Crawley Down Gatwick 2-2 Tunbridge Wells - I'm not going to come and crucify anyone. I just feel as a team we were wasteful throughout the whole 90 minutes, says disappointed Tunbridge Wells boss Steve Ives

Crawley Down Gatwick 2 – 2 Tunbridge Wells
Location	The Haven Centre, Hophurst Lane, Crawley Down, West Sussex RH10 4LJ
Kickoff	21/12/2024 15:00

CRAWLEY DOWN GATWICK  2-2  TUNBRIDGE WELLS
(Crawley Down Gatwick win 5-4 on penalties)
The Isuzu FA Vase Third Round
Saturday 21 December 2024
Stephen McCartney reports from The Haven Centre

TUNBRIDGE WELLS manager Steve Ives says he is not going to crucify his players’ after they suffered a shock FA Vase exit at Crawley Down Gatwick.

James Day’s side reached the Fourth Round (Last 32) for the very first time and will host Combined Counties League Premier Division South side Fleet Town on Saturday 11 January, after holding their nerve from the penalty spot to claim a scalp.

Crawley Down Gatwick were given home advantage after Tunbridge Wells had a couple of attempts to stage the game at Culverden Stadium over the past two weekends but the pitch was waterlogged.

The Football Association ruled to switch the venue and Crawley Down Gatwick went into the game having lost two games (both to Sean Muggeridge’s Crowborough Athletic) in their last seven in all competitions.

Tunbridge Wells haven’t played since their 1-1 draw at Glebe on Saturday 30 November, while Day’s men got 90 minutes under their belt in the Sussex Senior Cup on Tuesday night, losing 4-3 on penalties after holding Isthmian League South East Division side Littlehampton Town to a 1-1 draw here.

Tunbridge Wells were without Siji Akinlusi, who was serving a one-match suspension, while Joshua Woodliffe was ruled out through a groin problem and Riley Assam was cup-tied, having played for Erith & Belvedere.

Crawley Down Gatwick opened the scoring after only 193 seconds through attacking midfielder Joshua Alder’s 14 goal of the season.

Tunbridge Wells dominated for large chunks of the first half and deservedly restored parity through right-winger Regan Corke’s 11^th goal of the season, as the Kent side were wasteful in front of goal before the break.

Tunbridge Wells felt they had claimed victory when holding midfielder Jack Walder bundled in a corner with 12 minutes remaining but impressive right-winger Lewis Gould, who has come out of Crawley Town's Academy set-up, drove home his 12^th goal of the season to force a penalty shoot-out.

Fourteen penalty kicks were taken and Muiz Alaka, Rhys Bartlett and the late arriving Kazzeem Richards all failed to score for Ives’ men.

“It’s obviously very raw at the minute. I think it was a game where both sides had a lot of attacking chances and both sides probably had some questionable defending, so I guess it made for an entertaining game,” said Ives.

“I think once it comes to penalties, yes it’s the lottery isn’t it, like they all say.

“Missed chances?  I know, that’s the thing really. I thought the goal we let in was really poor in the first half but after that - of the top of my head - there’s three good chances.”

Crawley Down Gatwick went into this Third Round tie being the last remaining Sussex side left in the competition and they have beaten Ash United (3-2), Molesey (4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw), Wembley (2-0) and Peacehaven & Telscombe (8-0) to reach this stage.

They were sitting in the top-eight of the Southern Combination League Premier Division table, having picked up 29 points from their 17 league outings.

Tunbridge Wells – Wembley runners-up back in 2013 – have beaten Glebe (2-0), Pagham (3-1) and Hassocks (3-0 on penalties after a 1-1 draw) to reach this stage of the competition.

A pre-Christmas crowd of 198 watched a low quality encounter on a wet and windy day, with Tunbridge Wells starting on the front foot, temporarily.

Right-back Harry Hudson launched the first of his six long throws into the Crawley Down Gatwick penalty area and the ball was cleared out to Walder, who cracked his right-footed half-volley sailing over the top of the near post after only 63 seconds.

Crawley Down Gatwick started with a back five and often played out from the back and Callum Kilkenny (a diminutive man who started at the heart of the back five) drilled a right-footed long ball out of defence straight down the heart of the pitch.

Tunbridge Wells centre-half James White opened the gate and let in Alder and as goalkeeper George Bentley rushed off his line, slotted a composed right-footed finish rolling into the bottom right-hand corner of an open goal from 15-yards to give the home side the lead with only 193 seconds on the clock.

