Crawley Town see off stubborn Lewes FC in entertaining pre-season clash

With several new signings to blood, League One side Crawley used a full quota of 22 players and were well worth the eventual two-goal margin of victory after a flurry of chances, particularly in the first half.

Isthmian Premier Division team Lewes, meanwhile, were still at an early stage of their development under new manager Craig Nelson and started a number of trialists alongside the seven signings they have announced so far.

It was an evening that ultimately gave both Nelson and his Red Devils counterpart Scott Lindsey plenty to reflect upon, with some impressive performances by the trialists on show and a handy insight for the fans into how both teams will play.

With Lewes smarting from a 1-0 defeat to begin their pre-season at Haywards Heath Town the previous Saturday, they again lined up in an all-green kit, with plenty – including a new home kit – still up their sleeves to reveal.

Crawley, meanwhile, were playing their first fixture of 2024-25 and would field a different XI in each half, with plenty of new players involved.

In the first half, this included goalkeeper Jasper Sheik, who had only joined from Aldershot on Monday, as well as recent signings Scott Malone, Toby Mullarkey, Josh Flint, Antony Papadopoulos and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy.

The match began at an excellent pace, with the Red Devils determined to prove their newfound status as a League One side through some beautiful flowing football.

Hepburn-Murphy was the target and had a brilliant chance within the first ten minutes, only to be foiled by Lewes’ trialist goalkeeper Toby Bull with an improvised save at his near post.

Lewes were quite careless with the ball in defence early on, and almost allowed Hepburn-Murphy to nip in on another occasion but just about got lucky with a clearance.

After the initial flurry of pressure, the Rooks began to build into more of the side new boss Nelson will want to see, moving the ball around purposefully, even though they lacked a focal point in a fairly harmless 4-2-2-2 formation.

Crawley had much more of the ball overall and forced two more chances before the half-hour as the Bull turned a Hepburn-Murphy effort wide of the post and confidently saved a rising effort from Ronan Darcy.

After the intensity ebbed away slightly, Crawley’s impressive trialist at left wing-back returned the spark and Jack Roles was played in from 10 yards to force a great save from Lewes’ ‘keeper onto the post.

Darcy tested the goalkeeper from range again shortly after, but again the Lewes man was equal to it.

Finally, the deadlock was broken in the 45th minute as Hepburn-Murphy was found with a defence-splitting pass 25 yards out, and his shot was well saved before Darcy followed up with a cool finish into the bottom left corner.

While Crawley then changed their entire team at half-time, with four trialists joining new signing Michael Dacosta Gonzalez, as well as Joy Mukena, Charlie Barker, Harry Forster, Jay Williams, Jeremy Kelly and Ade Adeyemo, Lewes stuck to their task.

Nelson set up the Rooks to be positive in possession and break when given the chance, and with midfielder Marcus Sablier growing in stature, they eventually broke through the lines.

The Rooks’ trialist on the right of a two-man attack was set through on two occasions, chopping inside the first time but failing to find a teammate, and then being crowded out on the second occasion.

Lewes’ jolt into life even frustrated Scott Lindsey, who was warned for his conduct by the referee – to several ironic jeers in the crowd – after questioning a foul on Sablier.

When in the ascendancy, the Rooks opted to make five changes at once and then another soon after, which included bringing new signing Alfie Allen into midfield.

They reverted to type after these changes, though, with Crawley again dominating the ball and patiently waiting their turn for a chance.

After a couple of dicey moments playing the ball around defence, Lewes were finally punished by a far sharper side in the 76th minute when a Red Devils trialist struck a shot off a defender and on the second bite of the cherry smashed an effort into the top left corner from 18 yards.

With Lewes accepting that a result was probably out of the equation, they suddenly threw caution to the wind as Allen struck a long-range effort but was blocked, and Sablier was set through one-on-one before the move was called back for a foul.

The remainder of the game did not have many electric moments, with most of the ball being recycled between Mukena and Barker in defence, while Adeyemo had the odd bursting run into the Lewes box.

With little more for either team to add, the referee blew his whistle on an entertaining and enlightening contest.

Lewes would have gained some crucial lessons from playing a number of EFL players, while Crawley would be thankful for the beautiful playing surface and a well-drilled Lewes defence that gave them a decent test.

Both teams continue their pre-season fixtures this Saturday, with Lewes hosting National League South side Worthing at 3pm, while Crawley head to East Grinstead Town for a 3pm kick-off in West Sussex.

Lewes FC: Trialist; Enkh, Trialist, Trialist, Trialist; Sablier, Warren; Trialist, Allsopp; Trialist, Bassett

Subs: Trialist (46’), Trialist, Trialist, Allen, Trialist, Trialist (all 65’), Trialist (68’)

Crawley Town FC (first half): Sheik; Mallarkey, Conroy, Flint; Malone, Papadopoulos, Khaleel, Trialist; Roles, Darcy; Hepburn-Murphy

Crawley Town FC (second half): Trialist; Mukena, Barker, Trialist; Dacosta Gonzalez, Kelly, Williams, Trialist, Forster; Adeyemo, Trialist