The Hatters resumed League One action for the first time in a fortnight, to be faced with one of their furthest trips of the campaign – and made the long journey home with a point after honours ended even at mid-table Crawley.
The result extended the Hatters’ unbeaten start to five matches for the first time in over 30 years, but also saw them drop a couple of positions in the table to fourth place.
In what was a second successive match and away-draw for County with a fellow-promoted club, Louie Barry struck early for a fifth-minute lead, before a penalty for the hosts midway through the second half produced a repeat scoreline of that at the Broadfield Stadium in 2023/24.
The Hatters took to the field on a sunny West Sussex afternoon, and showing one change from their most recent L1 starting line-up at Mansfield on the last day of August. Crystal Palace loanee Tayo Adaramola, having recovered from an injury suffered in the pre-season friendly against Blackburn six weeks previously, was handed his competitive debut – in place of Jayden Fevrier, who was named among the substitutes. County’s bench also included, in Callum Connolly, a second summer arrival making his inaugural squad appearance-proper after a lay-off that had extended back into July.
County launched the first attack with a little under four minutes on the clock, after Ethan Pye’s through-ball found Adaramola – whose cross from the left by-line was headed high by Kyle Wootton.
But a minute or so later, the Hatters were ahead – courtesy of Barry, who opened the scoring for the fourth time in five league games by cutting in from the left and firing from just inside the box past Ghanaian goalkeeper Jojo Wollacott.
Barry’s early goal saw the contest opened up, with the hosting ‘Red Devils’, in particular, exerting some spells of pressure – albeit without creating clear-cut chances of note until midway through the first half, when Panutche Camará’s chip narrowly cleared the crossbar, and, shortly afterwards, Rushian Hepburn-Murphy drilled wide of the left stick.
At the other end, Callum Camps fired beyond the right post – and Barry, in a similar position to that from which he had scored, forced Wollacott to tip a shot around the same upright five minutes ahead of the break.
A free-kick towards the end of added time provided the hosts with an opportunity to go in on level terms at the end of a half during which they had enjoyed 70 percent possession – but Jeremy Kelly’s delivery was fired over at more than twice the height of Corey Addai in the County goal, who had spent the previous two seasons as Crawley’s Number One.
HALF-TIME: Crawley 0, County 1 (Barry, 5).
Crawley, looking to press immediately upon the resumption, were denied after four minutes of the new half when Ethan Pye superbly blocked an effort by Camará. And a few minutes later, a County break saw Barry square from the left to Ollie Norwood – whose low shot fizzed just shy of the left post.
The Hatters then struck the right post twice through a shot by Camps – who had been teed up by Adaramola – and a cross from Barry. But a triple-substitution for the hosts led almost instantly to an equalizer – after one of their replacements, Armando Quitirna, was brought down in the area by Wootton, and then dusted himself down to slot the resulting spot-kick past Addai.
A quartet of County changes followed, although the scorers were not, in the event, to be troubled further – with new arrival Tanto Olaofe seeing a shot kept out by the legs of Wollacott, an Ollie Norwood corner causing mayhem but leading to a goal-line clearance, and Joy Mukena blocking another well-struck Camps effort.
FULL-TIME: Crawley 1 (Quitirna (penalty), 67), County 1 (Barry, 5).
Team (3-4-3): Addai; Onyango, Horsfall (Capt.), Pye; Touray, Camps, Norwood (Bailey, 90), Adaramola (Connolly, 72); Collar (Fevrier, 68), Wootton (Olaofe, 68), Barry (Diamond, 68).
[Debuts for the following players, each with a unique SCAN [Stockport County Appearance Number]: Tayo Adaramola (1487); and Callum Connolly (1488).]
Unused Subs: Hinchliffe, Powell.
Booked: Onyango, Norwood.
Attendance: 4,538 (803 away).
Reporter: Gareth Evans.
Photographer: Mike Petch.