“Dreadful! Dreadful from us,” admitted Ives.

“We set up a certain way to encourage them to try to play short but we had a feeling we could capitalise, which actually we did quite a lot.  But we also knew if we did it particularly well, they’d probably go long. 

“They played three up front. We had a back four today, so I felt with having the extra man and without being disrespectful to them, they’re not fantastic in the air either. I felt like that wouldn’t really bother us but that first one was just absolutely shocking!

“I’m just saying as a unit, I think both our centre-halves and our goalkeeper haven’t covered themselves in a massive amount of glory.”

Tunbridge Wells’ holding midfielder Lewis Unwin fed the ball to left-back Alaka, who released winger Festos Kamara down the left and he cut the ball back for attacking midfielder Rory Ward, who took a touch before hitting his right-footed drive sailing over the crossbar from 15-yards.

Gould impressive for the home side down the right wing and he broke before cutting towards the D before sweeping the ball out to central striker Sam Schaaf, who cut onto his right-foot and forced Bentley to dive to his right to palm the ball towards safety (7:47).

“As you pointed out, there were chances for both teams, so we can’t stand here and make out it was one way traffic, because it wasn’t,” admitted Ives.

“They do offer a threat, they’re brave. They leave three up all of the time, whether it was Gould out there, Shaaf or Leslie, who came off the bench, they’ve got some good firepower.

“We’re not arrogant or naïve enough to think they wouldn’t pose a threat but I did feel if we could limit them to go indirect, we should be good enough to sort of mop that up.”

Corke floated a deep corner in from the right and Walder knocked the ball back towards the near-post where centre-half Ryan Hine flicked his header over the top of the post.

Crawley Down Gatwick were often the masters of their downfall during the first half as playing out from the back is not ideal on a wet playing surface on a windy day and players that aren’t good enough to do it.

Tunbridge Wells were almost gifted an equaliser in the 12^th minute when Louis Pittock gave the ball straight to Ward in the final third and he took a touch before his left-footed drive from 20-yards forced goalkeeper Alex Bellingham to dive to his right to use both of his hands to punch the ball towards safety.

“Give the keeper credit there. I thought Ward has nicked it and hit the target.  Their keeper’s actually done alright, other than maybe a couple of mistakes with the ball at his feet, I think he’s actually made some good saves,” added Ives.

Crawley Down Gatwick centre-half Boluwatito Salaam simply gave the ball on a plate to Tunbridge Wells striker Jacob Feasey inside the box but he lacked composure and curled his right-footed shot across the keeper and against the far post with 14 minutes and 8 seconds on the clock.

Reflecting on the BIG GLARING MISS from his number nine, Ives said: “I think maybe he’s tried to be a little bit too precise. I think he’s tried to bend it because the keeper was sort of scrambling to get back where in truth, I feel like maybe if he’s just gone low and hard it probably goes in.

“We had quite a lot of success playing of their mistakes and Feasey played a big part in that with his pressing, so I’m not going to come and crucify anyone. I just feel as a team we were wasteful throughout the whole 90 minutes really.”

This low quality game was error strewn and the Kent side failed to clear their lines beside the corner flag and Gould tried his luck with a right-footed angled drive from 30-yards, which was comfortably gathered by Bentley at his near-post.

Crawley Down Gatwick’s left-back Beau Walters was woeful and there was no surprise when he was hooked at half-time.

Tunbridge Wells levelled with 23 minutes and 36 seconds on the clock, as Walters fell asleep from a long kick up field by the Tunbridge Wells keeper.

Bentley’s right-footed kick was heading into the right-channel and Walters allowed Corke to nip in, head the ball past the number five and as the ball landed inside the penalty area, the winger had a simple task of slotting his right-footed shot into the empty goal.

“Probably a bit disrespectful to call him (Walters) woeful.  I think anyone who’s up against Regan without too much support is in for a difficult day,” said Ives.

“I actually thought Reg started quietly by his standards but yes, he’s done really, really well there.  He’s been quite brave to get his head on it, again the keeper was sort of rushing out again and very relieved because other than the goal that they scored so early on, I felt it was one-way traffic, probably a bit strong but I definitely felt we were having the majority of it.

“I wasn’t sure if it was the wind was the contributing factor or just the fact that we were playing quite well.”

