Confident Godden’s got Sarll to thank

BEFORE Saturday’s kick-off, Stevenage manager Darren Sarll sat down with Matt Godden and showed him a film of his career highlights to try and boost his confidence.

It proved to be a masterstroke as the striker took his tally for the season to 13 with two quick-reaction goals – one of them in added time – which earned Boro the three points.

“Throughout his career Matt has often had to reinvent himself,” said Sarll. “But persistence has been a part of his life and he has always come back through his desire and work effort.

“Some of his work was fantastic – he covers thousands of kilometres in games and is right up there as a striker.”

Crawley went in leading at half-time, but that was both completely against the general run of play and largely attributable to Plymouth-based referee Lee Swabey.

At the heart of their attack Stevenage had the two most effective players on the field in Godden and Ben Kennedy. The latter extracted two saves from Glenn Morris and probably should have scored when, having beaten Josh Yorweth to a long ball, only toepoked his effort straight at the home keeper.

Stevenage however were punished in the 27th minute when Swabey penalised Luke Wilkinson for a push on James Collins.

The Crawley striker got up and hammered home the penalty, but six minutes after the break Swabey limped off with a thigh injury while a chant of ‘you’re not fit to referee’ echoed around the Broadfield Stadium.

That was a view shared by Sarll, who said: “I was disappointed with the penalty, it was a poor decision, and when I saw it I knew I was right.”

Kennedy limped off with an injury of his own in the 68th minute, but it was only Morris again who protected the hosts’ lead – turning aside a 15-yard effort from Tom Pett.

But with 15 minutes left, Stevenage finally made their dominance count when Godden slid the ball home from a narrow angle, after Jobi McAnuff ’s run and cross.

And in the eight minutes of extra-time, compiled because of Swabey’s injury, Godden tucked home a loose ball in the area.

Crawley manager Dermot Drummy accepted the result despite the gut-wrenching timing of the winner. He said: “A lot of our play was disappointing and Stevenage were on the front foot.

“It was like they were the home team and we were the away side.”