Away Day Experience: Leyton Orient

This Saturday saw a rare chance for me to get to see Crawley play "in the flesh" since our 1-1 draw with Swindon Town at the start of February.

At the beginning of the season, I decided that I'd make every London away game to watch the Reds.  Leyton Orient, I believe the last of the clubs in this vicinity.

Hopping on the train from Southampton at 11am. The packed carriages meant me and two other friends had to stand the whole way to Waterloo - believe me, it wasn't a pleasant experience, with people treading on your toes, barging, pushing etc. A harrowing experience for a chubby, 5'7' man!

Anyway, we reached Waterloo, took a train to Bank and then reached darkest, deepest east London and the delightful sights that Leyton has to offer. A plus note was the pringle shaped velodrome that we could see in the distance as we walked towards the ground.

Now those who do not know me, won't understand my difficulties with trains! I'm very thankful for both Josh and Ben in showing me the way to reach the destination with plenty of time. On coming back from Aldershot, I got through my door in Southampton at 10.30pm. It was a 3pm kick off for goodness' sake, and both places are in the same county!

We reached the "Coach and Horses", a stones' throw away from the ground and I've got to say, it was very nice - an old school Nag's Head (Only Fools and Horses) feel about it. The prices weren't too bad either, considering we were in London.

The pub in all it's glory

It soon started filling up with a number of Reds fans, a few natives dotted around as well and about half an hour before kick off, we left and headed to Brisbane Road; a new ground for me and my Dad, who now has visited all but one London Football League ground; The Valley, Charlton Athletic.

It was a strange stadium; wooden seats seemed to signal the history that the place had, after all, it has been the home of Orient since 1937. However, in the four corners of the ground, were modern, swanky looking flats! It just didn't make sense. Surely things aren't that cramped in London that flats are being build inside a ground!? A decent view for the occupants though, I'd imagine.

You can see part of one flat to the left, and one in the other corner

Onto the game and, we really did dominate early doors; Billy Clarke opening the scoring with an absolute cracker after turning his man, he fired into the top corner.

A few of our fans were ejected for lighting a smoke bomb, my view is that it's slightly idiotic, however, it's only for a bit of colour/fun etc and it's not as if every week this happens (I think the last time was Accrington at home a few years ago during the Majeed era). Not that I'm condoning it due to some people's health (asthma etc) problems, but some were making it out to be the next World War. It wasn't.

It could have been more when the much-maligned Mike Jones saw his header hit the crossbar.

Second half was different though, Orient had their spells and threw everything at us, particularly in the final 15 minutes, but great defending by in particular, Joe Walsh and Mark Connolly saw a resolute performance turn into our first win since New Years Day.

Expected more from the hosts in truth, they had no real clear cut chances and the home fans were very quiet throughout. Russell Slade's side could be in for a tough next couple of months if they continue playing like they did.

It sets us up nicely for out match against Brentford tomorrow (Tuesday) night. A win against them and then Bury away on Saturday could see some momentum gained at just the right time.

The home fans quickly dispersed 

A quick KFC to celebrate the win and an un-eventful train journey back, saw me in at 8pm - a little different from the Aldershot trip!

COYRs!

Reds battle back to stun Stevenage

Stevenage 1-2 Crawley Town

A Dannie Bulman winner against old club Stevenage grabbed Crawley the points as Richie Barker's side recorded their first win in eight.

Leaving at 11.30, the trip to Broadhall Way was disrupted by a few hold ups on the M25 before finally arriving at Broadhall Way almost two hours later.

Outside the ground was a memorial for former Boro winger Mitchell Cole who passed away last month.

Memorial: Mitchell Cole

Before the match began, there was a minute's silence that was impeccably observed by all before referee Michael Oliver kicked off the game.

Crawley started well and winger Mike Jones had two early chances within the opening five minutes; firstly firing wide and then straight at Stevenage goalkeeper Steven Arnold.

Stevenage had their own first notable effort after eight minutes when Robin Shroot, fresh from signing a new two-year deal, saw his run and cross tipped away by visiting 'keeper Paul Jones to Greg Tansey, who's follow up was blocked by Crawley defender Mark Connolly.

On 24 minutes, a driving run from Hope Akpan saw him reach the byline but his cross just eluded Nicky Adams at the back post.

Stevenage had possibly the best chance of the first half when, after 39 minutes, David Gray's burst from right back saw his low cross dummied by Lucas Akins to Lee Hills; his goal-bound effort was hacked clear by the impressive Connolly.

My view at Stevenage

The away side saw Josh Simpson's toe poke fly just wide after an out-swinging corner from Adams wasn't cleared by the hosts just five minutes before the break.

Stevenage came out with more purpose after half time with Tansey slicing wide just four minutes before Gary Smith's side earned the opener; a quick throw found Gray who's ball across the box reached Shroot, and he scrambled the ball past Mat Sadler on the line.

Despite going one down, the Red Devils upped the ante and Akpan had two efforts in quick succession just after the hour mark; shooting over the bar from 20 yards and seeing his downward header comfortably saved by Arnold.

However, Akpan's luck changed on 67 minutes when he pounced after Adams drive was only pushed away by Arnold.

