Saturday 25^th August

Crawley 2 v? 1 VICS

It was two poor sides that were on display at The Broadfield Stadium and in truth it was a game in which VICS could have come away with a point and even all three but VICS didn?t look the part at any stage throughout the 90 minutes.

We have now played three sides that do not look as though they will do very well this season and we have just one point to show for our efforts!

However, VICS started reasonably well with a header form Tait going just wide and then Maylett very nearly succeeded in turning a free kick from Williams into the goal. At the other end Crawley also nearly scored on two occasions with Pittman firing wide from a good position and then Vieira bringing a good full stretch save from Connett.

Connett then made another good save punching the ball clear from under the bar after a shot from Pittman.

In all honesty the very meagre crowd were being provided with poor fodder and the very average game needed something to brighten things up. This came to the delight of the small VICS following when on 42 minutes A good cross from Maylett was well met by Rusk who directed his header into goal. One-nil up and it looked as though we may go on and win the game but alas just two minutes later and it was all square again as Vieira scored with a scorching shot from the edge of the box that gave Connett no chance of saving.

After the interval the second half was really flat and when the home side took the lead in the 53^rd minute it was always going to be difficult for VICS to get back into the game. The winning goal was a poor one from VICS point of view because it came following a mix up by Welch and Brown and whilst the VICS defence remained static Vieira scored from a quickly taken a fee kick.

Whilst Maylett headed narrowly wide form a corner VICS were short on ideas. Steele replaced Carr in a tactical move that almost brought an unlikely equaliser but Steele?s shot was well saved by Bayes.

Strong and Maamira joined the fray but they couldn?t change things and apart from a Rusk shot being deflected and then easily pushed over the bar by Bayes VICS did not threaten the home goal.

This was a pretty dour game with few plusses for VICS ? Maylett did reasonably well for his first outing whilst Battersby was the best VICS player on show. But it has to be said that new faces will be needed soon if VICS are to avoid having a very difficult season ahead of them.

Team (4-3-3)

Connett

Battersby Wilson Birch (74 Strong) Brown

Rusk Welch Carr (67 Steele)

Maylett Tait (79 Maamira) Williams

Subs not used: Murphy and Byrne

Referee: D Sheldrake

Attendance: 793 (with about 30/35 VICS fans)