Reds crash in front of TV cameras again

Crawley manager Steve Evans rightly refused to make excuses for his side following another live television turn-off.

Reds were again not at their best in front of the cameras last night, four days after disappointing in front of an armchair audience at Forest Green.

They were given the perfect start through an early goal by Jamie Cook but poor defending handed Ebbsfleet three valuable points in their pursuit of a Blue Square premier play-off place.

Evans said: "We had a great start and got ourselves in front but if you give away the kind of goals we did, you are always going to put yourself on the back foot.

"In the second half we huffed and puffed but didn't really open the door. There are no excuses and we will go back to the training ground."

Reds paid the price for being sluggish in front of the television cameras in the 1-0 defeat at Forest Green but there was little sign of the stage fright to come in the early stages last night as Evans' fired up side got off to a flyer.

Cook was presented with the Blue Square premier player-of-the-month award for January before kick-off and took just three minutes to show why.

The United defence hesitated as a long free-kick from Dominic Shimmin dropped in their area and Cook stole in to prod over keeper Lance Cronin for his ninth goal in seven league games.

Shimmin was making his debut after joining until the end of the season from Queens Park Rangers last week. He replaced Jamie Stevens in a new-look back four, which also included Kevin James in an unorthodox right-back position.

James, who displaced Kieran Murphy, is better known as a flying winger but had previous experience of playing at the back when he was a youngster at Nottingham Forest.

It was two of the regular defenders, Glenn Wilson and Paul Watson, who were at fault for the equaliser on 15 minutes. Striker John Akinde outpaced and outmuscled them both with ease following a long ball and slotted a neat finish in off the inside of a post.

It was the first in a number of shaky moments for the Reds defence in the first half.

Raphael Nade should have done better with a header over the top soon after and again when he blazed high into the car park from just inside the area.

Midfielder Luke Moore then did the same on the half hour after the hosts had again failed to clear properly from a free-kick.

Crawley's defensive frailties were summed up on 33 minutes when they handed Ebbsfleet the lead.

Former Albion frontman Chris McPhee, playing wide on the right, sent a low cross into the six yard box and the hapless Wilson turned the ball into his own net from close range.

Reds could have been further behind at the break after Akinde got the better of Watson and had a goalbound effort blocked.

There was no surprise that Evans made changes at the back for the second half. Bradley Thomas came on for Watson, who had been given a tough time by McPhee, and Reds switched from a 4-4-2 to a 3-5-2 formation.

The reshuffle did not signal a change in the pattern of the game at first as Ebbsfleet continued to dominate.

They came within a whisker of adding another shortly after the interval with a long range drive from Neil Barrett which fizzed just over the corner of post and bar.

Reds improved as the half went on as their three-man midfield began to win the battle in the centre of the park and gain more influence on the game.

They remained fragile at the back, however, and were almost caught out again just before the hour.

Moore broke quickly down the left and found Akinde after Wilson slipped trying to clear the danger but Reds were let off the hook as the lively frontman had not timed his run and was flagged offside.

Evans made another tactical change soon after when Jon-Paul Pittman came on to play in a three-pronged attack alongside Magno Vieira and Cook.

It almost had its desired affect with 15 minutes to go when Vieira came agonisingly close to levelling.

James burst free down the inside right channel and sped the ball across goal for the unmarked Brazilian but it was just out of reach and United managed to scramble clear.

Mustapha Carayol went close to earning a point in the dying minutes with a shot which deflected over off ex-Albion defender Paul McCarthy.

Ebbsfleet boss Liam Daish said: "It is a great win for us because Crawley is a very difficult place to come. We worked very hard and kept our discipline and I'm very happy with the way the lads went about it."

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