Four minutes later and Crawley took the lead; a pass from Mike Jones found Bulman with space, he let fly and his 30 yard strike deflected of Bondz N'Gala and into the back of the net to send the travelling fans into ecstasy.

Stevenage boss Smith, made a double substitution on 78 minutes in a bid to get back into the game as Darius Charles and Luke Freeman replaced Miguel Comminges and Hills respectively.

Tansey had a few more chances that flew wide before Freeman and Tansey once more had Paul Jones flying across goal as Crawley held on for a much needed victory.

STEVENAGE: Arnold, Gray, Hills (Freeman, 78), Tansey, Dunne, Haber (Agyemang, 81), Akins, Roberts (c), Comminges (Charles, 78), N'Gala, Shroot

CRAWLEY: P.Jones, Sadler, Connolly, Akpan, Alexander (c), Simpson, Hunt, Bulman, Adams (Akinde, 89), M.Jones, Davis (Walsh, 46)

Warren meets... Sergio Torres

After our game with Swansea City on Tuesday night, I met up with the player who gave me my best ever Crawley moment and had a chat with Reds' fans favourite Argentine!

WL: Sergio, firstly, let's begin with your time in Argentina; how did you get into football? Did you play regularly over there?

ST: Yeah, I've been playing since I was about 5 years old - that's when I started kicking the ball. I was playing for my home town team until I was around twenty one. I then played as a semi-professional in the 4th division for a couple of years and then had my chance to come and play in Europe. In Argentina, it's very difficult - if you're not in the top league by the age of twenty or twenty-one, it's very hard to make it as a professional footballer. For me, the dream was always to be a professional player so that's when I wanted to try my luck in Europe.

WL: So when you said you wanted to come over to Europe, what did your parents say? Were they happy with you coming abroad at a relatively young age?

ST: My Dad always supported me in football and he always wanted me to do well. However, my Mother didn't want me to go, she didn't want to miss her little boy! With me coming to England and not speaking English (at the time), she was a little worried. They've both supported me though and now I've been in England for 9 years so they've kind of got used to it!

WL: They keep coming over to see you now and again, I think they came up to Bury on the CTSA (Crawley Town Supporters Alliance).

ST: Yeah, they come maybe once or twice a year. My Dad especially misses watching me play football and they both come over. They came to Old Trafford as well which I suppose is the "main game" really!

Sergio with his Mum and Dad after the game at Rotherham last season

WL: We'll talk about your career in England now, and, you initially had a trial at Brighton. It didn't come of anything and you had spells in non-league at the likes of Basingstoke and Molesey, did these experiences at non-league level toughen you up?

ST: Yeah definitely - it taught me a lot about the English game. When I went to Brighton, I knew that I needed to adapt to the English game - I had to learn how to tackle more than anything. At Molesley and Basingstoke I learnt a lot, learnt how to tackle and how to defend. Both are a key part of the game and I feel that I am a more complete player now than when I first came to England.

WL: John Gorman then brought you to Wycombe. How grateful are you to him in giving you your big chance at being a professional?

ST: He's a legend to me. He's a great man. He was not only a good manager but he treated us all as if he was our Dad and I will always be thankful to him for giving me that chance that I was looking for since I came (to England). He's great.

WL: Do you still keep in contact with him (Gorman)?

ST: Every now and then I send him a message. I know he's retired from the game now but he's just a really nice man.

WL: You were then signed by Peterborough, unfortunately, injuries held you back a little, do you feel you could have been a regular in the Championship for them?

ST: I played about 9 games and I really enjoyed it when we played. Unfortunately, we got relegated back to League 1 that season. It was difficult - It was a good move for me but I kept getting injured here and there and I missed Wycombe quite a bit too - I spent 3 years there (Wycombe) and my head was a little over the place but thankfully I came to Crawley and it all came to life again. I've really had the most amazing and enjoyable two-and-a-half years here!

WL: Indeed. Now, you're a little bit of a legend here (Crawley) and I said to you on Twitter today about my favourite moment being that goal against Derby. Talk me through it. What was that like!?

ST: Wow! It was unbelievable! You're right, it was you that said it today and I had a look (at the video footage). It gives me goosebumps every time I see it and it was amazing! It's hard to explain that type of feeling - it was something that I've never had before in my life. It was the whole occasion, the club being in the 3rd round of the FA Cup for the first time in quite a few years, beating Derby - a Championship side and the whole crowd going crazy! It was just... unbelievable!

Check the video below out for Sergio's moment in Crawley history:

WL: So when the ball did come to you from Deano's (Dean Howell's) corner. What were you thinking? Just pass it in or slam it and hope for the best?!

ST: I tried just to keep it on target because I knew where the goal was but there were a lot of bodies in there. I thought if I smash it it could go anywhere! It's split second and you have to make the decision. Fortunately, I just opened my foot up and it went in there. I missed a chance just before when it was flicked off the line but thankfully, it went in!

WL: As you've said, you've been here (Crawley) for two-and-a-half years, did you think it would be this good when you signed?!

ST: No! I knew we had a good team when I signed. Steve Evans (Crawley manager at the time) told me we were proper going for it and I was really looking forward to the challenge ahead to fight for promotion. I never thought we'd be playing against the likes of Manchester United at Old Trafford - that was the dream. Even Stoke in the FA Cup. It's amazing and I don't know how many games I've played for us but I haven't lost many for Crawley Town. The boys have been great, it's been a really enjoyable time for me and I'm now one of the longest serving players I think!