The home side switched to a 4-2-1-3 formation, with Kilkenny often dropping back from his holding midfield role to make it a back-five.

Tunbridge Wells’ wastefulness in front of goal continued, creating a couple of chances inside the final three minutes of the first half.

Alaka threw the ball short to White, who took a touch before launching a long ball into the box where a free header from striker Feasey sailed harmlessly wide, despite having time to bring the ball down and shoot at Bellingham’s goal.

Unwin played the ball along the sticky pitch to release Kamara down the left and he cut inside right-back Louis Gates but Bellingham came off his line to make a vital save with his legs in a one-on-one dual (44:37).

“They were not without threat but I felt we were asking questions and it needed a cushion didn’t it? It needed a cushion, unfortunately we weren’t defending well enough. It never looked like a one-goal cushion was going to be enough so that is probably what’s cost us was probably not finishing our chances,” admitted Ives.

“I basically felt our shape was quite good. We just talked (during the half-time interval) about a little adjustment with the press because we knew they were a little bit right-side dominant, they wanted to get out through their right-back (Gates), which meant Lewis Unwin, he had a bit of an issue sometimes because he had to come out. We almost played a little diamond, so we just talked about him and Festos and how they had to deal with that situation.

“Other than that, it was really trying to get Festos and Regan into the game because they’re a brave side. They do commit bodies forward and as a result they do leave themselves a little bit light at the back.”

There was no shock when Walters was hooked at the break and Kilkenny operated at left-back beside substitute centre-half Jack Ryder (a late replacement on the team-sheet for Luca Intelligenza).

Ives refused to throw Walters under the bus.

“I think to be fair to the lad (Walters). He got booked so he was on a yellow card.

“I actually felt with the wind against us, it would make it easier for us to drop it in behind them, so a part of our team talk was we have to get at that left-back. He’s in trouble and obviously their manager is no mug. He saw that one coming a mile away and took him out of the firing line.”

That tactical change proved all the distance as the pair cut out the threat from Corke during most part of the second half, as Tunbridge Wells went direct.

Crawley Down Gatwick started the second half on the front foot and Gates threw the ball back to Salaam, who smashed a right-footed volley into the box from the half-way line to release Alder in behind but the angle was too tight for the shot to be on target, flashing past the foot of the near post after just 43 seconds.

Kilkenny hit a long diagonal as (weak link) Alaka went missing in Tunbridge Wells’ left-back position and Gould cut into the box and was denied by Bentley, diving to his right to push towards safety in the 57^th minute.

Ives said: “It wasn’t a faultless performance from us. We haven’t been robbed by any stretch. They’ve more than played their part and they’ve had a few chances but on the whole I think they’ve capitalised on our mistakes, whereas I felt, having said that, you could argue we capitalised on a lot of their mistakes playing out from the back.

“So maybe when I watch it back, it will be a game riddled by mistakes and maybe a draw was a fair result but I just feel on the balance of play….”

Bellingham then made a comfortable save down on his knees into his midriff as Tunbridge Wells shot from 30-yards following a short throw-in (12:14).

Alaka threw the ball to Walder, who was given time and space to stroke a low right-footed drive towards goal which was comfortably dealt with by the goalkeeper.

“They’ve given him a little bit of space. He’s got one of the cleanest strikes you’ll see. The only thing was I don’t think we were sharp enough to follow it in because the keeper couldn’t handle it first time and maybe, maybe if Feasey was a little bit on his toes, maybe he could’ve had a tap in there,” said Ives.

Tunbridge Wells failed to create any goalscoring chances when referee Marcin Indyk threw Crawley Down Gatwick’s captain Pittock into the sin bin (18:50-29:11) for dissent, just before Hudson could throw the ball into a crowded penalty area.

“We certainly didn’t make the extra man count and I think maybe the mistake we made was going a little bit too direct at that point in the game whereas having the extra man in midfield because I think they went to a 4-4-1. Maybe if we used the extra man in midfield we could’ve shortened it up a little bit and maybe have caused them some more problems but that’s hindsight.

“The problem with a sin-bin is unless you plan for it, you obviously don’t get the opportunity to stop and tell your team what to do. You’ve just got to hope they can see it but as it was, we didn’t make it count.”

Tunbridge Wells grabbed the lead, however, with 32 minutes and 36 seconds on the clock, following their third and final corner.

