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Crawley Town’s first defeat under Lewis Young was a crushing one, as they were knocked out of the FA Cup in the first-round by Accrington Stanley.

League One Stanley were clinical in front of goal and scored four goals, with just one reply from Crawley, as they progressed in the historic competition.

Here, journalist student Charlie Tate takes a look at six things we learned from the match.

Round One Blues

Crawley Town’s first defeat under Lewis Young was a crushing one, as they were knocked out of the FA Cup in the first-round by Accrington Stanley. Photo: Cory Pickford

It is yet another campaign to forget for Crawley as they fell victim to yet another First Round knockout in the FA Cup after a demolition from the visitors, Accrington Stanley. Crawley have only managed to make it past the first round of the FA Cup twice, both coming in the two previous seasons after a 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth last season in the fourth round and a 2-1 loss to Fleetwood the season prior in the second round.

Reds were outclassed

Despite the scoreline, Crawley Town put up a solid fight for the full 90 and especially looked threatening in the second-half but were simply lacking quality to get the ball over the line. They were simply outclassed by the opposition who currently sit 20th in League One. Crawley had their chances throughout the first and second half however, a lack of consistency caused the home side to be unable to find the back of the net on multiple occasions.

Visitors had point to prove

Crawley Town probably went into this game potentially biting off more than they can chew. After having a positive run of form in the previous weeks, the home side would have been coming into this game with momentum and a lot of motivation to make it beyond the first round for the third consecutive year. Accrington Stanley on the other hand, have

only taken one point from their previous five league matches and would have been going into this game looking to prove their quality that is exactly what they did.

Experienced forward made the difference

Accrington Stanley showed the difference in standards today after a masterclass performance from Football League veteran, Shaun Whalley as he completed his sublime hat trick in the 49th minute. The clinical striker set the pace immediately as he scored within the first minute and did not stop there as he stuck the ball in the back of the net again

only 20 minutes later.

New striker not yet living up to last season’s heroics

So far this season, Crawley Town’s star summer signing, Dom Telford has not been up to scratch and has been unable to bring his form from Newport. The 2021-22 League Two top goal scorer only has one goal under his belt so far this season and would have been hoping to settle into his new side a lot quicker than he has. The 25 year old scored 27 goals in all competitions last season and would have been hoping to replicate that this season but has not been able to find his shooting boots.

Fans unhappy with officials

Today was simply not Crawley Town’s day. Fans would say that they did not have many calls go their way from the referee and his officials as there were screams for multiple hand balls throughout the game as well as countless calls for shirt pulling that the referee did not give to the home side.

Crawley Town 1-4 Accrington Stanley: Six things we learned from Reds' FA Cup exit

Today was simply not Crawley Town’s day. Fans would say that they did not have many calls go their way from the referee and his officials as there were screams for multiple hand balls throughout the game as well as countless calls for shirt pulling that the referee did not give to the home side.