WL: You've recently become a father for the first time, how's fatherhood treating you? Sleepless nights?!

ST: Nah! She's (Sergio's daughter) been pretty good. She wakes up quite early sometimes to be fair. Sometimes it's 6am she's up! Me and the missus take turns with 1 night each but it's amazing and having a baby is the best thing in the world. We're definitely going to have another one soon (Laughs)!

WL: You know Russell Martin (Norwich City defender) and I think I remember seeing on your Twitter that he'd got either (Sergio) Aguero or (Fabricio) Coloccini's shirt. Are they hanging in your house?

ST: Haha! It was Aguero's... In fairness, I need to get them framed! Russ is a good friend of mine and whenever he is going to be playing against an Argentinian player he's always got me in his ear asking him to get me a shirt!

GET SHIRTY: Russell (L) and Sergio (R) with Aguero's shirt

WL: Finally, you're I think 31 now, have you been looking into coaching or anything outside of football for when you hang up your boots? How long can you keep playing?

ST: I want to still play. I don't know what level but hopefully I'll still be playing for a few more years yet. I'm still really enjoying it and just want to keep fit. I've recently started studying a Sports Science course with Josh (Simpson) at Manchester University. It's a long distance and it's me, Josh and Sads (Mat Sadler) who have to go up there next week. It's going to be a long trek!

Many thanks to Sergio for taking the time out to speak to me.

Reds Rue Missed Chances

At the start of the season, on paper, Colchester United v Crawley Town looked a difficult game to predict. However, with Reds riding high and the U's languishing at the bottom of League 1, surely a Crawley victory was on the cards?

The CTSA coach was full, which meant we had to drive up to deepest, darkest Essex. 4pm was the meeting time as me and 3 others departed.

It took longer than expected and we finally reached point at around 18.45. A £6 parking fee was slightly on the ludicrous side before a brief stroll to the impressive Weston Homes Community Stadium.

Over 200 Reds fans made the trip - a good turnout for a mid-week game considering kids going back to school and all that, and were in fine voice.

After just 1 minute, Crawley had their first chance as an in-swinging Nicky Adams free kick found Kyle McFadzean, but his header was tamely pushed onto the Mark Cousins' gloves.

Colchester had their opportunity on 6 minutes when Anthony Wordsworth's corner was headed over by Marcus Bean.

HIGHLY RATED: Anthony Wordsworth

After only 7 minutes, midfielder Shaun Cooper was taken off with a groin injury. The former Bournemouth man replaced by the returning Josh Simpson.

McFadzean's surge up-field saw him beat a couple of U's players before sliding a low cross to the back post, however, Gary Alexander couldn't get enough power, sliding in.

Mat Salder was next to try his luck but saw his left footed drive whistle just wide of Cousins' right hand post, just after the half an hour mark.

That was that for the opening 45 minutes as the half petered out with little else, with the referee adding an extra minute of time.

Reds played much better in the second half and seemed to up the gears.

Mike Jones cut in from the right, played a neat one-two with Alexander before unleashing a strike that went inches wide of the right-hand post.

On the hour, a Nicky Ajose cross found Alexander, but his effort was blocked off of ex-Red Magnus Okuonghae and out for a corner.

OLD BOY: Magnus started for the U's

With 63 minutes played, Colchester had their first clear cut effort as Brian Wilson curling free kick from 20 yards out was heading for the bottom left-hand corner, only to be pushed away by Crawley 'keeper Paul Jones.

2 minutes later and the visitors hit the post; Jones again found space before seeing his effort skim off the right-hand post.

U's manager John Ward brought on Freddie Sears in place of Ian Henderson as his side looked to snatch a winner.

However, it was Crawley that increased the pressure as Cousins' goal was leading a charmed life. The dangerous Adams, who tormented U's right back Wilson, all night turned the former Bristol City defender inside-out before curling an effort towards the far corner, only for Cousins to tip the ball onto the bar and away.

NUISANCE: Nicky Adams

From the resulting corner, Sadler's in-swinger caused confusion in the home box, and, despite shouts for a McFadzean hand ball, the Crawley defender poked in at the second time of asking.

HANDS UP: McFadzean does his best Maradona impression

Adams and Ajose quickly had efforts go over and wide and Jones saw his free kick sail just past the post again.

Colchester managed to grab an undeserved equaliser with just a few minutes left to play as Sadler was adjudged to have felled Bean, despite there being very little contact. Wordsworth stepped up and fired straight down the middle. 1-1.

Minutes later, substitute, Billy Clarke skipped past a couple of challenges before his drilled shot rebounded off that famous post and away to safety.

There were 2 more Crawley efforts before the whistle was blown for full time as firstly, Alexander's volley was heading in onto be be clawed away by Cousins and another Adams effort flew just over the bar as the game ended in a draw.

COLCHESTER: Cousins; Wilson, Okuonghae, Eastman, Rose; Bean, Henderson (Sears, 67), Izzet (c) (O'Toole, 76), Wordsworth, Massey; Morrison

REDS: P. Jones; Hunt, Connolly, McFadzean, Sadler; M. Jones, Akpan, Cooper (Simpson, 7), Adams; Ajose (Clarke, 78), Alexander (c)

Some photos courtesy of Pixel8Photos and Crawley Observer.