Corke swung a right-footed delivery in from the left and the ball was allowed to bounce inside the six-yard box and Walder bundled the ball into the bottom right-hand corner with his right-foot.

Ives said: “Well, we do a lot of work on our set-pieces. The work haven’t been coming off for us. I don’t think the delivery was great in the first half if I’m honest.

“Finally we dug one out. It was a bit of a mess wasn’t it but Walders got it.

“I felt we deserved a goal at that point in the game. I mean, I don’t know what a neutral would say but I felt we deserved a goal and I personally felt we’d see it out at that point but credit where it’s due, they’ve got another one.”

Tunbridge Wells substitute striker Bartlett picked the ball up on the half-way line and cut into the middle before pulling his right-footed shot just past the foot of the left-hand post.

“Even towards the end, Rhys had a couple of half-chances to maybe finish them off.  It just needed someone to get that third goal. I must admit at 2-1, I didn’t see them coming back into it,” admitted Ives.

Crawley Down Gatwick showed great character and grabbed an equaliser following a well-worked three-man move, with 38 minutes and 9 seconds on the clock, although Bentley got a hand to the angled drive.

Kilkenny played the ball up to Michael Spence and the substitute central midfielder reversed the ball in behind Alaka to feed Gould, who had space to cut into the box and drove his right-footed shot into the near corner from 12-yards on the angle.

“I don’t think we defended very well. It felt to me like the guy just walked through us. It didn’t look like anyone got a glove on him, disappointing, so if you don’t defend well and you don’t take your chances then, well guess what?

“It’s a little bit of a blur but it felt like the red (Crawley Down Gatwick) shirts just had way too much time and space.

“They were starting to turn the heat up if we’re brutally honest and some of our defending was a little bit desperate. We were hacking a few things away, we kept giving the ball back to them instead of clearing our lines and I guess I think they felt like maybe they managed to ride out the sin-bin and fair play to them.

Gould drilled a sublime diagonal from the half-way line over to left-wing-back Oliver Leslie, who put in a cross and struck the hand of last defender Hine and the referee pulled out a yellow card and gave the home side a late chance to win it.

Bentley lined up a five-man wall but Gould drilled his right-footed free-kick high over the crossbar from 22-yards (47:49).  The final whistle was blown at 52:35.

“That was the spell. I did feel like they were having quite a strong finish. I changed my formation because I felt once they got back to 11, I thought their wing-backs would potentially are going to have a big impact, so we went back to a 3-4-1-2, which is a formation we play quite a lot.

“But if I’m honest, It didn’t really work for us today. We were under the cosh a little bit too much.

“If he’s handled it, he’s handled it. The ball’s been fired at him on the edge of the box but I was kind of thinking ‘here we go,’ The bloke’s going to put this in the bottom corner but thankfully he put it in Gatwick Airport, I think.”

Alaka summed up his poor afternoon by lashing his left-footed penalty against the crossbar, arrogantly trying to find the top-left-hand corner and was consoled by his captain White, Kamara, Richards and Ryan Moir as he walked back to the half-way line.

Crawley Down Gatwick substitute, the seven-goal Oliver Leslie, struck his right-footed penalty against the top of the crossbar and over, too.

Ward stepped up and placed his right-footed penalty into the right-hand corner, as goalkeeper Bellingham guessed the right way to give Tunbridge Wells the lead.

Alder struck a composed right-footed penalty straight down the middle, as Bentley dived to his left to level.

Kamara stepped up and rifled his right-footed penalty into the top left-hand corner.

Ryder capped off a good second half with a quality penalty, into the top right-hand corner, sending Bentley the other way.

Bartlett stepped up and his poor left-footed penalty was kept out by Bellingham, diving to his left to smother and hold the ball.

Crawley Down Gatwick were now 3-2 in front when Gould found the bottom right-hand corner with a right-footed penalty, sending Bentley the wrong way again.

Hudson stepped up to make it 3-3, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way as the ball hit the right-hand corner.

Crawley Down Gatwick substitute Spence saw his right-footed penalty saved by Bentley, diving to his left and using a strong left hand.

Tunbridge Wells went 4-3 in front when Moir rifled his left-footed penalty into the roof of the net, sending Bellingham the wrong way.

Salaam held his nerve with a clinical right-footed penalty, into the bottom right-hand corner, sending Bentley the wrong way again. 

