Crawley Town FA Cup goal hero praises teammates' mentality

Crawley beat Maidenhead 2-1 in the FA Cup after extra-time with goals coming from Mullarkey and Tola Showunmi. It is the first time this season that Reds have won a game after conceding first and Mullarkey who captained the side had lots of praise for his teammates.

He said: “ they're always tough ties, especially playing away from home I think obviously for them it's sort of their Cup Final and they get a big crowd in.They can always be a bit of a banana skin ; I think people sometimes don't realize how hard they are to play in but the the main thing is that we got it over the line and and got the result.

“I think the big thing that we're pleased with today is that we didn't crumble when we went one nil down. That's a setback and I think the Gaffer just touched down on it there, that's the first time that we’ve come back and got a positive result. Everything was going against us, we conceded that goal, their fans got up but the big thing is that we stuck together as a team, as a unit defended properly and took our chances at the other end as well.”

It was a slightly different line-up to the one we have normally seen so far this season, with players who have lacked minutes picking up 120 in one go and Mullarkey has praised his side's team spirit.

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“We obviously need everyone, that's why it's a squad game and people who have not necessarily had that many minutes compared to others came in and put a right shift in. That's what we need, we need everyone together especially when we come off the back of a few bad results.

“It was a potential banana skin for us playing a team that's leagues below us but the big thing is, is that we stood together as a team, put in the performance that we needed and got the result over the line.”

After a long career journey into League One, it was the first time Mullarkey captained Reds which he was very pleased to do.

He said: “it was nice to hear. The Gaffer pulled me in the hotel before we had the team meeting. A very proud moment as obviously three years ago I think it was, I was playing here in the National League so to come here in League one and captain of the club it was something

that I was really really happy with.”

It has been a tough start to the season for Crawley who currently sit 22nd in League One and Mullarkey has stressed how important it will be to get a positive result on Tuesday against Burton.

“We've got to go back-to-back, that's one thing that we've not done this season. We kept a clean sheet at Lincoln and got tons of goals, now we need to go and do back-to-back performances so it’s obviously a massive game on Tuesday and it's all about resting up properly and going again.