RESERVE TEAM NEWS
Result: Thursday 9th February 2006
(Sussex County League Alliance Reserve Division)
Burgess Hill Town 2
Crawley Town 2 (Farrell, Proffitt (pen))

Crawley Town reserves picked up a hard-fought point in a 2-2 draw at Burgess Hill Town on Thursday (February 9) in their Sussex County League Alliance Reserve Division match.

The Reds side, which was mainly made up of youth players but also included first-teamers Scott Ward, Dorryl Proffitt and Sami El-Abd, earned the creditable draw against a strong Burgess Hill side thanks to second-half goals from Billy Huntley and Proffitt.

Crawley had the best chance to open the scoring in the first ten minutes through Marcus Farrell, while Sean Ardley went into the referee's book as early as the 19th minute.

Proffitt could have opened the scoring in the 31st minute when the Burgess Hill defence failed to deal with a ball over the top, but the striker's attempted chip was saved by Joe Hoare in the home goal.

Burgess Hill's best effort came in the 40th minute following a free-kick to the far post which Richard Greenfield latched on to, but he sliced his effort wide from a tight angle.

Richard Greenfield opened the scoring three minutes later for the Hillians, which was a little against the run of play in a scrappy first half.

Sean Ardley was replaced by Luke Huggett at half-time and within three minutes of the restart, the Reds were level. The impressive Scott Marshall fed a delightful pass into the path of the free-scoring Huntley and he made no mistake, lashing the ball home.

Farrell almost gave Crawley the lead five minutes later but his left-footed effort from the edge of the area bent just wide.

Again against the run of play, Burgess Hill got themselves in front in the 63rd minute thanks to a opportunistic 25-yard shot from Mike Death which beat Ward and found the net via the inside of the post.

It only took three minutes for Crawley to pull level. Farrell, who was impressive throughout the game on the left, beat three men before playing the ball into the feet of Proffitt just inside the box. The former Manchester City striker was upended and the referee pointed to the spot. Proffitt converted the kick himself to level the scores again.

Matt Percival was replaced by Adam Pullin with 15 minutes left but neither side could break the deadlock.

Crawley Town: Scott Ward, Matt Percival (Adam Pullin 72), Josh Jones, Dan Sackman, Sami El-Abd, Sean Ardley (Luke Huggett 45), Scott Marshall, Richard Styles, Dorrell Proffitt, Billy Huntley, Marcus Farrell. Unused Sub: Joe Chandler
Crawley Town Man of the Match: Scott Marshall