Gary's brace punishes Preston

Gary Alexander's brace sealed another fine away victory as Reds bounced back from last week's defeat at home to Portsmouth.

Preston began the brightest as John Welsh and new signing Stuart Beavon both went close.

Crawley's first notable effort came when winger, Nicky Adams saw his 25-yard strike go just wide of 'keeper Thorston Stuckmann's top right-hand corner.

Soon after, on 26 minutes, Mat Sadler's left wing cross was headed just wide by Dannie Bulman. An opportunity for a rare goal from the fans' favourite.

Akpo Sodje was booked for Preston just prior to fracas between both sets of players as Kyle McFadzean was chopped down from behind by Lilywhites skipper Nicky Wroe. Somehow the referee felt a few words would suffice rather than a straight red card.

Wroe's challenge deserved more than just a chat

Graham Westley took off David Buchanan, a straight swap for ex-Stevenage man Joel Byrom as the second half began.

Within 3 minutes of the second half resuming, the visitors had another effort as McFadzean let fly from long range. The defender's header, however, was straight at Stuckmann.

The breakthrough finally came on 54 minutes as Adams' superb deep cross from the left hand side saw Alexander, who rose above Scott Laird to send the away stand into raptures.

Alexander added to his tally four minutes later when he turned North End centre back, Shane Cansdell-Sheriff and fired into the bottom right -hand corner with the outside of his right boot.

The Reds captain had a chance to complete his hat-trick but headed tamely at Stuckmann from another Sadler cross.

Westley decided to take off danger man Jeffrey Mounakana. The former Arsenal man making way for William Hayhurst with 12 minutes of normal time remaining.

Preston snatched a goal back at the death as an in-swinging Byrom free kick found Paul Huntington lurking in the box and the big defender fired past away 'keeper Paul Jones, just before the referee added 5 extra minutes of injury time.

One final chance fell to the home side as the natives found their voice; Wroe tried to head an effort past Jones, only for the former Peterborough stopper to tip over the bar.

Two successive corners ensued but North End couldn't find a way through a resolute defence.

REDS: P.Jones, Sadler, Connolly, McFadzean, Alexander (c), Hunt, Ajose (Clarke, 79), Bulman, Adams, Cooper, M.Jones (Walsh, 87)

Reds Romp To Opening Day Win

I'd waited a long time for this day. Since I started my affiliation with Crawley Town way back in 1999, I've got to be honest, I never envisaged the Reds playing League 1 football. Today was the moment however, that the dream became reality.

The Crawley side was boosted by the news that new boss Richie Barker had made his first forays into the transfer market only yesterday; bringing in Jonathan Forte and Nicky Ajose on loan from Southampton and Peterborough United respectively.

NEW BOY: Ajose's  not had the best time at Posh

Basking in the Sussex sun, Reds started off on the back foot as, after only five minutes, Kyle McFadzean, who signed a new three-year contract with the club only yesterday, had a Mark Duffy goal-bound strike cannon off his head and with  "Fadz" falling down more like a knocked out boxer, the referee awarded a drop ball.

The first noteworthy effort of Crawley's League 1 campaign came from newly appointed captain Gary Alexander who headed a Nicky Adams cross towards Sam Slocombe's right hand post only to see the effort saved.

The next chance fell to McFadzean who leaped highest only to see his header from Adams' corner go over the bar and on top of the stand where the visiting supporters were housed.

Scunthorpe then had two quick fire efforts just minutes later as Mike Grella's tame effort trickled  into the arms of Paul Jones and Christian Ribeiro, up from right back saw his stinging effort flicked over the bar by the head of McFadzean once again.

Reds soon had another strike on target as Adams' whipped free kick was tipped over by Slocombe.

There was almost a calamitous mistake after 22 minutes as Duffy's header back to Slocombe was short and Billy Clarke nipped in only to be foiled quickly by the alert Iron 'keeper.

The impressive Hope Akpan was next to try his luck as his powerful strike went wide of Slocombe's right hand post.

The Crawley pressure finally tolled as the opening goal of the game arrived. A wicked Adams free kick was nodded down by Akpan lurking at the back post and Alexander was there to get a toe to the ball and tap it over the line for 1-0.

Alexander headed over the bar from a Mark Connolly cross and another dangerous corner from Adams was headed down and just inches wide by McFadzean at the far post.

INVOLVED: Kyle McFadzean

Scunthorpe finally had a few more efforts as midfielder Josh Walker burst into the box before squaring the ball to Bobby Grant who saw his shot hacked away by Reds' left back Mat Sadler.

A corner from Walker then found the unmarked David Mirfin lurking at the back post but the captain spurned the chance to equalise by volleying wide when he really should have scored. A sitter.

On the stroke of half time, a menacing ball in from Grant found Andy Barcham lurking at the back post but Connolly raced back to win the aerial duel and head the ball away for a corner.

The second half began drably and it took till the 60th minute for either side to actually create a chance as Josh Simpson wriggled his way through only to see Slocombe save his strike at the near post however, the midfielder also saw the linesman's flag up for offside.

