Harry Kewell hopes for Crawley confidence boost after opening-day win on the road

Posted Sunday, August 05, 2018 by PA

Crawley boss Harry Kewell believes his side’s 1-0 opening-day victory at Cheltenham can give their confidence a major lift.

Debutant Ollie Palmer’s second-half header sealed the points for Crawley on the first weekend of the Sky Bet League Two season.

Cheltenham missed the chance to level from the penalty spot with 18 minutes left as Kevin Dawson’s spot kick hit the crossbar and went over.

Kewell said: “What pleased us most was to come off a hard pre-season and to come to a Cheltenham side who we lost to twice last season and get a result.

“It will hopefully give my players a lot of confidence to move forward.

“I thought their penalty was going to happen. I could see it coming with the balls they were putting in the box, and one or two decisions the ref was giving.

“It was always going to be a tough opening game for us, and the heat played a big part.

“In the first half we dominated possession in midfield and we created a lot of chances, which I was pleased about.

“In the second half we controlled it again, got our goal, but then sat back a bit.

“But full credit to my players. We’ve done well to get a goal from a set piece.

“We survived a penalty – and I thought we should have had one as well – and we’ve shown toughness and ruggedness to hold out.”

Cheltenham had Scott Flinders to thank for heading into half-time level after the goalkeeper had denied Dominic Poleon twice and Dannie Bulman in the first period.

At the other end, Immanuelson Duku was denied by Glenn Morris after being set up by Alex Addai.

The winning moment came in the 63rd minute when Palmer headed in Filipe Morais’ corner from the right, before Dawson failed to level from the spot after Romain Vincelot had fouled substitute Kalvin Kalala in the penalty area.

Cheltenham boss Gary Johnson said his side could have no complaints about the result.

“They deserved it overall,” he said. “It was a poor first half and we didn’t get to grips with their game.

“We managed to hang on in there with a couple of good saves from Scotty and one chance where Alex Addai put Manny Duku in and that was a good save by their goalkeeper.

“Unfortunately in the second half we didn’t create a lot of chances, but we did create a penalty and missed it, which was disappointing.

“There is a bit to do and these players are better than what we’ve seen today so hopefully we can bring it out of them as soon as we can.

“Our midfield didn’t really create enough opportunities for the forwards.”