Kazzeem Richards. Turn up to a game ON TIME! He offered nothing going forward, coming on for Corke just seconds after his side went 2-1 ahead.  Richards’ right-footed penalty clipped the right-hand post with the goalkeeper beaten.

Joshua Brown stepped up and rifled his right-footed shot straight down the middle as it doesn’t look like Bentley did any homework on Crawley Down Gatwick’s penalties and Tunbridge Wells paid the price by exiting the competition.

When asked whether his side had practiced penalties in training, Ives replied: “We had a discussion about it at training and half the boys said they didn’t want to practice them because it just jinxes it and a few of the boys said they did want to have a go.

“When it gets to that stage, obviously we’ve made four substitutions so you haven’t necessarily got the people on the pitch. It’s just about who wants one.  I’m not going to be critical. I was more hoping Bents (Bentley) would save a couple.  Whoever steps up, I take my hat off.

“Muiz (Alaka) has hit the bar with the first one. He’s devastated but the Hassocks game he took the first one, it was superb. He put it right in the top stanchion, so you’re talking about inches making a difference and their first penalty taker, Leslie. I came and watched them on Tuesday night and their manager said ‘he’s never missed a penalty,’ so there you go, it’s just one of those things.

“What can you say (about missing three penalties), you can’t really have a go at anyone for that can you?  It’s not like someone’s not tracking a man, it’s not like someone doing something reckless, it’s just they’ve had the b*****ks to step up and I won’t be critical of anyone for that.”

When asked about the dressing room mood following their FA Vase exit, Ives revealed: “Obviously flat, obviously disappointed. We felt we could get a result here, having beaten a couple of sides from this league, not being disrespectful at all. I know James (Day), their manager well. I know they’d be a handful. I watched them take Littlehampton to penalties on Tuesday but I wouldn’t say we were looking past this game, I would never do that.

“But obviously to make the last 32 and to be in it after Christmas would’ve been something special but we’ve just come up a little bit short so all I can really say is congratulations and good luck to Crawley Down against Fleet.”

Tunbridge Wells have now dropped down a couple of places and are now in fourteenth-place in the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division table, having picked up 22 points (six wins, four draws and seven defeats) from their 17 games.

The Wells are 12 points adrift of the play-off zone and only five points clear of the relegation zone, which holds Lordswood and Lydd Town.

“I think if you look at our form in the league, it’s pretty good.  Obviously, we’re a few games behind people now, which doesn’t mean anything.  You’ve got to put points on the table but as the boys have said in there, ‘we have just got to concentrate on the league now’, so just attack every game. Hopefully do ourselves justice and just see what happens really.

“There’s no point dwelling on it (our FA Vase exit). We’ll be disappointed tonight but you’ve got to get back on the horse. We’ve still got 21 league games to play, so we’re just going to concentrate now on trying to put a good account of ourselves.

“It’s fantastic to see a good turn out (from our fans). We always get a good turn out away, obviously disappointing we lost home advantage on this one because I’m sure at the (Culver)den it could’ve been a different story.

“Thank you all for coming, have a great Christmas and hopefully we’ll see you all on the 28^th for Sutton Athletic at home.”

Crawley Down Gatwick: Alex Bellingham, Louis Gates (Jake Neaves 88), Beau Walters (Jack Ryder 46), Callum Kilkenny (Alex Tidy 90), Louis Pittock, Boluwatito Salaam, Joshua Alder, Joshua Brown, Sam Schaaf (Oliver Leslie 63), Liam Holden (Michael Spence 69), Lewis Gould.

Goals: Joshua Alder 4, Lewis Gould 84

Booked: Beau Walters 22, James Day (manager) 71

Temporary Dismissal: Louis Pittock 64

Tunbridge Wells: George Bentley, Harry Hudson, Muiz Alaka, Lewis Unwin (Rhys Bartlett 80), James White, Ryan Hine, Festos Kamara, Jack Walder (Ryan Moir 86), Jacob Feasey (Jack Gallagher 70), Rory Ward, Regan Corke (Kazzeem Richards 79).
Sub:  Joshua McArthur Nolan

Goals: Regan Corke 24, Jack Walder 78

Booked: Jack Walder 44, Rory Ward 83, Ryan Hine 90, George Bentley 90

Attendance: 198
Referee: Mr Marcin Indyk
Assistants: Mr Owen Lawrence & Mr William Rough