Crawley 2’s 4 -4 Hailsham 2’s

Crawley welcomed Theo Hillman and Jack Mulcalhy for their first games for the 2’s this season, on a lovely sunny day. Sadly Crawley barely seemed to register the starting whistle for the match and were 2-0 down within 3 minutes! Only then did they seem to realise that they were playing a game of hockey and had given Hailsham a considerable head start.

Kane Paterson led the fightback with a few meaty challenges in the middle and managed to turn the ball over and set up a Crawley counter attack that a composed Scott Gibbons slotted into the corner. A few short corners followed as they kept up the pressure and Jamie Westwood managed to grab Crawleys 2nd and equalised.

Instead of turning the screw, Crawley switched off again and were unable to get the ball out of the “D” and Hailsham punished them for it and grabbed another to take the lead again. The match became very stretched with it going end to end. With 2 mins to go before half time, Crawley managed to convert another quick counter attack which saw the ball fall to James Fuller who wound up and buried it in the bottom left corner from the top of the “D”. Crawley went into the break in a positive mood.

With a few player changes at the break, Crawley dominated the earlier stages, and soon got a breakthrough with a through ball to Scott Gibbons, who calmly directed the ball past the keeper. Hailsham though to their credit did not give up and with a breakaway of their own, drove down the right wing and slotted the ball back for the Hailsham forward to sweep home, despite Chris Rockingham's best efforts.

From then on, it was all Crawley, but a combination of shots creeping wide, good saves from the Hailsham Keeper and also some brave defending kept Crawley out. With a shot from a short corner after the final whistle going despairingly wide as well, the game finished with Crawley unable to get that 5th Goal. Crawley got a result but it felt like 2 points dropped, rather than 1 gained. There were positives though to be found, given the head start they gave Hailsham, which took effort and showed good character to get back into the game.

Team
Chris Rockingham, Simon Teale, Andy Burton, Priyesh Patel, Matt Park, Ian Berry, Jamie Westwood, Liam Mulcalhy, Jack Mulcahy, Alex Coote, Kane Paterson, James Fuller, Scott Gibbons, Thomas Mackintosh, Theo Hillman.

Scorers
Scott Gibbons (2), Jamie Westwood, James Fuller