Coleman tips his hat to opponents

ACCRINGTON Stanley boss John Coleman thought his side could have no complaints after their home defeat to Crawley Town on Saturday.

The visitors raced into a 3-0 lead thanks to two first half goals from Enzio Boldewijn and an own goal from Jordan Clarke, and despite the Reds pulling goals back through Billy Kee and Ben Richards-Everton, they still came up short in the match.

Coleman thought his side were poor for some periods of the game, but took nothing away from Crawley and said that they deserved their win.

“That’s probably the best performance we’ve had against us from an opposition team this season,” he said.

“They were very good and clinical and were better than us, I’ve got to just hold my hands up and say that.

“We can’t have any complaints. In the past there have been a lot of decisions against us that we could use as an excuse, but there were no excuses against Crawley.

“The damage was done in the first half, and when things go against you it doesn’t rain it pours. They took the game to us and were bright and competitive.

“Sometimes I stick my chest out and believe that our way is the best way to play, but when I switched the system then it improved us, but it was a little bit too late.

“The players know they let themselves down in the first half. It’s not often we get booed by our fans, but we know we’ve got to be better than that.”

It was a nightmare start to the game for Stanely as Crawley took the lead in the ninth minute when Lewis Young’s cross was turned into his own net my Clark.

It then went from bad to worse for Accrington as Boldewijn got his first goal of the game when he got on the end of a pass from Ibrahim Meite and slotted home to double his team’s lead.

Crawley’s dominant first half was wrapped up when they got a third just before half-time after a great solo effort from Bodewijn, who beat Mark Hughes for pace before firing pat Aaron Chapman to make it 3-0.

Accrington were given a lifeline in first half stoppage time after Kee was fouled in the box by Josh Yorwerth. The striker dusted himself off and dispatched the spot kick himself to reduce the deficit at the break.

Stanley dominated the start of the second half and their hopes of a comeback were well and truly on when Richards-Everton scored, smashing the ball in from just inside the box to make it 3-2.

The Reds pushed forward in search of an equaliser but the Crawley defence held firm and ensured they condemned Coleman’s side to defeat.