TASTE OF THE TERRACE: Crawley's defence shines in draw at Grimsby

The travelling band of 70 supporters was happy afterwards with the Reds’ solid form on the road even though the entertainment off the field had proved more rewarding.

Before the game and at halftime the block adjacent to them was occupied by the All For One Choir.

The 60-odd singers, appropriately wearing red and looking like they had come with us, were in fine form and produced rousing versions of songs like River Deep Mountain High and You’re The Voice that I guess rarely appear in choral presentations.

If the singers scored a triumph the players of both sides could be judged to have fallen a little short of that level, achieving a decent grade but no stars.

Top of the class, however, was Crawley’s defence.

The displays of the keeper and each of the back four all earned high praise with the towering Joe McNerney gaining Man of the Match recognition.

That brought some relief as Grimsby Town’s line-up struck us all as being a few inches taller than our lads.

Further forward things didn’t look as nicely honed as the combative midfield lacked creativity without either Josh Payne or Dean Cox and our attacking play was messy.

Ever-willing to chase Ibrahim Meite was let down by his close control – the archetypal inability to trap a bag of cement.

Substitute Panutche Camara did at least hang onto the ball but like his team-mates appeared not to know what to do with it when the goal was in sight.

Once again there was little sign of improvement, although Dennon Lewis was more willing to have a go, but overall Crawley probably merited two points rather than three.

Crawley could have won but Grimsby certainly should have done.

Sam Jones screwed his spot kick wide supporting my belief that incorrectly awarded penalties are rarely converted.

I think the replays show that referee Gavin Ward (another official who is not on the fans’ Christmas card list) was trying to justify his role in front of the home fans.

In addition he declined to take any action to deter the Mariners from committing endless niggly fouls despite pulling them up no less than 22 times.

At the same time he seemed keen to remember the names of some of our players.

Perhaps he’s not good at recalling faces.