Liam Kelly’s equaliser earns Crawley point from Walsall draw

By Sports Desk February 13, 2024

Liam Kelly equalised midway through the second half as Crawley ended a run of three successive League Two defeats with a 1-1 home draw against Walsall.

Former Reds’ midfielder Isaac Hutchinson put Walsall ahead with a 38th-minute penalty but their hopes of a first league victory since New Year’s Day were thwarted by Kelly.

This was Crawley’s first home league draw for 10-and-a-half months – since they drew 0-0 with Walsall last April.

Former Crawley loanee Hutchinson tested goalkeeper Corey Addai in the 19th minute with a 25-yard shot which was turned around the post.

Hutchinson later crossed for Jamille Matt to put the ball over from close range.

Hutchinson made the breakthrough seven minutes before the interval when he sent Addai the wrong way from the penalty spot after defender Jay Williams was adjudged to have tripped Jack Earing.

Crawley started the second half on a more positive note and Klaidi Lolos and Danilo Orsi both had shots blocked before the Reds levelled after 65 minutes.

Midfielder Kelly rifled an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net after a move involving Orsi and substitute Jack Roles.

The hosts came close to snatching victory five minutes from time when Will Wright’s header from Kelly’s corner was saved by goalkeeper Jackson Smith and the spoils were shared.

Related items

  • Cabal becomes second Juventus defender to suffer ACL injury Cabal becomes second Juventus defender to suffer ACL injury

    Juventus' Juan Cabal will undergo surgery after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee, intensifying the Serie A giants' defensive injury crisis.

    The 23-year-old was forced to return to Turin after injuring his knee during training with the Colombia national team ahead of their World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Ecuador.

    Cabal is the second Juventus defender to suffer an ACL injury this season after Gleison Bremer, who hurt his left knee during their 3-2 Champions League win over RB Leipzig last month.

    Cabal has so far made nine appearances across all competitions this season.

    Juventus are sixth in the Serie A standings and 11th in the Champions League's new-look league phase.

  • Real Madrid hit Twente for seven, five-star Wolfsburg also win big Real Madrid hit Twente for seven, five-star Wolfsburg also win big

    Real Madrid had six different goalscorers as they trounced Twente 7-0 in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg beat Galatasaray 5-0.

    Signe Bruun opened the scoring three minutes into the Group B encounter at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, then Maria Mendez's header gave Madrid a 2-0 half-time lead.

    Madrid, who had won one and lost one of their opening two games in the tournament, got a third through Naomie Feller five minutes into the second half, then Caroline Weir made it 4-0 with a brilliant free-kick.

    Mendez headed home her second of the encounter shortly after the hour mark, while Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho got on the scoresheet late on to complete the rout.

    The victory took Madrid second in the Group B standings ahead of Chelsea's trip to Celtic.

    Wolfsburg were also convincing victors in Group A, getting off the mark for this season's competition as Rebecka Blomqvist scored a hat-trick in their 5-0 thrashing of Galatasaray.

    The Bundesliga side – who failed to pick up a point or score a goal in their opening two matches – had a narrow 1-0 lead at half-time through Joelle Wedemeyer, before Blomqvist took centre-stage in the second period.

    She tapped home after Janina Minge struck the crossbar, then added her second goal in the 77th minute and her third six minutes into stoppage time.

    Vivien Endemann powered home a fifth for Wolfsburg one minute later, as they provisionally moved within three points of Lyon and Roma ahead of their meeting.

  • Taylor pleased with City's physical test during Hammarby win Taylor pleased with City's physical test during Hammarby win

    Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor was pleased with how his team stood up to the physical challenge of Hammarby in their 2-0 Champions League victory on Tuesday.

    City's win extended their unbeaten start to the season, having won every game in all competitions following a 2-2 draw against Arsenal on opening day.

    “Difficult game for us, physical challenge, a physical team in Hammarby. I think they outnumber us a little bit in terms of size, considering when you look at our midfield. But I thought the girls handled it really well," Taylor said after the game

    “I thought we dominated the game. In the early parts we were just a little bit off in our final action. We just needed to speed up a little bit in terms of being on the end of it, and we spoke about that at half-time, and we score with Laura getting into that type of position we’d been talking about.

    “[The physicality was something] we were prepared for, but dealing with it is a different thing. Having Bunny [Khadija Shaw] and Alanna [Kennedy] on the pitch, two of our more physical players, is really important, particularly for set-plays.

    “At 1-0 we were defending a couple of scenarios like that, Yama [Ayaka Yamashita] making a really good save at one point. Then Aoba [Fujino] got the goal that maybe allowed us to change things up a little bit more, get some people off that we’d like to manage.

    “I think the girls have dealt with it really well tonight. We expected it, we thought it would be difficult, and they rose to the challenge.”

    The victory leaves City top of their Champions League group with a 100% record after three matches, three points above second-placed Barcelona.

    Taylor had made changes to City's starting XI, with Lauren Hemp among the trio to drop out from the weekend and she did not feature in the squad. Ahead of their weekend game against Chelsea, who are second in the WSL, Taylor explained the reasoning behind Hemp's absence.

    “We’ve just got an issue with Lauren that we just need to analyse a little bit further, that’s all," he said.

    “It’s something that potentially happened in the Palace game [on 3 November]. She was able to play in the Tottenham game [last Friday] but wasn’t able to tonight, so we’ll just take a little bit longer to assess and find out more.

    “Hopefully [she can play against Chelsea]. There’s an opportunity there, we’ll just have to take a moment tomorrow, have a good conversation and find out where we’re at with the medical staff.”

     

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.