Crawley Town showed once again they struggle to substantiate their superiority when playing against poor sides - opinion

I simply do not understand how Crawley Town managed to return pointless from their trip to Grimsby Town.
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From the off they played with the attacking intent that has often been absent in recent games, generally looked comfortable and, quite honestly, to me Grimsby looked very limited. The home side did, however, get the ball in our net twice so maybe the answer is simple.

'We were bad in both boxes, and it’s cost us' - Crawley Town boss John Yems on a disappointing night at Grimsby Town

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Irony isn’t a word that crops up often in football reports but it certainly could be applied here. After Ashley Nadesan had come close to scoring several times the Mariners got their first chance.

Ashley Nadesan hit the crossbar against Grimsby TownAshley Nadesan hit the crossbar against Grimsby Town
Ashley Nadesan hit the crossbar against Grimsby Town

Almost inevitably it fell to Filipe Morais, one of several players the club should have worked harder to retain in recent seasons. He hit a strong low drive but bizarrely the well-positioned Glenn Morris allowed the ball to squirm through his grasp. The reliable keeper would not have been happy with his attempt on this occasion.

Crawley levelled through Jack Powell who curled a free kick up and over the wall and down again just inside the near post. It was an effort worthy of James Ward-Prowse who is perhaps England’s best exponent of the art.

Grimsby’s winner demonstrated how the odds were stacked against the Reds. Joe Adams almost inadvertently diverted the ball past Morris as a long throw was flicked on leaving a reaction of “how did that happen?”

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It was that sort of game. Nadesan hit the crossbar and Crawley also had a very good shout for a penalty turned down when Powell was bundled over. Experienced referee Bobby Madley was generally pretty good but on this occasion I reckon his viewpoint differed from that of virtually everybody else in Blundell Park.

Sometimes I wonder if the managers don’t bring problems on themselves with curious substitutions. Once again the influential Sam Matthews was hooked in a double change along with the promising James Tilley. Neither newcomer played any better than those two. Late on Nadesan, who had enjoyed his most positive game for weeks, was replaced by Davide Rodari. He has yet to give any indication whatsoever as to the talents that persuaded John Yems to bring him to the club.

The Reds did not deserve to lose. They fully deserved the three points for their all round game.

Unfortunately they showed once again that they struggle to substantiate their superiority when playing against poor sides.