Following last weeks poor showing against Hove Yeomen, the coaches made 10 changes to the team that lined up against Seaford at Willoughby fields. Admittedly a couple of these changes were forced due to injury and suspension but the majority demonstrated that the days of players expecting to be picked for the first team are over, and that Crawley’s experienced coaching team of Lawrence O’Brien and Paul Loader are prepared to make the tough decisions when required.
In fantastic conditions and in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd, that included Crawley’s many sponsors, this new look team ran out against a Seaford team who in the past few seasons has been consistently one of the better teams in the league and from their body language you could see that Crawley where up for the battle. Straight from the kick off Crawley tore into the Seaford defence. The pack, led from the front by the Captain Micky Clay and ably assisted by flanker Kyle Coulter and number 8 Travis Beeton, dominated the early phases and time and time again they provided fast clean ball for the backs to use. Fly half Emon Keshavarz, making his first start of the season, was totally in control of the game in the first half. His bag of tricks enabled the Crawley backs to run the Seaford backs ragged and it was only a matter of time before full back Ben Robson was able to cruse over in the corner for the first score.
At this point it looked like the flood gates would open as gaps and chances seemed to appear all over the pitch however the combination of 10 changes and a brave Seaford defence kept Crawley at bay for large chunks of time however as the first half drew to a close Micky Clay powered over from short range and Andy Evans switched wings to out sprint the defence to give Crawley a 17 – 0 half time lead.
The expectant crowd were looking forward to an even better second half however it was pretty clear from the re-start that things were not going to plan. Seaford had totally re-grouped and now their pack started to suffocate the balls from the Crawley backs. At the breakdowns they started to slow the ball down and put pressure in Crawley scrum half Steve Wilson. This meant that now the Crawley backs were getting the balls up against a stacked and well positioned defence and the gaping gaps of the first half had gone. Some of Seaford’s tactics in the breakdowns bordered on the illegal but rugby has always been about pushing the laws as far as you can and they should be given credit for exploiting it as well as they did. These tactics unsettled the Crawley pack who started to give away penalties and Seaford used these to slowly gain territorial advantage. The pressure told and after pinning Crawley to their own line for 5 minutes Seaford eventually got the try they deserved for their efforts.
This provoked a Crawley fight back and again the Seaford defence had to work hard to stem the Crawley attacks. Eventually a combination of fatigue and inexperience started to creep into the Crawley team and they allowed Seaford to take control again. A well taken penalty by the impressive Seaford number 10 closed the gap to 7 points with 5 minutes left to play but Crawley’s defence held strong for the remainder and the game ended 17 – 10 to Crawley.
On the balance of play Crawley had fully deserved the win however once the youthfully exuberance of the first half had worn off Crawley had started to panic a bit and they need to learn how to close games out. This is being addressed by the coaching team who on the whole were impressed with the Crawley performance. This young team is very much a work in progress and as the season goes it will be interesting to see how the pieces start to fit together.
Next Saturday Crawley are away to Lewes 2’s and all travelling support will be appreciated. |
