29 December 2020

Crawley manager John Yems full of praise for striker Tom Nichols

29 December 2020

Crawley boss John Yems lauded two-goal striker Tom Nichols after his side shocked Sky Bet League Two title-chasing Forest Green with a 2-1 win.

Nichols pounced in each half after Forest Green substitute Jake Young netted an equaliser following the break half to stretch Crawley’s unbeaten run to seven and end Rovers’ eight-game undefeated sequence.

In the absence of leading striker Max Watters, former Bristol Rovers striker Nichols took up the mantle to move the Reds up to ninth, level on points with seventh-placed Exeter.

Yems said: “People questioned me about signing Tom, but he’s such a good person. I’ve known him a long time and he’s good around the place and he keeps going and got what he wanted and took his goal well. He is full of heart and determination.”

Yems was ecstatic with the manner of his side’s victory and added: “Make no mistakes, we’ve done really well against a good management team and good people, a proper football club.

“Beating Forest Green is a real feather in our cap. We fought from the beginning to the end and never give in and entertain people. We’ve got a great dressing room and we will enjoy this one.”

An explosive start saw Crawley pin Forest Green back with Nichols blazing over inside two minutes with just Luke McGee to beat.

Rovers pressed the self-destruct button after 16 minutes as captain Carl Winchester passed the ball to Jake Hessenthaler who picked out Nichols to run on and plant it beyond McGee.

Jamille Matt glanced wide from a teasing Nicky Cadden cross five minutes into the second half as Rovers hunted an equaliser.

Young levelled things up after 51 minutes for Rovers as Glenn Morris could only glove his swerving free-kick on its way into the back off the net.

Nichols bagged the winner and his second with 11 minutes to go as he finished with aplomb from a Jack Powell assist for his 10th goal of the season.

With leaders Newport seeing their game at home to Exeter postponed because of a waterlogged pitch a win would have sent Rovers top, but boss Mark Cooper was magnanimous in defeat.

He said: “The best team won and deserved to win the game – credit to Crawley they sat on the coach for four hours and had a long journey and then came and beat us up.

“I’ll take the blame for the defeat and I got it wrong with the selection and the shape of the team and we stepped backwards tonight, but it was eight games unbeaten and we move on and pick the bones out of it and look towards Saturday.”

Cooper expects to delve into the transfer market with Liam Kitching on the verge of a switch to Championship Barnsley when the window opens up on Friday.

Cooper said: “We have bids and interest in our players and when that happens it disrupts things and if players go out, we will have to go out and bring one or two in to freshen things up.”

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