Soccer
Accrington boss John Doolan heaps praise on two-goal Charlie Caton
Accrington boss John Doolan praised striker Charlie Caton who scored two goals to take his tally to four for the season in a 3-2 win over Crawley.
Stanley opened the scoring after four minutes when striker Caton fired the ball into the roof of the net.
Crawley levelled after 20 minutes through a close-range effort from Danilo Orsi.
Stanley retook the lead in the 55th minute with Caton headed home before Devon Matthews tapped home after 63 minutes to make it 3-1.
Ade Adeyemo hit the crossbar for Crawley before substitute Pemi Aderoju hit a consolation after 79 minutes.
It was Stanley’s first win of the campaign and Doolan said: “Charlie is a goalscorer. There was loads of interest in him when we signed him last summer because of his abilities.
“He has had a loan spell last season and has come back a different animal in pre-season and he has got his rewards.
“It is a relief to get that first win, the pressure is on to get that win.
“We said before the game it was all about winning and it didn’t matter how we did it. We just wanted the result, the first three points so we could settle down a bit.
“We have deserved them in other games and haven’t got them so this is pleasing.
“The objective was not to concede early as we have done recently. We started on the front foot, our game plan was working, we were exploiting the spaces.
“We had to defend at the end, it was bound to get nervy, but we have worked on our defending and we showed character, resilience and desire to keep them out.”
Crawley head coach Colin Kazim-Richards admitted the performance was not acceptable.
He said: “The three goals we conceded were three goals that were nothing special.
“It’s not good enough. It has to mean something, we have to stop them.
“All due respect to Accrington but we beat ourselves, we didn’t get beat and we let ourselves and our fans who came here down.
“We weren’t switched on or engaged in the moments we should have been.
“Yes we created chances and scored two goals – but if you score two goals away from home you should take something from the game.
“It has got to be better. You have to get to the ball, win it, win your block, stop the cross.
“I am not hanging the players out to dry, I have said it to them. I still believe in them, we still do have good players but you can’t just say it, you have to execute it. I am lost for words, it’s not frustrating, it’s unacceptable.”
