‘There were so many good performances’ – Kevin Betsy hails Crawley Town after excellent pre-season draw at Hearts

Dom Telford, who joined the Reds this summer on a free transfer, scored both goals to seal their emphatic comeback whilst away in Scotland.

After a simple tap-in on 50 minutes, Telford then curled a brilliant shot into top-left corner to put Crawley back on level terms.

Telford scored 25 goals in 37 League Two games for Newport County last season, the most in the division.

“It sums up why we brought him to the club,” said Kevin Betsy, Crawley Town’s new first team manager on Telford’s impressive showing. “He’s got loads of quality and it’ll be great for his confidence.”

“Going into half-time two goals down whilst away from home, and turning it around, showed great character from the team,” added Betsy.

“There were so many good performances.”

Telford added: “The telling off at half-time probably [helped]. We looked especially good after that, more comfortable on the ball.”

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Tom Nichols, who captained the Red Devils in Scotland, put in another excellent pre-season performance.

“He’s vital, one of the best strikers in the division,” said Betsy. “He’s our captain not only because of his character off the pitch, but also his application out of possession.

“He works really hard to win the ball back. If you’ve got a striker that only relies on goals it’s great, but if you’ve got one that puts a shift in for the group that’s even better.”

Crawley Town now have just have one pre-season friendly to go before kicking off their 2022-23 campaign against Carlisle United on Saturday, July 30.

Betsy’s charges face Charlton Athletic under-23s in a friendly at East Grinstead Town’s East Court this Tuesday (July 19, 7.30pm k.o.).

Many fans will hope this is the season the Reds are able to propel themselves into League One.

“The key for us is to take things game by game,” added Telford, who was promoted from League Two with Plymouth Argyle in 2020-21.

“The work we’ve been putting in has put us in the right direction and we’ll be doing everything we can to prepare for Carlisle.”