Crawley v Sutton preview, arrangements and streaming

23 December 2022

The festive period this season sees Sutton playing three games in six days, two of them at home, against Gillingham and AFC Wimbledon, but firstly at Crawley Town on Boxing Day, kick off 3pm. We will be wearing our all green kit with Crawley in white as they support Shelter's #NoHomeKit campaign.

Crawley went in to the season with high hopes after a change of ownership last season and the signing of last season's divisional leading scorer Dom Telford in the summer, but results in the first half of the season haven't matched those expectations, and a change of management saw former Tottenham, West Ham and Stoke winger Matthew Etherington take over from Kevin Betsy, who had been appointed in the summer. Crawley have particularly struggled away from home where they are still looking for their first win after ten games, but at home they have recorded five wins in eleven games, all against sides above them in the current League Two table, although their last game at the Broadfield Stadium saw them beaten at home by Hartlepool, who were bottom of the table at the time of the game.

Sutton's defeat at Leyton Orient was a first in four games, but manager Matt Gray was encouraged by the performance, particularly in the first hour as the League Two leaders struggled to find a way through before a piece of brilliance by Paul Smyth put them in front. Striker Donovan Wilson, who missed last week's game through injury, is fit again and available for the holiday programme but Adam Lovatt is still not fully recovered from the concussion he suffered at Carlisle and will not be able to feature at Crawley. Both Ben Goodliffe and Aaron Pierre played in a brief training game this week with no ill effects and are now close to being available for selection again.

The referee is Neil Hair, who has been an EFL referee since 2018 and has refereed a number of Sutton games in the past, most recently the 2-1 win against Harrogate in September.

Tickets are on sale from our Club Shop between 10am and 2pm on Christmas Eve. Seated and standing accomodation is available. Prices are: Seats (East Stand): Adults (age 21+) £17; Concession(age 60+, student with ID) £12; Young Adult (age 16-20) £5; Young Person (age 12-15) £4 or free with paying adult or concession; Under 12 free with paying adult

Terrace (KR-L Stand): Adults £15; Concessions £10; Young Adult, Young Person and Under 12 as above.

Any tickets that have been ordered over the phone can be collected from the Match Day Ticket Collection Window in the grey portacabin at the Broadfield Stadium.

Anyone who hasn't bought a ticket need not worry as there are plenty of tickets available on the day from the ticket office or the ticket cabin, with no change in price.

As it is a Bank Holiday fixture the game is being live streamed, and a match pass, price £10, can be purchased here.

The supporters' coach leaves the VBS Community Stadium at 12.45pm.

There are no Southern trains on Boxing Day, but the Broadfield Stadium is an easy ground to get to by road, the ground being adjacent to the A23 just north of junction 11 of the M23, postcode RH11 9RX. While there is no on-site parking for spectators, there are free car park spaces at Broadfield Park, on your left between the M23 and the ground, and Tilgate Business Centre, both within five minutes' walk of the stadium.

Match Previews

Match Reports

Match report for Crawley Town 1 Sutton United 2

26 December 2022

Crawley Town1 (Oteh 90+5) Sutton United 2 (Kizzi 61, Milsom 70 pen)

Sutton picked up a second away League Two win of the season as second half goals from Joe Kizzi and Rob Milsom gave U's a lead that wasn't threatened until Aramide Oteh's strike in the last of the five additional minutes at the end denied U's a clean sheet but not the three points.

It wasn't an afternoon that began well for U's, with Donovan Wilson's hopes of returning from the injury that had kept him out of the defeat at Leyton Orient dashed as he felt discomfort in the warm-up, with Josh Neufville promoted from a bench that also included Ben Goodliffe and Aaron Pierre, but until Oteh's late goal there wasn't a great deal else with which U's could be dissatisfied once Kizzi had opened his account for the season on the hour.

The first half had been a familiar tale for Sutton, who had the majority of possession and territorial advantage, but struggled to create clear chances. After a first half hour with little of note, Neufville, playing up front alongside Omar Bugiel, became an increasing threat as he grew in to a role he hadn't filled at Sutton before, and had U's best chance when he collected a chipped pass forward from Ali Smith and turned past a defender before pulling his shot wide of the post. Smith himself had sent a shot high and wide moments earlier, and just before half time Harry Beautyman, playing on the right of the midfield four, met a Milsom cross with a header which was plucked out of the air by goalkeeper Ellery Balcombe.

Crawley gave Jack Rose similarly little trouble in the early stages, and although Bugiel had to show his defensive qualities with two fine headers to clear Jack Powell corners, the biggest threat came when some hesitation in U's defence allowed a long ball to reach Dom Telford, but last season's leading scorer in League Two failed to get any power on his header and Rose saved easily.

Within a minute of the start of the second half U's came very close to taking the lead as Will Randall turned on to a throw in inside the penalty area and sent a shot inches wide of the far post, but Crawley also came out with more threat and Kizzi produced timely interceptions to clear crosses from Powell and Telford, while another low cross from Powell just evaded Telford at the near post.

With an hour gone, though, battling work by Smith gave Bugiel the chance to send in a cross which was cleared for a corner by Ludwig Francillette under pressure from Beautyman. Milsom's corner fell for Bugiel, whose fine overhead kick was well saved by Balcombe but Kizzi was on hand to hammer the ball in to the roof of the net.

As Crawley looked for an equaliser Rose did very well to save and hold a low skidding free kick from Powell that skidded through a crowded penalty area and may also have taken a touch off Nick Tsaroulla, and it proved a crucial save as U's doubled the lead moments later. Neufville was the creator, outpacing Francillette and sending in a cross which was cleared high in to the air by George Francomb, leading to confusion as Balcombe, Francomb and Tony Craig all seemed to think someone else was dealing with the ball as it came back down. Bugiel capitalised on the hesitancy and was tripped by Craig as he was about to shoot. Craig was booked as referee Neil Hair decided it was an attempt to play the ball, but Milsom made sure the chance wasn't wasted with a powerful penalty.

Balcombe made a good save down to his right to prevent a shot from substitute Tope Fadahunsi creeping in at the near post, but U's seemed in little danger until substitute James Balagizi and Telford combined to set up Oteh, whose shot went through the legs of John and Rose to find the net, but by then all but thirty seconds of the additional five minutes had been played and it was too little too late for the home side and couldn't prevent U's taking the points.

Sutton: J Rose, E Boldewijn, R Milsom, J KIzzi, C Eastmond, L John, J Neufville, A Smith, O Bugiel(sub K Kouassi 82), H Beautyman(sub T Fadahunsi 75) W Randall Subs n/u L Ward, S Hart, B Goodliffe, A Pierre, C Dundas. Booked: Randall, Boldewijn.

Crawley: E Balcombe, L Francillette, N Tsaroulla, G Francomb, T Craig, B Wells(sub B Mason 71), T Fellows(sub J Balagizi 61), J Powell, D Telford, J Hessenthaler, M Ogungbo(sub A Oteh 61). Subs n/u C Addai, H Ransom, J Davis. Booked: Craig

Referee: Neil Hair

Attendance; 2,926 (404 away)