League leaders teach Crawley a lesson

Crawley 2nd XI 0 - 7 Hailsham 1st XI

Crawley came into this game know that it would be a very tough game against a team who had won all of their matches so far this season. The aim was to work as a team, do the basics well, and not to get frustrated and lose our heads.
The game started well for Crawley with basic solid play, and good discipline. Crawley were defending well and trying to break away on the counter but were unable to convert these plays into opportunities. Hailsham were clearly getting frustrated with the lack of breakthrough and started to lose their heads. Shortly after this, they started talking back at the umpires which earned a couple of their players green cards. Crawley couldn’t change their style of play quick enough to take advantage of the extra men on the field and play started to break down. Once Hailsham got back to their full 11, they scored a couple of well-worked goals in quick succession and one more before the break.

Crawley spoke at half time about moving the ball quicker in order to keep possession and create more opportunities. After the break, it was Hailsham who came out blocks quicker with a relentless onslaught of attacks with Chris White making some good saves. A few questionable umpiring decisions later, Hailsham were awarded a Penalty Flick which was put away. Crawley tried responding with some good attacks leading to a collection of penalty corners but they were to no avail as the ball went either just wide, or forced a good save. Hailsham then ramped it up a notch and proved too much for a tiring Crawley defence and got a couple of goals in quick succession. Frustration was clearly present at this point and combining this with a few more perplexing umpiring decisions, keeper Chris White (Yellow) and winger Josh Haworth (Green) were both carded. This then left captain Chris Rockingham in goal with just a helmet, who managed to save a barrage of attacks with some top saves keeping the score line down to 7-0. This included a variety of saves with his exposed feet and legs.

Captain Chris Rockingham commented afterwards "Discipline has cost us the game today. We started really positively but couldn't convert our chances. We allowed them to grab control of the game and not having a full compliment for large parts of the game meant we couldn't get back into the game. I can never fault the work effort of the team and we always play with smiles on our faces. We face Southwick away next week missing a large chunk of your usual side but we know we can get a result there."

Team: Chris White, Oliver Robinson, Ian Berry, James Fuller, Alex Coote, Kane Paterson, James Ortyl, Russell Hales, Josh Haworth, Theo Hillman, James Murphy, Chris Rockingham

MOTM: Chris Rockingham
DOTD: Chris White