Report: Magpies 1-2 Crawley

 

Maidenhead United’s 138 year wait for an appearance in the Second Round of the Emirates FA Cup continues after dramatic extra time defeat to EFL side Crawley Town. United started well. In the opening moments Casey Pettit’s ball into the channel saw Sam Barratt well positioned and with only Jojo Wollacott to beat he slammed his first time shot into the side-netting. As Crawley began to settle with patient possession football, Barratt was next to try an effort at goal after dispossessing the visitors in the Maidenhead half and shooting on sight – Wollacott able to recover position and pat the ball down safely. 

 

Crawley were by now dominating the ball and their first opening inside the opening twenty minutes came Joy Mukena pulled the ball back from the right at the end of a patient move and the loose ball just evaded Tola Showunmi in the middle of the 18 yard box. Craig Ross then had to punch a dangerous cross away from the head of Gavan Holohan before a ball in from the tricky Crawley midfielder was fumbled behind by Ross after Toby Mularkey glanced a header towards goal with the Magpies ‘keeper off balance. Overall it was in truth a rather turgid first half. 

 

 

The second half starred with more Crawley dominance but a rare Maidenhead foray forward saw Barratt’s long throw cause issues in the Crawley box which resulted in Reece Smith having a form drive blocked. There was a big moment just before the hour when Ross bailed out a rare mistake by Kevin Lokko, Jack Roles was clear on goal but couldn’t defeat the Magpies ‘keeper. It was the first big save from the game and Panutche Camara should have perhaps done better when hooking the resultant corner over. 

 

In the 63rd minute the complexion of the game changed. Crawley were caught in possession by Reece Smith and sent Shawn McCoulsky clear to thrash the ball into the roof of the net to send the Magpies fans at Bell Street ballistic. United had their tails up and played with more energy and pace. A good overlap saw Smith’s ball gathered bravely at his near post by Wollacott who was injured in the process and required replacing by Jasper Sheik. 

 

Crawley’s confidence seemed to have visibly dipped by this stage. The Magpies were winning a series of set pieces and from one such free-kick Nathan Ferguson shot for goal from a tight angle but Sheik gathered the ball confidently at his near post. The nervousness nearly cost Crawley a second as Bradley Ibrahim’s back header was fumbled under no pressure by Sheik but scrambled clear with McCoulsky lurking. Smith then set up McCoulsky for an effort well saved by the ‘keeper. 

 

At the other end Nathan Ferguson was forced into an impeccable challenge in the penalty area with substitute Will Swan slaloming towards goal. As passions threatened to run over a late challenge on Ferguson resulted in a melee that saw the United man and Crawley’s Ibrahim cautioned. As the fourth official indicated eight minutes of injury time a neat move involving Latty-Fairweather and Smith saw the latter set up Pettit for a flying header which went wide at the near post. An equalizer didn’t seem likely at this stage but it came nonetheless in the 94th minute when Golding miskicked a cross at the near post and the loose ball was driven home by Toby Mullarkey. 

 

 

Into a Cagey first period of extra time Hepburn-Murphy’s fierce curling effort went over Craig Ross’s crossbar. The ball was in the net in the 101st minute but both Craig Ross and the ball had been bundled home after Adeyemo’s cross, free-kick to Maidenhead. The second period saw Ferguson receive a square pass from substitute Carvalho and drill a powerful shot just as over. A cross from Smith was collected by Carvalho who couldn’t quite slip the ball into the danger zone, winning a corner instead. With five minutes remaining in extra time – and United looking the most likely at this stage - Tola Showunmi held off the challenge of Lokko following a long ball to win the game. 

 

 

Magpies: Ross, De Havilland, Lokko, Latty-Fairweather, Ferguson, McCoulsky (sub 90’ Abrahams), Pettit, Smith (sub ‘117 Sho-Silva), Welch-Hayes, Barratt (sub 57’ Carvalho), Golding (sub 90’ Cochrane). 

 

Red Devils: Wollacott (sub 73’ Sheik) , Kelly (sub 60’ Adeyemo), Mullarkey, Mukena, Tanimu (sub 70’ Swan), Hepburn-Murphy, Bragg (sub 83’ Forster), Holohan (sub ‘115 Anderson), Camara (sub 70’ Ibrahim) Roles, Showunmi. 

 

Attendance: 1,814