The second goal of the game came two minutes later as Clarke headed back to Alexander after Connolly's diagonal ball. Alexander, just as he was about to pull the trigger, was dragged down, the referee awarding a penalty and the former Brentford striker cooly slotted home, sending Slocombe the wrong way for his second goal of the afternoon.

GOAL: Alexander (C) celebrates with Adams (L) and Clarke (Top)

Then came the introduction of Forte as the big man replaced Clarke after 73 minutes. Six minutes later, he was on the scoresheet as well; Akpan's pinpoint ball was lofted through to Forte who bravely went up to loop his header over the onrushing Slocombe, scoring against one of his former clubs and seemingly wrapping up the three points for the home side.

Scunny could have got a goal back a few minutes later as Jimmy Ryan's effort was cleared off the line by Claude Davis after a smart pull back from Grella.

Alan Knill's side missed another guilt edged chance as somehow, Walker screwed his strike wide when he really should have put the ball past Jones at the back post.

Grant had another header roll into the hands of Jones as the Iron looked to have given up hope on getting goals back.

Forte was just millimetres away from adding his second as another ball in by Adams was taken off the frontman's toes by Slocombe with just five minutes remaining.

CLOSE: Slocombe flicks the ball away from Forte

A minute later and Scunthorpe were reduced to 10 men as Duffy saw his second yellow for pulling back Red Devils' substitute Sergio Torres.

As Akpan was named Man of the Match, Ajose replaced tormentor in chief Adams for the final couple of minutes and the referee blew for full time, putting Scunthorpe out of their misery.

Some photos courtesy of www.crawleytownfc.com and www.crawleyobserver.co.uk

Warren meets... Michel Kuipers

A week or two ago, Three Bridges hosted Crawley Town. In the Reds net that night was Michel Kuipers and I had a chat with him about his early career as a Marine, his decade at Brighton and what the future holds.

WL: Michel, you began actually as a Marine, was that something you wanted to do when you were young?

MK: Yeah, that's right. I first had to do my national service - I didn't just want to waste my 18 months of national service and ending up like a lorry driver or something like that so I decided that I wanted to do something special and I did a 6 month in-test for the Marines and I ended up staying there for four and a half years.

WL: From the Marines you then joined Bristol Rovers, a bit of a change! How did that all come about?

MK: During the last year or so when I was in the Marines, I played for an Amsterdam club and we won the league, managed to get some publicity; newspapers, TV, radio. They were surprised by the fact that this team, for the first time in 25 years had won promotion and I got invited to a trial week at Bristol Rovers. Ian Holloway was the manager there at the time and after a week of trialing, he offered me a two-year deal.

WL: For one reason or another, it didn't really work out there. You then moved to Brighton and didn't really look back!

MK: Yeah, definitely. Me and Bobby Zamora both came at the same time. Bobby and I were both at Bristol Rovers and we both moved together to Brighton at the same time. We had some very successful years, he got a fantastic move to Tottenham and I stayed at Brighton for ten years! So, for the both of us, we really improved both our careers with the move to Brighton.

Zamora went on to play for England

WL: And in the ten years, you must have had a few memorable moments, can you pick out a couple of highlights?

MK: There's a lot! Winning my first Championship was really special and then winning another Championship the year after was even more special. Winning the play-off Final at the Millenium Stadium was memorable, sometimes, even staying up on the last day of the season in the Championship was also very special. There are loads of special moments, you know, beating Manchester City on penalties and saving the last penalty from Michael Ball to win the tie and to knock out the richest club in the world  - There are some very special moments that will always stay with me.

WL: Yeah, you've been rewarded for your loyal service to Brighton with a testimonial in around two weeks time. This must be something that you're really looking forward to.

MK: Yeah! I'm definitely looking forward to playing at the Amex Stadium. It's something that I campaigned for  for ten years. Finally the stadium is there and it's great for the community and it's great for Sussex that there's a stadium there that can be used, not only for football but to also educate youngsters during the day. A lot of people don't realise what goes on there during the day, there are a lot of young people using that stadium so it's fantastic news all round!

WL: On leaving Brighton, you joined Crawley. You'd obviously had a spell on loan in non-league at Boston but were worried about dropping down to Conference level permanently?

MK: No, not at all. I was very happy to join Crawley because I was still doing my "Albion in the Community" work. It was good to combine the two and stay in Sussex. I really enjoy Sussex and I'm very happy living here. I thought that I could either move away or work for "Albion in the Community" and play for Crawley and it was an easy decision in the end to come and join Crawley. Two years later and the fourth and fifth promotion and I'm back in League 1 again! It's been very enjoyable, five promotions in your career, there's not many professional footballers who can say that!

WL:  Exactly! So, your first season at Crawley wasn't bad, a fourth promotion for you and of course, the superb FA Cup run to go with it! Manchester United away was alright as well!

MK: Yeah, it was very good! Manchester United away, Old Trafford, in front of... what was it? 78,000 people or 76,000 people, you know, it was really nice and it was a great experience. We gained a lot of confidence from that match and afterwards we never looked back really, winning the league and gaining promotion to League 2. Last season was another great effort by the lads once again went up by getting third spot. At one stage we were out of the automatic promotion places but we fought our way back in and in the end we got something that we deserved; promotion again!

