Boro improve, but are held at home
Posted by sgmboro on 25/08/2008
After Saturday’s shambles at Ebbsfleet, Stevenage improved to give their best performance of the season so far against Crawley today. Unfortunately though it wasn’t good enough for the three points after a mix up in the Boro box led to Glenn Wilson hammering in the equaliser, but the performance on the whole gives some hope going into a tough week which sees away trips to Barrow and Kettering. Chris Day, formerly of QPR and Millwall replaced Ashley Bayes in goal. Bayes was dropped after conceding 13 goals in his first 4 games. Steve Morison returned after suspension and was partnered up front by Calum Willock. Michael Bostwick was also dropped in favour of Peter Vincenti.
Boro began the game well and put the visitors under a lot of pressure for the first 15-20 minutes. Peter Vincenti started the game well. His physical presence made a big difference today and his ability to get into the box gave Boro another dimension going forward. Lawrie Wilson was also causing the Crawley backline problems from the wide right. The goal came after good play down the right which eventually led to a Steve Morison shot being parried to Mitchell Cole who finished well. Morison’s presence gave Boro a massive lift, although he did look a bit rusty today.
Stevenage though didn’t just settle for the one goal, they immediately looked to add another and Peter Vincenti had a goal disallowed for an alleged push on the goalkeeper. I think that Rayner just misjudged the flight of the ball and Boro were unlucky not to have had a second. Crawley began to get into the game as the half went on and forced Day into a few saves from distance. He looks like an accomplished shot stopper although he may not command his area that well. In my opinion he would be a better option than Bayes, who has made too many mistakes so far this season.
Crawley improved in the second half, but didn’t really create enough in the final third. Boro didn’t have the same energy which they seemed to have in the first half and also lacked going forward. Mitchell Cole had a good run midway through the half before he was halted by Glenn Wilson. Cole then went off injured and was replaced by Anthony Thomas. Although we didn’t look the same threat going forward, I thought we controlled the midfield better and defensively didn’t make many mistakes.
Crawley then brought on Lewis Killeen and Danny Forrest and they both began to cause Boro some problems on the flanks. Killeen had a great chance to level the score, but hit the bar after cutting in from the left hand side. It wasn’t long after that chance that they did equalise after a mix up in the Boro area led to right back Glenn Wilson smashing home from close range. A ball put into the box by Bulman was headed away by Laird to Glenn Wilson who scored. Day really should of dealt with it, but a lack of communication led to Laird getting in the way and heading the ball out instead. After the goal, Boro went more direct in hope of a winner, but an Anthony Thomas free-kick was the nearest they came and that ended up in Fairlands Valley Car Park!
To be fair, Crawley deserved a point after their second half performance where they restricted Boro to just long range efforts and could of scored on more than 2 occasions. Boro should get a bit more confidence from their performance today and if they can continue to play like they did in the first 20 minutes today in the next few games then I’m sure that first win won’t be far away.
