The game against Crawley was claimed to be a big game.
In the Stacey West WhatsApp group, even the most rose-tinted of us saw it as a big game. Our Patreon Discord acknowledged it, and the management team did as well. We’re not in great form and those bottom four places, while a distance away, did feel like they were getting closer.
Sleepwalking into relegation. I’ve seen that comment every season, including last time out when we finished seventh. I’ve not quite seen them as late as March, but this week they appeared on social media, late, but never completely absent. Defeat against Crawley would have heightened that fear, maybe even I would have started to look at 2011 again and draw comparisons. History is so easy to refer to, for good and bad, and it felt like maybe I might need to start worrying. That’s my honesty shout.
However, a big game called for a big performance, and we got a big performance.
Another honest shout – I wasn’t there. I’ve taken some time out this last week or two and am in the Peak District. I watched from a cottage in Eyam, and it did give me a different perspective. I could interact with the Discord channel and get something of a different matchday experience. Having the benefit of replays was really nice as well, watching goals back at half time helped reinforce some of the quality on show.
Team selection was as expected. Jovon Makama and Reeco Hackett both came into the side, both impressing in the Barnsley debacle. Dom Jeffries kept his place, but Sam Clucas remained on the bench, with McGrandles the only one who perhaps could count himself lucky to keep his place in the side. George Wickens made his return to the side, and Tom Hamer crowned his cameo at Oakwell with his first start since injury in October.
The first five or six minutes were incredibly worrying, not least because that’s how long it took Crawley to score. With a poor crowd, a bad run of form and a lot of pressure, the last thing we needed was to simply gift the opposition a goal, but once again, that’s what we did. There are a few players at fault in a really horrible goal, and as you know, I don’t like scapegoats, but both Wickens and McGrandles will have wanted to do better. A simple cross into the box was parried into the path of Kamari Doyle by Wickens, and he fired home, but it was only the final action of yet another horrible passage of defending.
City felt wide open, but Crawley did as well, and we responded well. A Darikwa drive struck the bar and bounced away, but City sensed blood. Dom Jeffries caught the eye early doors, and it was his delicious cross that found James Collins in space to level. In fairness to McGrandles, he’s involved as well; a nice little pass for Jeffries to allow Collins to score with a strikers’ header.
At that point, all doubt disappeared from me. As soon as we got back on terms, it felt like our night. There was a confidence to our play, with Hackett pulling strings in the ten role, and the outstanding Jeffries putting on a show to delight. I was impressed with Tom Hamer as well, back after an absence, I thought he looked composed. That’s massive – our defence could be very different next season, but Tom Hamer is one player that will almost certainly be with us.
We had a fluidity to our attacks which has been missing in other weeks. That said, up the other end, John-Jules saw a good effort saved by Wickens, and it felt like the game could go to 3-3 at half time. Instead, City shifted through the gears. The second goal was, once again, all about Dom Jeffries. He delivered a wonderful ball towards the back stick, where Makama was lurking. The youngster had been a real thorn in the side of Crawley, and his diving header beat the keeper, but bounced back from, the woodwork once again. However, Makama reacted quickest, regaining his composure to touch the ball home.
City began to swarm and it felt like we could score five or six. James Collins curled an effort into the keeper’s hands, and he was a real menace as he prowled the area. He didn’t get out third, but it was one of the better goals you’ll see this season, a lovely spell of passing by City seeing Makama away down the right. He delivered a cracking ball for Jeffries, who touched it home. Jeffries will have been robbed of his assist for Makama, but the two looked to be working really well.
The fear was, of course, that we conceded more, and before half time there were a few moments where you wondered if we might. There’s a nervousness around the back line at present, but as the half wore on, it did feel like we were getting a bit of composure. One player who was a real threat was Junior Quitirna, a player I previously applauded at Fleetwood. He looked a really tricky customer, and when he got on the ball, things did feel like they might just happen for the visitors.
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