Kuips (R) and David Hunt (L) after the Manchester United game

WL: Indeed. On the topic of that last day at Accrington, how nerve-racking was that for you?!

MK: Yeah, of course but at the end of the day, we went into it in the last place, the third place. All we had to do was to stay in that third position and that's what we did! Now we are in League 1 which will be hard because there are a lot of strong teams and a lot of good players, big teams that used to be in the Premiership like Portsmouth and Coventry, big squads and expensive players. We'll need to test ourselves, especially away from home at big stadiums, a big crowd will be on our backs and we'll sometimes have to defend as a team and stay strong and hopefully we will get all the support we've got in the last two years and hopefully they'll be backing us again!

Michel (C) in yellow, enjoys his fifth promotion!

WL: I hope so! Finally, you're in the twilight years of your career at 38. Do you want to get into coaching in the future or have you began already?

MK: Yeah, I'm doing my coaching now at Crawley and obviously still playing but I also do the goalkeeper coaching as well. Paul Jones has come in this Summer and he's been fantastic really. He's a very good goalkeeper and he's very eager to learn. My style of goalkeeping is the new generation; it's very specialised in techniques and detail. All the training sessions that we do are the latest ones. We work a lot on footwork and distribution. Every game I watch him and I analyse him and I set him different targets and every time, he has succeeded in hitting the targets that I set him. It's fantastic to work with him (Jones) and I'm very pleased that he is at the football club because he is a very good goalkeeper and a very nice lad. I think that with the goalkeeping union point of view, it's going to be another successful year!

Me and "The Former Dutch Marine"!

Many thanks to Michel for taking the time out to speak to me.

Warren meets... Ben Hamer

After the defeat to Charlton on Wednesday evening, I managed to get hold of their number 1 and former Crawley loanee Ben Hamer and had a chat on his career so far and his future!

WL: Ben, you've had a bit of a different life to most and at 2 you moved to Germany, how did that come about?

BH: I just moved out there with my family, was over there for a few years. We came back when I was seven or eight and moved back to the West Country. From there, I obviously grew up, left home at 16 and came up to Reading and the London area.

WL: Und du sprehen Deutsch? (And you speak German?)

BH: Ja!... Ein bisschen!

WL: What does that mean?! I'm not that good!

BH: A little bit!

WL: I heard you were fluent?!

BH: I was... well, until about six years ago when I stopped speaking it! It's kind of gone now though - my German tongue has kind of slowly evaporated!

WL: Did it take long to master?

BH: Well I grew up with it. As I said, I was only two so obviously, I was in Germany, I went to a German school. That was my first language really, I grew up speaking that until about six or seven when I came back to live over in England and I learnt to speak English again. German was primarily my first language but over the years I haven't used it and kind of lost it.

WL: Onto your footballing career now. Somerset to Reading is hardly around the corner, how were you spotted?

BH: It was in a county game really. I was 15, just playing for my school counties and there was a Reading scout who was there, was impressed and invited me over for a trial and it kind of went from there really. Signed as a YTS at 16 and later I came down to this wonderful place (Crawley) for a year!

SIGNING ON: Ben (R) with John Medejski

WL: You did, was it difficult to move away from home (Somerset) at such a young age?

BH: Erm... not really. I suppose you've got to be mentally strong. I swapped schools when I was younger growing up so I was kind of used to new surroundings and stuff like that so it didn't really affect me. I moved up there and got on with my football because it was something I really wanted to do. It wasn't really a massive issue for me.

WL: As you said, you came here in your teenage years, a big opportunity to play plenty of games.

BH: Yeah, to be honest it was quite nice coming back here tonight. I think it's the first time in five years, I was 18 at the time and came here as a first team pro on loan. John Hollins (former Crawley manager) took me here and gave me my first experience in playing men's football so I'll always be grateful to him and the club for that. It was an opportunity to really get my foot in the door professionally really and gave me the opportunity to play football - It's a place I will always remember.

Ben in action for Crawley

WL: During your year at Crawley you also won the club's Player of the Year, a great achievement at such a young age!

BH: Yeah, Young Player of the Year I think it was. Yeah, it wasn't a bad season, we had money problems at the time, administration and we had minus ten points at the time as well. We started off at the bottom with the minus ten and I think we cleared that pretty sharpish within four or five games and built from there. In the end it wasn't a bad season, I really enjoyed it and made some good friends here. One still here is Dannie Bulman. I'm surprised to still see him here to be honest but he's still going strong so fair play to him!

STILL GOING STRONG: Dannie Bulman (Centre)

WL: You spent quite a bit of time at Brentford after leaving us (Crawley), you won League 2 in one of the seasons as well. Were you tempted to make the deal permanent after the number of spells you had there?

BH: Erm... I don't know really, it never really came into question to be honest with you. At Brentford I'd done well and played well for them and every time I seemed to come back on loan, Reading seemed to offer me a new contract. You know, it was good for me to be learning with a Premiership or Championship side - whatever Reading were at the time and I was happy to come out on loan and play my games that way. Then, obviously there came a time where I was getting older; I'm 24 now so last Summer I made the decision to leave with one year left on my deal. Luckily, Charlton came in for me and I made the decision to come and last season speaks for itself, we won promotion and it was the right decision in the end.

