 goals and a 10th is 8/11. You can get Both Teams To Score at the same price. First half potency is an issue for Crawley; Under 1.5 in the first period for them is 4/7… on the flip side, we struggle to score in the second half to the point that Under 1.5 for us is 1/14!
But if you’d rather, check out what the alternatives are offering…
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