Cod Almighty | Match Report

by Simon Morgan-Wilson

7 April 2026

After Friday's disappointment (using disappointment like my mum used disappointment in my youth when I had deeply jolted her barometer of what was acceptable), Town rolled into sunny Easter Monday Crawley needing to do whatever it took to get a win and stay in the hunt for a play-off place. If they can lose at home to bottom of the table Harrogate how would they fare away against a Crawley side buoyed by two wins under new manager Colin Kazim-Richards? What have the Mariners been doing with their - wait for it - in between days?

Town made one change to the starting line-up, Clarke Oduor coming in for Jimmy-Jammy Walker to make his first league start.

First half – Town kicked off in a hush

Town defended the away end, and started like a side with something to prove. Kabia curled just wide inside with the first attack of the game, Buck Rodgers sent a rocket narrowly off target soon after.

Crawley had a pot shot from far out about ten minutes in and then Smith palmed a cross which was cleared by Kacurri and McJannet.

Town were full of it: lots of running, sharp, lots of running, aggressive, lots of running, seemingly determined not to let Friday's defeat linger longer [note: Artell said in his post match chat he told the players not to dwell on Friday], Turi and Oduor (who was unlucky to be offside after a tasty move) making the team tick. Only Town's occasionally wayward passes gave Crawley their possession.

The opening goal arrived in the 23rd minute and it was beautifully worked. Cook – in one of his few meaningful moments in the game – found Kabia on the left. On white-socked legs the spiderman comes softly through the shadow of the afternoon sun, pushing back his marker before arrowing a low strike into the far corner from just inside the penalty area. Quietly he laughs and shakes his head.

Two quick Staunton kicks came to nothing before, five minutes after the goal, a glorious chance. Turi's snappy through-ball left Cook one-on-one with Chapman, but he placed it wide when he really should have buried it. The wrong number to be in that position. Andy Cook gets the ball, scores a goal are proving to be erroneous lyrics at the moment.

Rodgers' goal on 36 minutes gave Town breathing space. Staunton's low cross into the box rolled out to Buck Rodgers, unleashing a rasper from the edge of the deep green sea that flew into the net. Two goals, the Mariners were cruising, love songs emanating from the away terrace.

Several minutes later Crawley responded by replacing Taylor Richards with Watson on the left side of midfield, which resulted with them getting a little more of the ball. Forster found himself in space in the Town box, putting in a delicious ball across goal, which luckily went out for a throw-in.

Half time!

There were soft moments at the back, which Town had the organisation to get away with (Staunton a couple of times, some unintentional too-soft headers, easy passes to a Crawley player), but overall this was an improvement on Friday. Town were busy, moving, owning the game, with Oduor's inclusion proving to be a fascinating treat, Kabia proving to be a pest and Turi looking fresher than Friday.

2nd Half – Neither team made any changes at half time

For the second half Town played towards their fans.

Two minutes in Williams rewarded Oduor's fancy footwork near the touchline with a foul — and then Williams kicked the ball at the grounded midfielder. Don't look, don't look, the shadows breathe, it's a red card from the referee. Staunton facing the Town fans had the biggest grin on his face. So did we. We expected disintegration – and that goal difference getting tastier.

Yet… the game's rhythm changed completely after Williams' dismissal, the wrong way for Town as they sat deeper, inviting pressure rather than pressing their numerical advantage. When Town needed to be clinical and put the game to bed, they made hard work of it, allowing Crawley to build momentum that never quite translated into anything.

And it wasn't for a want of trying. Crawley's energy levels spiked, they changed the team shape several times and players were brought on – Copley after an hour and then throwing on Pereira and Russell with 20 minutes left. They tried to get something back. A long ranger from Burns was Town's only real attempt of note. Oh, and Cook slumping to his knees with his hands in the air asking for a desperate penalty.

Around the 70th minute there was a flurry of chances for Crawley: Walker cleared over Town's bar for a corner; Walker headed away, for a corner; Rodgers had to put the ball behind for another corner; Kacurri headed behind for yet another corner; and then Adeyemo's header, when Crawley did have a glimpse, was off target.

But for all their late huffing, did Crawley force Smith into an actual save? Did they actually have a shot on goal?

Staunton got a self-inflicted yellow for taking one hundred years to take a throw-in. Pereira caused some grief, winning a free kicks off Turi and Kabia, neither of which led to too much bother. Svanthorsson came on for a stretch with several minutes to do, to warm applause in the warm sun.

Pereira again was awks, setting up Adeyemo, which Kacurri blocked comfortably enough.

Seven minutes of added time felt like an eternity. Amaluzor did brilliantly to hold up play on the edge of the box to slide the ball across for Burns to slap against the post and cannon back. Town won a corner that came to nowt, and Amaluzor was caught offside. Staunton did some holding up in the corner ("we're not doing this already, are we?"), the clock ticked down and the final whistle blew.

Cheers from the 500 or so Town fans, still enjoying the sun while three points were added to the league table. Town were disciplined, clinical, stood like a forest to defend in the second half, and for the most part looked like not letting the points slip.

Applause done, everyone hurried to the nearby parked cars and were straight outta Crawley.