Thoughts of a lifelong fan: Nice to see Ronan again, but is he a Crawley Town legend? I'm not so sure

Another point towards whatever total we finish with against a side containing Ronan Darcy, ex-Red Devil, the white Pele and, according to some Crawley fans, a legend.

Don’t get me wrong, I liked Ronan but he was with us for just 66 games scoring six goals, important though they were, but a legend? I’m not so sure.

True, he laid the chance on a plate for Taylor to open the scoring for the Latics and he seemed to have been playing for them for a long time in the manner he marshalled their midfield, but he’s gone now and the Pele song that was sang in his direction at the end of the game from the South Terrace should be the last time we acknowledge him as being once a Red Devil.

We have new players now who may or may not reach some of the standards of the 2023/2024 team but all the time they play with guts and determination, as shown against Wycombe and Wigan they deserve the applause they rightly received at the end of the game against the Lancashire side.

Having let in quick goals after having scored in numerous games this season, it was very pleasing to reverse that against Wigan and what a very special goal it was. Scored by Charlie Barker from out on the right, it rocketed into the net and will join goals by Bradley Ibrahim, Tola Showunmi, Armando Quitirna, Will Swann and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy in what will be the goal of the season competition to end all goal of the season competitions.

Three home games, five points gained and, with only eight games left at Broadfield, we will need to ensure we at least equal that return from them if we are to achieve the great escape. From the home games alone, that would get us up to around 42 points needing at least eight points from seven away games involving trips to Blackpool, Lincoln, Huddersfield, Rotherham, Stevenage, Birmingham and Shrewsbury to achieve the 50-point target so often mentioned as being necessary to stay up.

A tall order perhaps, but one that would be made easier if we turned the remaining eight home games, five of which are against the four teams directly above the drop zone, into home wins.

As I settled down to listen to the Blackpool game whilst watching England play Australia in the cricket (who says men can’t multitask?) Gary Smith commented that Blackpool hadn’t won at home since September, and we hadn’t won on a Saturday since beating Rotherham in November I just knew something had to give, and when Ennis had put the tangerine clad Blackpool two up in the first 18 minutes it seemed that it would be us on the wrong side of a mauling.

Doyle pulled one back on the half hour though and when Blackpool's Fletcher was sent off just two minutes later, I rather foolishly thought we could win. However, it was not to be, and Blackpool extended their lead with just ten minutes to go, even my red tinted specs couldn’t see us coming back.

This leaves us on 29 points with 32 games played and with Burton winning away at Lincoln and Cambridge beating Stockport at home we have seemingly lost all that we had gained in the last three matches. Deep breaths everyone, ten points cover the bottom nine clubs, and we have to play four of them at home as well as Cambridge United next Saturday and Shrewsbury away on the last day of the season.

To add insult to injury England lost to Australia and as I’m finishing this article England’s Rugby Union team are losing to the auld enemy, albeit with the second half to come. Back to the Red Devils, let’s hope a week on the training ground will lead to a performance and result against Cambridge United on St. David’s Day that puts us in good stead for the game away to Lincoln on March 4. Heads up, chests out, we can still do this!

PS Welcome to Louis Watson