Crawley Green edged out in Senior Trophy finale

CRAWLEY Green were beaten 1-0 by Ampthill Town in the Bedfordshire Senior Trophy at Langford on Tuesday night.

In a lively opening Shaun Cooksley shot wide for Ampthill and Crawley replied with a header from Vinny Shrieves.

With tackles flying in, Ampthill’s Rocky Williams was booked after six minutes, while Jamie Warne then fired off target.

The game settled down and after 18 minutes Chris Harvey made an outstanding tackle to block a shot from Christian Lester.

Lee Hayward broke through for Crawley on the half-hour mark, but his shot was pushed wide by Tom Kennard.

From the corner the ball broke to Nick Nolan but he blasted his shot over the bar, before the opening goal arrived on 35 minutes when Tyrone Taylor smashed home off the bar.

Williams was extremely lucky not to be given another booking for a rash challenge in the second half as he was substituted shortly after.

Warne was a threat every time he got the ball and he shot just wide after 49 minutes, while a Shrieves effort was well saved by Kennard.

Ampthill soaked up the early pressure and always looked dangerous on the break as Dean Bull saved well from Taylor when put clean through on 67 minutes.

Robbie O’Dell and Shrieves combined, but O’Dell’s 70th-minute shot was easily saved by Kennard, while Shrieves shot wide with 10 minutes to go.

Crawley failed to create any more chances and Ampthill ran down the clock to secure a hard fought victory.

Green drew 2-2 with New Bradwell St Peter in Molten Spartan SML Division One on Saturday with goals from O’Dell and Gary Capehorn.