A strike in the fifth minute by Grant Ward gave Town a 1-0 friendly victory against League Two Crawley Town, in a display that saw the Blues debut of new signing Gwion Edwards in the second half.

As the pitch at Broadfield Stadium was under renovation, and was not due to be ready until the end of July, the game was moved to East Court, the home of East Grinstead Town.

There was a place on the bench for new signing Edwards against his old club, with another ex-Red Devils player in Jordan Roberts alongside him.

Having made his first appearance in almost a year in the defeat at Braintree, midfielder Andre Dozzell was given a starting place along with Luke Woolfenden and Tristan Nydam. However, both Tom Adeyemi and Joe Garner remained absent.

Town set up 4-2-3-1, with Waghorn up top, Dozzell playing deep alongside Skuse, and Sears on the right — a switch from Saturday - of the three with Ward on the left and Nydam in the centre.

Seeking an improvement after the disappointing display in Essex, Town made their intentions known as early as the third minute, when Freddie Sears pounced onto a backheel by Martyn Waghorn to bear down on goal — however, his effort was matched by Crawley keeper Glenn Morris.

The home shotstopper was beaten two minutes later, when Grant Ward picked up a through ball by Waghorn on the edge of the box, and placed his effort past the outstretched goaltender to open the scoring.

Town were almost caught napping five minutes later, when Lewis Young was allowed to cross in from the right hand flank, to find the head of Reece Grego-Cox who had slipped inbetween both central defenders. It was left to Dean Gerken to palm away a point blank header and away to safety.

The game was already proving to be an open one, and on 13 minutes Nydam beat the offside trap down the left side to quickly deliver a low cross into the area for Waghorn, but he put his first time effort just over the crossbar.

The amount of chances at either end dropped off, although Town were looking a sharper and more composed side than the one at Braintree.

Waghorn was able to foil the Crawley defence when he picked up a through ball by Cole Skuse with seven minutes remaining. With Morris coming out of his area to narrow his angle, Waghorn was wasteful with his lob, which landed tamely wide of the goalposts.

The striker was denied the goal his play deserved two minutes before the break, when after picking up a pass from Nydam, he was able to cut inside and curl a fine strike from just inside the box.

However, although his effort beat the outstretched Morris, Crawley defender Mark Connolly was able to stop the ball on the line.

Edwards made his debut for Town as he came on for the second half alongside Flynn Downes, replacing Waghorn and Dozzell respectively.
It was a second half of few chances, although Town continued to look comfortable.

The Welshman showed supporters a brief glimpse of his pace six minutes after the restart, when he ran from almost inside the Ipswich box to the halfway line, before being upended.

Indeed, the 25-year old appeared to be a target for the Crawley defenders, finding himself on the floor after a couple of tough challenges.

Myles Kenlock made way for Josh Emmanuel on 77 minutes, while Roberts replaced Nydam and close to the end Ben Folami came on for Grant Ward, whose goal proved to be decisive.

Crawley: Morris, Young, Doherty, Payne, Connolly, Palmer, Grego-Cox, Bulman, Young, Whelpdale, Allalukhia. Second-half subs: Mersin, McNerney, Francomb, Randall, Camara, Briggs, Sessay, Milsom, Turley (46). Poleon, Mammou (67).

Town: Gerken, Spence, Kenlock (Emmanuel 78), Chambers (c), Woolfenden, Ward (Folami 86), Dozzell (Downes 46) Skuse, Nydam (Roberts 78), Waghorn (Edwards 46), Sears. Unused: Wright.

Photo: TWTD

StokeHigh97 added 21:45 - Jul 17 From what Paul Hurst said about the Performance Saturday certainly had affect tonight: he has a clear way of playing & will not settle for anything else which has been pretty successful in his managerial career so far: style of play can't be worse than the last 2 years of McCarthy so he can only improve that: very early days into his reign at this point of pre-season I'm a lot more optimistic for the season in terms I think I'll at least enjoy the football: we still need 2 centre backs, a forward, maybe another midfield option: let's give Hurst time & patience in rebuilding are club & reuniting the fans:

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jas0999 added 21:48 - Jul 17 Well done Paul Hurst. Clearly set out his expectations. Either MMs proper blokes step up or they are out. Tonight doesn't negate the need for new signings and plenty of them. But, Hurst has already been brutally honest about that. I like PH already. Better.
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Stato added 22:05 - Jul 17 Other than the goal not a single shot on goal. Transition too slow and sloppy. Hurst gave little or no direction from the sidelines. I'm delighted mccarthy gone but hurst got a big job in front of him. Edwards was a positive as was Wooly. Room for improvement and main worry was a lot of long balls which didnt seem to suit us and wasnt great to watch
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MrJase77 added 22:13 - Jul 17 STOP playing Searsy wide. For the love of all things good, please STOP. Why don't these managers see this???
4

BrettenhamBlue added 22:15 - Jul 17 Delighted that we got a win. The result is (obviously) the most important thing about the game. Well done to Hurst and the team. Not a great game to watch but give credit where credit is due. We do need a bit more in the creativity department. Missing that Celina/Lawrence/Williams kind of player.
2

PositivelyPortman added 22:16 - Jul 17 Mr Jase He didn't play Searsy wide in the second half on Saturday.
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Europablue added 22:42 - Jul 17 The result is barely important, it's all about how you play in friendlies
4

BrettenhamBlue added 01:42 - Jul 18 Ok didn't have time before to summarise match but have got some time now. After my negative report about Braintree I'll try to stay positive: Gerken: solid keeping. Spence, The Wolf: both solid at the back Dozzell, Nydam: worked hard and put in some nice touches Edwards: solid pre-season debut Overall: much better than Braintree game, looked like a different team. Do feel Hurst speaks volumes by leaving players on the pitch. If you play the full 90 minutes it's a clear "thumbs up" from Hurst.

2

bobble added 07:08 - Jul 18 very poor results from these pre season games so far...
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bedsitfc added 07:32 - Jul 18 Mrjass Do you think these managers see the bigger picture
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itfcsince1974 added 08:13 - Jul 18 Not a great result and not a great performance but I think we need to keep in mind that we have been playing boring, containing, defensive hoof ball for the last 5 years. Changing the team to a more footballing side is not going to happen overnight. I like what PH says and he can see he has a massive job on his hands but we need to give him time to effect those changes. Pre season is all about that and the results are not important. I would imagine that we will have a maybe stuttering start to the season but can see us safe from relegation by Christmas and competing by May. This will be a springboard for a serious promotion push next year. After all the frustrations we have had to put up with over the last ten or so years I for one one am prepared to give this guy time to turn our club back into the great footballing club it once was. Onwards and upwards. Let's get behind them. COYB

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afcfee added 08:40 - Jul 18 Our midfield is too weak if we can't control possession against much weaker sides we are going to get battered in the championship.
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RRanger added 10:23 - Jul 18 BossMan: "...not a single shot on goal"..what about Waghorn's strike that was cleared off the line by a defender with the goalkeeper well beaten? It wasn't a great pitch to play football on: hard and bumpy but I thought the defence looked solid and one could see that the boys were trying to pass the ball out of trouble. There were attempts to hit the ball over the defenders (long balls?) but its early days and it will get a lot better.

0

Barty added 10:26 - Jul 18 i appreciate these are only friendlies but my optimism for next season is dwindling
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Cheshire_Blue added 10:39 - Jul 18 Time will tell
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