Crawley boss Scott Lindsey says police investigating incident in Gillingham game

By Sports Desk August 19, 2023

Scott Lindsey said police were investigating after Crawley midfielder Ronan Darcy appeared to be hit in the face by Gillingham assistant David Livermore after the end of the match at the Broadfield Stadium.

Livermore, Crawley keeper Corey Addai and Darcy were shown yellow cards by referee Ed Duckworth after the game, which the Gills won 1-0.

When asked to comment about a Crawley player being struck, boss Lindsey said: “I didn’t see it myself but I understand police are investigating.”

Gillingham manager Neil Harris also said he didn’t see the incident but felt it was a case of “handbags”.

An own goal by Crawley defender Harry Ransom five minutes before the break proved the only goal and it continued the Gills’ perfect start to the Sky Bet League Two campaign.

They have now won all four games 1-0 and remain top of league two having not lost to Crawley for nearly 10 years.

The Gills are desperate to make up for their lowest finish in 28 years last season, but Harris thought they were well below their best.

He said: “I thought we were very poor and maybe got something we didn’t deserve.

“I’m trying to manage expectations here but the players won’t let me because they just keep going.”

Lindsey admitted he was desperately disappointed to lose as he felt his men deserved “at least a point”.

Lindsey congratulated his players afterwards as he was “proud” of what they have achieved in such a short space of time.

Crawley wasted a great chance to take an early lead when captain Dom Telford had a penalty saved by Jake Turner, and Lindsey said: “We should have scored for sure but I felt we had enough fuel in the tank to go on and win the game.

“Now I will be seeing how my team will react from a loss. I’m proud of how far we have come.”

Related items

  • Robertson aiming for 'legendary' status with Scotland at Euro 2024 Robertson aiming for 'legendary' status with Scotland at Euro 2024

    Andy Robertson challenged Scotland to "make history" as they prepare for their Euro 2024 opener against hosts Germany on Friday.

    Scotland qualified for their second consecutive European championships after a strong qualifying campaign saw them finish second in their group behind Spain.

    In Euro 2020, Scotland were knocked out at the end of the group stage having earned just one point from their three games.

    Now, Robertson has urged the Tartan Army to become the first side in the nation's history to make the knockout stages of the competition, despite the tough test ahead of them.

    "We know that's what's at stake," said Robertson in a press conference. "We've got a lot of incentives, but one is becoming that legendary squad - that has to drive us forward.

    "We have to be at our best and if we can do that, who knows where we'll be come 23 June.

    "We don't want to have any regrets this time. What's the worst that can happen? We go on to a long list of teams that haven't made it out the group, or we put ourselves in a position to make history.

    "We're excited by the challenge, we're excited about what's ahead, and if we perform the way I know we can perform, then I'm confident we can make history."

    Steve Clarke is the first Scotland manager to lead the team out in two consecutive Euros, and he is confident his team can block out the noise surrounding the fixture and get a positive result.

    "One of the mantras I've had is respect everyone and fear no-one," Clarke said. "We know they're a good team, but hopefully, we can show everyone we're a good team as well.

    "We're proud we've been able to do back-to-back tournaments and hopefully, by the end of this, we'll be even more proud at having done something a bit more special."

  • LA Galaxy v Sporting Kansas City: Yoshida and hosts hungry for more after mid-season break LA Galaxy v Sporting Kansas City: Yoshida and hosts hungry for more after mid-season break

    LA Galaxy captain Maya Yoshida says the team are not satisfied with their position at the halfway stage of the MLS season, with Sporting Kansas City next up on Saturday.

    The Galaxy's six-match unbeaten streak ended before the mid-season break, with the Chicago Fire coming from behind to beat them 2-1.

    They sit fourth in the Western Conference, five points behind leaders Real Salt Lake, but Yoshida believes they should be challenging for the top spot.

    "It's a big improvement on last season, but I'm still not satisfied. I'm still not happy enough," Yoshida said.

