Arsenal loanee Louie Copley returned from injury to help new Crawley Town manager Colin Kazim-Richards to a win over Gilllingham over the weekend.
Former Arsenal academy player Colin Kazim-Richards took charge of his first game with new club Crawley Town over the weekend, having left his youth coaching role at Arsenal to join the League Two club as their head coach.
But there was also a more direct Arsenal interest in the match, as Gunners loanee Louie Copley made his long-awaited return from injury to join the starting lineup against Gillingham.
Copley had missed Crawley’s last seven matches, and he’s been unavailable for 10 games in total following his January transfer. But having now returned to fitness, he played 74 minutes of Saturday’s fixture.
Crawley ended up winning the match 2-0, picking up a vital three points in their relegation battle.
Unfortunately, it ended up being a surprisingly good day for the division’s relegation strugglers more generally, with 22nd and 23rd-place teams Newport County and Barrow both winning as well.
So whilst Crawley didn’t extend their slender lead over the teams currently facing the drop, it was vital they also secured a win to avoid dropping into the bottom two themselves.
The one good bit of news from elsewhere was that Harrogate Town lost to Notts County, meaning Crawley are now four points ahead of the league’s bottom club.
Friday’s game away to Newport County is now a vital one, with the winner guaranteed to end the day outside of the relegation zone, and a draw enough to ensure Crawley stay out of it.
Copley will want to make another start and keep his momentum going, with six games remaining of the league campaign.