Graham Turner's thoughts after the 2-2 draw away to Crawley Town
Town went behind with less than a minute on the clock but showed great character to hit back with goals from Richards and Taylor. Things were looking good for Town until 15 minutes to go when Crawley managed to level the score but then Town should really have taken all 3 points with the last kick of the game.
After the game Graham Turner spoke to the press and was disappointed not to have come away with 3 points but was pleased with his sides performance:”Ultimately it's two points lost. We should have been able to cope with the situation where they got their equaliser.
I think that Jon Taylor was trying to steer the ball out for a goal kick and he got robbed in our box and paid a heavy price for that and then right at the end I think that Tom Bradshaw had a glorious chance at the back post from two yards out, but somehow he's missed it.
It would have been fitting had we got that goal for the amount of work that we put in to it. I felt that we had a decent first half having gone a goal down stupidly in the first couple minutes .
I thought we showed a good bit of character to come back and we then should have continued what we had been doing but we allowed Crawley to dictate too much to us at 2-1 and we invited pressure onto us. We can pass the ball and we have shown that but we were too anxious and we got rid of it too quickly at times. Therefore I think it's two points lost.
It was a game that Town once again let in an early goal but the manager was pleased with the character that his side had shown over the 90 minutes:”Conceding early goals has happened too many times. First of all we shouldn't be conceding free kicks deep in our half to give them the opportunity to bring their lads forward and secondly we defended far too softly on the edge of our box when the lad was able to turn and get the strike in. So I was doubly disappointed to concede that early but pleased that the character came out and how we went out about things. I thought it was an improvement on our last away match. I think we've used the fortnight break wisely - I thought we looked quite fit and strong and we finished the game strongly so we've got to take the positives from the game. We've got a point, and I'd have probably taken a point before the game but under the circumstances it's two dropped.
Town's goal both came in the first half with Matt Richards and then Jon Taylor finding the back of the net, both were great finishes:”There were two great finishes for our goals. With Jon's, after he has had that long run, to keep his composure there is absolute top quality and that's not the first time this season. With Matt he has just kept his head and did well to finish it off.
With injuries at the back once again Graham Turner handed a first league start of the season to Connor Goldson who put in a decent performance in the right back slot:”Connor Goldson did ok, it was a steady performance from him - he didn't make any mistakes and just kept it simple. Of the young pros I think it's the first time for a good while that we've had all of them that have come through the system on the field at the same time. I think that Connor has not imposed himself enough on the reserve fixtures that we have had - he has made mistakes and been vulnerable to more physical challenges. So playing him on the right hand side (rather than central defence) takes him a little bit out of the firing line, certainly from the physical challenge of, say Alexander for them, who has been a handful for our two centre halves. So playing right back enabled Connor to get a foothold in the game and he did well.
There was an early substitution forced for Town when Mark Wright went down and hobbled out of the action, the early diagnosis is that Wrighty has picked up a knee problem:”Mark Wright has tweaked his knee and seems to have damaged some ligaments but I don't think it's too serious but obviously bad enough that he had to come off.
To finish with the manager was asked what the players were feeling in the dressing room after the game:”I think that the feeling in the dressing room half an hour after the game is one that is heartened by the score and the performance. I think the feeling immediately afterwards is one of devastation that a - we conceded the goal and b - we missed the chance in injury time.”