    "Maybe, generally, people say the Galaxy are doing well, but I feel like we could play better and get more points. We should be top of the league. I'll always stay hungry and greedy, and I want to do more and more and more."

    Head coach Greg Vanney echoed his thoughts, saying: "I'm pretty happy with the point total that we have from the first half of the season.

    "We let a couple of opportunities to be a little higher go. I think we learned a lot about ourselves that we need to clean up or keep using as we understand ourselves better."

    Sporting snapped a 10-match winless run last weekend with a 2-1 victory over the Seattle Sounders, leaving them in 12th.

    Peter Vermes is confident his team can use that victory as a platform to push them forward for the second half of the season.

    He said: "This is a good team. The issue last year, which was different, was for the longest time, I had to be the one to tell them that. Our win over [Colorado] should reinforce that message that they're good. When they want to play, they can play."

    PLAYERS TO WATCH

    LA Galaxy – Riqui Puig

    Puig has found the net in three consecutive appearances for the Galaxy for the first time in his MLS career. The Spaniard has been involved in seven goals since the beginning of May with only four players in MLS involved in more in that time.

    Sporting Kansas City – Johnny Russell

    Russell scored his seventh career regular-season goal against Seattle Sounders in the win on Saturday, his most against any opponent, breaking a tie with three other teams against whom he has scored six times, including the Galaxy.

    MATCH PREDICTION: LA GALAXY WIN

    The Galaxy ended a six-match winless run against Kansas City (D3 L3) with a 3-2 road win on March 24. The win was just the Galaxy's third in their last 17 matches against Sporting dating back to October 2015 (D7 L7).

    LA have lost only one of their last 17 regular-season home matches (W8 D8), including winning four of their last five in Carson (D1). The 17 matches in that run have seen a total of 67 goals for an average of 3.9 per match.

    Meanwhile, Kansas City ended a seven-match losing streak with a 2-1 victory over Seattle on Saturday. Sporting came from 1-0 down in the match as they have gone behind in 10 straight league matches dating back to mid-April.

    OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

    LA Galaxy – 53.5%

    Draw – 23.8%

    Sporting Kansas City – 22.7%

  • Georgia ready to 'write a new page of history' at Euro 2024 - Kvaratskhelia Georgia ready to 'write a new page of history' at Euro 2024 - Kvaratskhelia

    Khvicha Kvaratskhelia says Georgia are ready to "leave our mark" and "write a new page of history" on their major international tournament debut at Euro 2024.

    Willy Sagnol's side, who qualified via the play-offs after beating former champions Greece on penalties, are the only debutants in Germany, where they commence their campaign against Turkiye on June 18.

    The Crusaders will also play Portugal and Czechia in Group F, with Kvaratskhelia insisting he and his team-mates are not appearing in the tournament just to make up the numbers.

    The Napoli winger, who helped the Partenopei to the 2022-23 Scudetto, scored four goals for Georgia during qualifying, in which he also completed the joint-most dribbles along with Belgium's Jeremy Doku (both 44).

    On being considered his nation's talisman, the 23-year-old said: "This is a very big responsibility, and I am grateful when my work is appreciated.

    "There are a lot of Georgian footballers who could become the best player of the country; every one of us tries to be a team, and individual success is less important to us at the moment.

    "We are very focused and will do our best to succeed. It's a pleasure for me to play at Euro 2024. These are unforgettable moments and emotions which we will remember for the rest of our lives.

    "It was the greatest dream of every Georgian to become a part of such an important tournament, and it was the happiest day for all of us when we achieved it.

    "But we didn't come here just to attend; we wish to leave our mark on Euro 2024, to write a new page of history. We will do our utmost for this. Our team is very focused and ready for this tournament."

    When they face Turkiye, Georgia will be aiming to become the fourth European Championship debutants since 2012 to win their maiden match at the finals after Ukraine (2012), Wales (2016) and Finland (2020).

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.