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Vital Reserves Team
I'll do my best to sum up what was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon in Crawley. I saw that Elite said the BBC stats suggested we deserved the win and in my opinion, we certainly did.
In the first half, we controlled much of the play without ever troubling the goalkeeper. Alan Smith was playing an influential role in the midfield and we looked more like the home team whereas Crawley were sitting back and trying to soak up the pressure. Crawley's brighter moments tended to be as a result of us gifting possession to them but Collin only had to make one save worthy of the name.
The second half started badly when we sat off the Crawley attacker who had the space to shoot from the edge of the area. Thankfully, Notts didn't let this effect them too much and were soon on level terms thanks to an own goal which the assistant referee tried his utmost to rule out for offside! Thankfully, after a lengthy consultation with the ref, the right decision was made.
Our second goal was certainly the pick of the bunch after O'Connor played a short corner to Campbell, who returned it to his skipper. O'Connor gave the ball back to Campbell once more who turned and curled a lovely shot into the far corner.
Although Crawley's left winger regularly posed a threat and created a few openings for the home side, we finished the game strongly. Audel, who had come off the bench, earned a penalty after making a good run into the area and putting pressure on the Crawley defender who, whilst laying on the floor, handled the ball. Jon Stead smashed home the penalty and there was still time for Adam Campbell to smash a shot against the post.
The game was played in scorching heat throughout and the team put in a superb effort. There was a conscious effort to play the ball on the floor and while we certainly aren't the finished article, we appear to be improving with every game. The one real concern for me is that Collin isn't filling me with confidence in goal. He spilt a couple of balls in the area today and on another day we could have been punished. On a positive note, Adam Campbell played really well and his goal will have done him the world of good.
As we returned to our car, a Crawley fan complimented us on what a good team we looked. He had no complaints whatsoever about the result.
Apologies for such a long post but hopefully I did a really pleasing away performance justice. Really looking forward to Grimsby next week :beer:
In the first half, we controlled much of the play without ever troubling the goalkeeper. Alan Smith was playing an influential role in the midfield and we looked more like the home team whereas Crawley were sitting back and trying to soak up the pressure. Crawley's brighter moments tended to be as a result of us gifting possession to them but Collin only had to make one save worthy of the name.
The second half started badly when we sat off the Crawley attacker who had the space to shoot from the edge of the area. Thankfully, Notts didn't let this effect them too much and were soon on level terms thanks to an own goal which the assistant referee tried his utmost to rule out for offside! Thankfully, after a lengthy consultation with the ref, the right decision was made.
Our second goal was certainly the pick of the bunch after O'Connor played a short corner to Campbell, who returned it to his skipper. O'Connor gave the ball back to Campbell once more who turned and curled a lovely shot into the far corner.
Although Crawley's left winger regularly posed a threat and created a few openings for the home side, we finished the game strongly. Audel, who had come off the bench, earned a penalty after making a good run into the area and putting pressure on the Crawley defender who, whilst laying on the floor, handled the ball. Jon Stead smashed home the penalty and there was still time for Adam Campbell to smash a shot against the post.
The game was played in scorching heat throughout and the team put in a superb effort. There was a conscious effort to play the ball on the floor and while we certainly aren't the finished article, we appear to be improving with every game. The one real concern for me is that Collin isn't filling me with confidence in goal. He spilt a couple of balls in the area today and on another day we could have been punished. On a positive note, Adam Campbell played really well and his goal will have done him the world of good.
As we returned to our car, a Crawley fan complimented us on what a good team we looked. He had no complaints whatsoever about the result.
Apologies for such a long post but hopefully I did a really pleasing away performance justice. Really looking forward to Grimsby next week :beer:
