Crawley crash at Histon
10:05pm Tuesday 8th April 2008
Crawley crashed 3-0 at Histon tonight.
Boss Steve Evans was forced to resort to drastic measures with his forward line following injuries to his main strikers Jamie Cook and Jon-Paul Pittman.
Top scorer Cook was only fit enough for a place on the bench, despite his last minute goalscoring substitute return from a dead leg against York on Saturday, while Pittman was ruled out with a hamstring problem.
It meant defender Glenn Wilson started up front as a makeshift targetman alongside Pierre Joseph-Dubois.
Wilson, who is more accustomed to trying to stop goals rather than score them, had returned from a spell on the sidelines with a hamstring injury and did not look match fit as he understandably struggled in his new role.
Josesph-Dubois was left doing most of the running as a result but was often isolated against Histon's giant defenders.
He broke clear just once when he used his pace to get in behind the home back four in the first half.
But, with the angle against him for a shot, he had to wait for support and when it came from midfielder Thomas Pinault, Lewes-born defender Matt Langston made it back in time to cut out the cross.
Crawley had just one clear shot on goal before half-time when Ryan Hall struck the post with a fizzing left foot drive early on.
Other than that, their main threat came from set pieces and they went close again with one on the half hour.
Kieran Murphy rose above Langston to meet a Dannie Bulman free-kick and could not get enough power on his close range header to trouble keeper Danny Naisbitt.
Murphy's defensive partner Bradley Thomas then got his head on a Bulman corner five minutes later but failed to get a clean connection and sent his effort wide.
Histon lived up to their reputation as they also relied on long balls and set pieces as their attacking approach.
But it was two pieces of quality from striker Antonio Murray which killed Reds off either side of half time.
The home side launched every throw they had in the last third into the box throughout the first half and caught Crawley out with a variation on the stoke of the interval.
Jack Midson took a quick throw-in short to the unmarked Murray, who unleashed a rising 20-yard shot into the top right-hand corner.
Murray struck again five minutes after the break with an equally impressive finish. He swivelled and hit a volley from ten yards into the bottom corner after Midson crossed from the right.
The goal left Reds shell-shocked and there was little surprise when Histon added to their lead on the hour.
The visiting defence allowed a corner to bounce around the area and Langston pounced to blast into the roof of the net from close range.
It could have been even worse for Reds as Histon also had a goal disallowed. Robbie Nightingale bent a corner straight in on 75 minutes but the referee ruled out the unusual strike for a foul on keeper Ashley Bayes.
Histon: Naisbitt, Okay (N. Kennedy 89), Mitchel-King, Langston, J. Kennedy, Murray, Nightingale (Cambridge 75), Knight-Percival, Wright (Barker 88), Gwillim, Midson.
Subs not used: Key, Ada.
Crawley: Bayes, Thompson, Thomas, Murphy, Krause, Blackburn, Bulman, Pinault, Hall, Wilson, Joseph-Dubois.
Subs not used: Stevens, Cook, Carter, Carayol, Raynor.
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