Saturday 11th November 2000
Crawley Town 2 Stafford Rangers 2
Dr Martens League Premier Division
At: Broadfield Stadium
Kick-off: 3-00 pm
Programme: issued
Attendance: 858
Weather: rain
Stafford Rangers came within a few minutes of recording a deserved victory at Crawley. The leaders came back from two goals down to level in injury time then missed a match-winning penalty right at the end.
Disappointed to not get all three points skipper Scott Dundas was still pleased, commenting that this was the best performance of the season. “The boss got the formation right, we passed well and the team showed lots of commitment and energy.”
Playing with rain and a strong wind at their backs, Stafford were two up at the break. In the 20th minute minutes, Simkin crossed low towards the near post and O’Connor flicked the ball past Little. Then, just after half hour mark, Kiely fed Lovatt who made no mistake from eight yards.
In the second half Rangers continued to play well into the wind with O’Connor hitting a post on the hour mark. Crawley put Stafford under a lot of pressure and pulled a goal back in the 81st minute when Anderson fired past Williams from inside a crowded area. Then, roared by an increasing vociferous crowd, the home side levelled a minute into stoppage time through Riley’s header. Stafford deserved something from the game and it was just that Riley fired a penalty over the bar with seconds remaining after Steve Jones brought down Scott Mean.
Crawley Town (red/red/red): 1. Andy Little, 2. Scott Mean, 3. Ian Payne, 4. Andy Riley, 5. Marc Pullan, 6. John Ugbah, 7. Danny Carroll, 8. Luke Anderson, 9. Dean Wordsworth, 10. Mark Hawthorne, 11. Dave Powell. Subs: 12. Matt Woolf (for Wordsworth, 56), 14. Andy Taylor (for Carroll, 66), 15. Mark Hynes (for Payne, 56).
Stafford Rangers (black and white stripes / black / black): 1. Richard Williams, 2. Leigh Everritt, 3. Steve Jones, 4. Darren Simkin, 5. Chris Brindley, 6. Stuart Ryder, 7. Darren Boughey, 8. Craig Lovatt, 9. Joe O’Connor, 10. Paul Kiely, 11. Scot Dundas. Subs: 12. Darren Middleton (not used), 14. Darren Shaw (for Boughey, 89), 15. Dean Craven (not used).
Referee: C Hayes (Godalming).
Goals:
0-1 Joe O’Connor (21)
0-2 Craig Lovatt (32)
1-2 Luke Anderson (82)
2-2 Andy Riley (90+1)