Hamer (L) celebrates Brentford's League 2 promotion

WL: Definitely... Now, I spoke to Bradley (Wright-Phillips), last week at the Three Bridges game and he said to me it was the best time of his career last season. Is it something you concur with?

BH: Yes I do, yes I do concur with that! From the start I could tell we'd have a chance because it was the same as when I was at Brentford and we went up.  The lads seemed to gel very quickly; it was a new bunch of lads that had been brought together. Even in pre-season you could tell that the lads were going to be fighting for each other and were good, level headed lads that had their feet on the ground and we had a positive vibe the whole way through the season. They're all a great bunch of lads and it was a very special season.

WL: And next season Ben, a Championship side now, do you look at what the likes of Southampton and Norwich have done in winning two successive promotions and aim for the Premier League? Go again?!

BH: That would be the ultimate for us. It'll be the first time in the Championship as a bunch of players, not many of us have played at that level, especially me - I've never made an appearance in the Championship yet. It'll be a new, fresh challenge and we'll look to do as well as we can and try and challenge the big teams that we're going to be coming up against and I'm sure we can hold our own. As far as promotion goes, I don't think you can say that just yet. We'll take every game as it comes and see how it goes, just like we did last year and look where it got us!

PROMOTION TIME: Can the Addicks do it again?!

WL: Finally, you've said, you're 24 now, you're number 1 in the Championship for Charlton, Premier League and England in a few years Ben?!

BH: I don't know... I don't know! Obviously, that is my goal in life and to achieve that I want to play in the Premiership. It's all about the tiny little stepping stones and gradually getting closer. As you say, I'm in the Championship now, hopefully I'll do well there. There is a long way to go but that is my goal and that is what I'll be striving for!

Me and Ben

Thanks a lot to Ben for taking the time to speak to me. I wish him all the best at Charlton this coming season!

Thanks also to Dave Burt at www.ctfcphotos.co.uk for the use of some of the images!

Reds Tame The Lions!

In a game which could be looked upon a "warm up" for the Carling Cup game at the New Den, Crawley v Millwall has been quite a common pre-season friendly in recent times.

THE LIONS DEN: Carling Cup Venue

They have always been entertaining matches and this game was no different.

It was a special day for Crawley striker Gary Alexander who was playing against his former club.  The former Brentford man had his four children as match mascots for the day as well.

Millwall put out a very strong side; former Birmingham and Northern Ireland 'keeper Maik Taylor started between the sticks, the back four of Alan Dunne, Karleigh Osbourne, Jack Smith and new signing Scott Malone were on duty to deal with the Reds' strikeforce of Alexander and Billy Clarke. In midfield, Therry Racon made a rare start, he was joined by Josh Wright, Chris Taylor and Liam Trotter with Darius Henderson and Andy Keogh paired up front.

Ireland International Keogh started up front

The away side began the brightest and after 11 minutes had two quickfire efforts as firstly, Keogh saw his left footed volley pushed away by Crawley goalkeeper Paul Jones before a minute later, midfielder Wright saw his strike palmed out by Jones before Kyle McFadzean cleared.

Wright had another go after 15 minutes as his free kick flew just over Jones' left hand post after Clarke had fouled Keogh. 

Crawley had their first chance on 19 minutes as Alexander collected the ball on the edge of the box only to hit his left footed drive wide of the target.

Another chance fell to the Lions minutes later as Malone burst through from left back, beating two Crawley players only to slice wide of Jones' goal.

It was back at the other end of the pitch soon after as Dannie Bulman roamed forward before firing just wide of Taylor's left hand post.

Then, the opening goal did come with Bulman again involved. Picking up the ball in the centre, the Reds' talisman played a wonderful back-spinning pass in between Dunne and Osbourne. Clarke took a touch before cutting through the ball and finding the bottom corner of Taylor's far post. A wonderful finish.

Millwall went for the instant reply and home fans feared the worst as Keogh was sent through one-on-one however, Jones stood up well and clipped the ball out for a corner.

From the resultant corner, Henderson was lurking at the back post but his deft cushioned header went just wide.

That was about that as five minutes later the referee blew for half time - Crawley 1-0 up.

The second half exploded into life as three minutes after the teams returned to the field, Clarke's solo run saw him beat Dunne before being uphended in the box by Osbourne. Alexander, who scored over 20 goals during his time in south Bermondsey, stepped up, sending Taylor the wrong way as he slotted the ball to the right hand side of the net.

Alexander came back to haunt his old club

Millwall had an effort to reduce the scoreline as Chris Taylor's long range shot was tipped away by Jones a minute later.

There were cries of handball from the away side soon after as Trotter's fierce strike was charged down by Claude Davis; hitting the big Jamaican on the thigh according to the official.

The blues made changes as Liam Feeney, Shaun Batt and Scott Barron came on for Henderson, Trotter and Chris Taylor.

Batt spent time at the Broadfield last season

Crawley had the next chance as Nicky Adams' floated free kick found McFadzean who rose above his marker only to send his header over the bar.

Caretaker boss Craig Brewster rang the changes on 69 minutes as Bulman, Josh Simpson, Hope Akpan and Adams were replaced by new signing Shaun Cooper, Scott Davies, Sergio Torres and Scott Neilson.

