Evans: 'At present we are not carrying any luck'
Crawley Town boss Steve Evans is not a man who seems bothered much about what impression he makes in the media, which is good, as it's a crap one.
Two successive 1-1 draws have placed the creepies two points behind Southend in the lastest League Two table and after both games Evans made derogatory comments about team he obvioulsy feels his team should railroad, and when you consider the dosh spent to create his squad maybe they should.
After last weekend's words of wisdom from the fat man on TV, that 'there was only one team playing football out there' and the brilliant, 'six minutes of stoppage time, there could have been twenty-six', he moved on this weekend to have a go at Hereford, who had the cheek to hold on bravely and make sure the League Two Red devils returned to Sussex without the victory their manager seems to feel is there's by right.
Evans told www.theargus.co.uk: "We made a bad error and they took advantage but apart from that we annihilated them. We had all the possession and chances but we didn't take them and paid the price. I can't fault the the endeavour, passion or commitment of the players and we had enough chances to win four or five games but if you don't take them you don't win. It was two points dropped."
As for the game on Saturday; Tom Barkhuizen put Hereford in front when he scored his fifth goal of the season in the eighth minute to stun their opponents.
Bulls full-back Joe Heath cleared off the goalline as Crawley piled on the pressure, and Andy Drury levelled for the visitors four minutes before the break. But Pitman's men held firm in the second half to dent the creepies promotion push, leaving Evans frustrated.
Evans said:"We had plenty of chances but we haven't taken them and you pay a price if you don't. I was surprised how long it took us to equalise and in the second half we missed three open goals, in my opinion. But you have to take them if you are going to compete at the top end of the league. We've lost another two points and now we have to pick ourselves up and get back on the training ground. The goal we gave away was a travesty and Claude Davis should know better."
Eventually Evans calmed down enough to blame that old friend of managers who feel they've been robbed, not the match officials in this case, but good old lady luck, it just buggers off when you need it.
He concluded: "At present we are not carrying any luck or getting a break of the ball whatsoever. But we need to continue to work hard for that to happen. It won't change because you want it to, you must make it change."
Top of League Two
| 1 | Southend United | 17 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 9 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 33 | 15 | 38 | +18 | ||||
| 2 | Crawley Town | 17 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 15 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 34 | 23 | 36 | +11 | ||||
| 3 | Cheltenham Town | 17 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 24 | 17 | 32 | +7 | ||||
| 4 | Shrewsbury Town | 17 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 23 | 17 | 31 | +6 | ||||
| 5 | Morecambe | 17 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 17 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 34 | 17 | 30 | +17 | ||||
| 6 | Swindon Town | 17 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 27 | 15 | 29 | +12 | ||||
| 7 | Oxford United | 17 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 26 | 16 | 29 | +10 | ||||