A dramatic end to the game at the People’s Pension Stadium sees Stevenage salvage a point against Crawley Town

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John Yems’ Red Devils suffered yet more late heartbreak as a 92nd-minute Scott Cuthbert goal sends Boro back to Hertfordshire with a point. 

Crawley Town came into this contest off the back of a draw against Swindon Town after conceding a stoppage-time goal and John Yems made the decision to throw two new signings straight into the starting lineup. 

Aramide Oteh and Isaac Hutchinson both made the switch to Sussex during the week, with the former moving permanently from Salford City and the latter completing a loan move from Derby County. 

The early goings were tentative with neither side posing any real threats apart from a Tom Nichols effort that was palmed away from Christy Pym. 

With Yems opting for a back three, James Tilley was subsequently played out at right wing-back. Nonetheless, he found himself in attacking positions on a number of occasions. Perhaps none more so than midway through the first half when Oteh found the flick to send him through. From a relatively acute angle, Tilley fired in a shot with real venom behind it, but Pym was equal to it. 

Stevenage’s number one was no match to Nichols after a corner ball was whipped in and flicked on by new signing Hutchinson before the Crawley number nine nodded home. 

Less than a minute after the break, Nichols was at it again as he capitalised on the Stevenage backline napping to find himself clean through on goal. Much similar to his effort from the first half, the Red Devils striker still had plenty to do as he duelled with Pym from a tight angle. This time around, however, the forward got his calculations correct and angled the ball cleverly into the top corner for his seventh goal of the season. 

The second goal seconds after half-time appeared to completely knock the stuffing out of Stevenage, who struggled to get into any sort of flow whatsoever.

As such, Crawley appeared to be coasting towards a comfortable home win and should have killed the game off when substitute Ashley Nadesan found Nichols in acres of space with a hat-trick beckoning, but the goalscorer took a wild swipe at the ball and sent it into the Sussex sky. 

Nadesan almost scored one himself when a loose ball fell to him in the box with the goal beckoning, however, the 27-year-old could not react quickly enough to angle the ball on target. After a couple of wasted chances, Crawley would soon be made to pay for them as Boro responded with a goal. 

22-year-old substitute Arthur Read hauled his side back into the contest from absolutely nothing as he stepped inside his man and unleashed a beautiful left-footed strike that sailed past Glenn Morris before the shot-stopper could even react. That provided the spark that Stevenage had been lacking for 80 minutes of the game and their onslaught ensued. 

Initially, Crawley were doing a good job of breaking up the play and seeing the game out, but a free-kick from inside the Stevenage half would be their ultimate downfall.

Peterborough United loanee Pym launched a hopeful ball into the box as Crawley failed to deal with it. This allowed Luke Norris to cushion the header back to Cuthbert, who duly drove the ball into the back of the net with all his might to provide an unlikely equaliser. 

Having led for so long and been so comfortable, Yems will be absolutely furious at the way his side relinquished a two-goal lead. Furthermore, Crawley will rue the array of missed opportunities to kill off the contest, which ultimately came back to haunt them. 

Stevenage have somewhat turned a corner since Paul Tisdale’s arrival, and whilst that was by no means the most glamorous performance, the former Exeter City manager will be pleased with the way in which his side kept themselves in the game, and of course, the character that was shown to complete the comeback. 

All in all, it was a game that Crawley should have quite comfortably won and ultimately highlights the Red Devils’ inability to see games out. 

From a positive perspective for the Reds, debutants Oteh and Hutchinson had decent games, despite being hauled off on the hour-mark. Yems will also be pleased with the way Nichols is stepping up in the absence of fellow goal-scorer Kwesi Appiah, who still finds himself on the road to recovery from injury.

However, it is once again a similar story of points dropped, and if Crawley are to make a late play-off charge, they cannot afford to drop so many points from winning positions. 

Although it was a thoroughly underwhelming performance for 79 minutes, Boro will likely be content with that result, and that sees them move to just one defeat in seven. The point itself moves Stevenage up to 16th, but consequential to Oldham Athletic’s win at Glanford Park against Scunthorpe United, the buffer between themselves and the relegation zone has been cut to 10 points.

As such, Tisdale will be pleased with this result, but aware that his side cannot afford to see a dramatic downturn in results. 

Next up for Crawley is a long trip up to North Yorkshire to face Harrogate Town, who themselves are looking to drag themselves into the play-off conversation. Meanwhile, Stevenage will look to further widen their buffer over the drop zone as they host Bradford City. 

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