Cooper came on to make his Reds home debut

Davies immediately had an impact when his through ball was fired just wide by captain Gary Alexander.

Two more Red Devils were rested for the final 15 minutes of the game as Davis and Clarke came off, replaced by Charlie Wassmer and John Akinde.

Akinde was causing the Kenny Jackett's defence problems as he cleared the crossbar twice in three minutes.

Barron had a chance late on when his half volley was stopper, once again by Jones who beat the midfielder's stinging effort away.

Two more efforts came later on Torres' left footed strike was tipped round by Taylor, flinging himself to the left. A Mat Sadler ball in was then headed over by Akinde.

As the referee added 3 minutes more, substitute Louis John, who came on for Sadler just moments earlier, shot inches wide of the post as the whistle blew for full time.

Some of the photos courtesy of www.crawleytownfc.com

Rampant Reds Punish Posh

It seemed ages but had come up so quickly.  I'm of course talking about my last Crawley Town game; a memorable day up in Accrington, Lancashire which saw the Reds clinch promotion to League 1, thanks to a solitary Scott Neilson goal.

Much had changed at the club since 5th May.  For one, the "new" manager had come in, and then gone. Also, players had been released and new members of the team had been recruited, a standard procedure for any club, unless you're Portsmouth.

Anyway, after having to miss the first three friendly games, I was eagerly awaiting the visit of Peterborough United, the second season in a row that Darren Ferguson (Son of Alex) had decided to bring his side to the Broadfield Stadium.

With "new" manager Sean O'Driscoll leaving the club late on Thursday night, Reds had a spot to fill on the touchline; this spot filled, once again, by the man who at the end of last season, led us to the third tier of English football, Craig Brewster.

O'Driscoll's reign didn't last long

Posh included two former Crawley stars in their matchday squad; Michael Bostwick, who came to the Reds as a 17 year-old loanee from Millwall was named on the bench, as was last season's forward Tyrone Barnett, sold to Peterbrough for a record fee of a reported £1.4m.

Also on the bench was new signings Danny Swanson and Nathaniel Knight-Percival who joined the club from Dundee United and Wrexham respectively.

Onto the game, Reds started the brighter side, Billy Clarke, after only three minutes beat his man before whipping in a dangerous ball that was hacked clear by defender Gabriel Zakuani.

Clarke was again involved as he controlled a pass from Gary Alexander only to slice his right-footed shot wide of the target.

Peterborough then had their first chance as roaming midfielder Paul Taylor tried to curl past his former Posh team mate Paul Jones, making his home debut for Crawley, only to see his bouncing effort fall straight into the gloves of the stopper.

Minutes later, Crawley found the opening goal as Alexander, wearing the captain's armband once again, picked up the ball, opened up his body and curled an effort past Bobby Olejnik and into the top left-hand corner.

Alexander scored the solitary goal

Posh went for the jugular; Tommy Rowe burst forward from his left back position, evading a number of challenges before seeing his drive flicked over by Jones.

From the resulting corner, Rowe then saw his header cleared off the line by another Reds new boy, Mat Sadler.

Another chance then came for the away side moments later as the transfer listed midfielder Grant McCann let fly only to see Jones hold on to his stinging effort.

The visitors attempted to turn the screw and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, a recent signing from Wolves, had two chances, both sent well wide of Jones' goal.

Crawley then had their own flurry of chances as the first half was coming to an end; Alexander had two more chances; firstly turning Zakuani only to see his effort curl just wide before heading a Nicky Adams' free kick at the near post into the corner only to see Olejnik beat the ball away.

Olejnik had a fine game

Claude Davis started his first pre-season game and saw his bullet header palmed away by Olejnik; the big Austrian keeping his new side in the game.

As the referee blew for half time, the sprinklers came on pre-maturely which saw one of the cameramen drenched, his laptop, possibly, in ruin!

A number of substitutes from both sides saw the once entertaining spectacle break up with not as many chances created by both teams.

Two substitutes combined as George Boyd found a way into the box before picking out Swanson lurking at the back post, only to see his toe-poked effort trickle wide of the post.

Clarke had yet another effort as his direct free kick went over the wall before being comfortably caught by former Torquay United custodian Olejnik.

Posh had a free kick of their own soon after but another sub, this time Daniel Kearns could only pummel the ball into the wall.

Reds then went up the other end of the pitch, in counter-attacking style and, despite having options around him, Alexander tried an audacious outside of the boot strike which was once again, down the throat of Olejnik.

An effort for both sides then occured late into the game as first, Boyd waltzed past two before letting fly, seeing his effort clawed away by Jones once more.

THREAT: George Boyd

Finally, former Posh ace Sergio Torres got past his man but his fizzed cross was sent high and wide by the stretching Morgan Ferrier, a trialist from Watford.

An entertaining game. Good to get back into the swing of things football-wise.

Also a nice change seeing us play some pretty football.

After the game, I conducted interviews with Peterborough winger Tommy Rowe and former Posh striker (Now at Brighton) Craig Mackail-Smith.  These interviews will be typed up on here later and (If I can find out how to do it) I will put the actual audio on here too so keep a look out!

Some photos courtesy of www.crawleytownfc.com