Harrold’s strike sees Sarll lose first game
DARREN Sarll was left wondering what if as he was denied a fairytale start to life as Stevenage caretaker manager as Matt Harrold’s strike secured Crawley Town’s first away victory since October.
Harrold fired in the decisive goal a minute before the break after Roarie Deacon found space on the left and centred for the striker to net his sixth of the season.
Stevenage saw the lion’s share of the ball in the second half but couldn’t force a way through, leaving the strugglers without a win in nine matches and Sarll dejected after taking the reins following Teddy Sheringham’s sacking.
“It was the most frustrating afternoon,” Sarll said.“I thought the game was frustrating on the whole, but in the first half we were very comfortable.
“I thought maybe we could have opened up a bit more and had a bit more of a go offensively, but I was quite content at 30 minutes and then to concede the goal just before half-time changes the complexion of things.
“We need to improve and I think it’s important we understand that.
“We have to be better. No disrespect to Crawley, but Crawley have got to come to the Lamex and be beaten.
“We’re very, very disappointed.”
Prior to Harrold’s winner, Gwion Edwards wasted Crawley’s best chance when he struck Bobson Bawling’s cutback straight at Jamie Jones, while Pat Hoban’s first-time shot forced Paul Jones into a smart save at the other end.
Both teams nearly grabbed goals in the first two minutes of the second period, as Edwards nodded a close-range header wide before Jon Ashton almost turned Ronnie Henry’s cross into his own net.
Tom Pett then blasted a golden opportunity off target as Crawley sat back, and Charlie Lee’s near-post flick from a corner was deemed not to have crossed the line despite desperate home appeals.
Crawley Town manager Mark Yates said: “The confidence that the players will get from that win will be massive. “It was all about the team here. It was all about the performance to get a result, not playing silky, flowing football – the conditions didn’t allow that.
“I think we probably just played the conditions a little bit better than them.
“Every single player goes out there and 99 times out of 100 has given me everything they’ve got.
“We’ve fallen short a couple of times for quality but none of them mean it, and this shows that when we set out to do a job and go about it in the right way, we can win games of football.”