Impatience, frustration, celebration and realisation - Crawley Town's season summed up at Sutton United

Guess which one you’re going to get here?

Unbelievably, after having drawn our last two games against Barrow and Sutton, and lost the previous two to Wrexham and Colchester, we are still in the last play-off place.

Yesterday’s game was like watching the whole season in one game, some moments of pure magic sandwiched between unfortunate decisions and some poor defending, capped by the celebration as Orsi scores “the winner”, only for it to be chalked off for offside is what supporting any team should be like.

Impatience, frustration, celebration and realisation all rolled into just under 100 minutes of football.

Do I still believe we can make the play-offs? Funnily enough, I do, albeit that we need some help from our friends,

if that’s what you call them. Firstly, we need a consistent referee who penalises dangerous play no matter what colour shirt the player is wearing (re the high boot which nearly took Nick Tsaroulla’s head off in the run up to Sutton’s first goal) and we also

need Colchester to take points off Doncaster on Tuesday and Crewe next Saturday, Bradford to beat Barrow during the week coupled with a victory for Mansfield (I’ve always like Nigel Clough) over the “Cul de Sac” boys on the last day as Joe Comper and the Gills end their season by beating Donny. Not much to ask for, is it?

Of course I am assuming we will beat Grimsby, who now have nothing but pride to play for, having beaten Swindon on Saturday.

We could even finish fifth!!

Going back to the Barrow and Sutton games, it was so good to see Crawley Town fans out in force to support the boys in Red and White.

I know it was frustrating, just as we get so close to achieving our dream, that we should drop four points, but I like to look it in a slightly different way by looking at the season as a whole and comparing to where we were predicted to finish by all the pundits and betting shops back in August.

We are not heading into the National League, as was foretold, but are still on the verge of making the play-offs.

The disallowed goal by ‘the Ors’ on Saturday reminded me so much of Sol Campbell’s for England against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup, when I appeared to be the only person in the Town Mead Tavern (Redz as it is known now) who noticed that it had been disallowed.

Similarly, it was my granddaughter, “Coach” Beth, who noticed the linesman’s flag while all around us were jumping up and down celebrating a winner deep into added on time.

I don’t want Grimsby to do us any favours on the last day of the season, because I believe we can get the three points on our own merits, and then it will depend on results from elsewhere to decide our fate.

Don’t write off the play-offs just yet. Noli Semper

Cedere.

PS Just where did Sutton hide their 3000 odd fans on Saturday?

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