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JUMP TO IT . . . James Wesolowski, Athletic’s best player, gets in a header.

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Crawley 1, Athletic 0

THE OFFICIALS had showered, changed and left. Crawley’s fans, players and management had long since pulled out of the car park. Even the stewards were getting restless.

“Are you nearly finished?” was the question from one of them after a polite knock on the visitors’ dressing room door at 5.40pm.

A shake of the head from inside said the inquest still had a while to run.

Eventually – an hour after the game had ended – manager Lee Johnson emerged to face the waiting media’s questions.

Former Town favourite Charlie MacDonald had three great opportunities to net his third goal for Athletic at the compact Sussex ground at which he was once acclaimed a hero.

There was even a fourth, for Danny Philliskirk. All were missed, and all were the kind of opportunities Athletic can’t afford to spurn if the run of six losses in eight matches is to improve.

Still, despite being below-par – and starting the game with a rejigged line-up which patently didn’t work – Johnson’s visitors can again argue they were worth more than they got.

The manager started with Jonson Clarke-Harris on the right wing. Everything was aimed at his head, a tactic Crawley nullified almost immediately.

But most of the elements which went against Athletic at the Broadfield Stadium were beyond the manager’s control. If Athletic carry on defending set pieces as poorly as they did here, then the long hunt for a clean sheet will continue.

That, in turn, will pile pressure on strikers who currently enter each game knowing the team must find the net at least twice to give Athletic any hope of winning.

Up front, too, Johnson shuffled his pack and found his players coming up short.

But after conceding the first goal of the game for the eighth time in nine league games – a disastrous record – Athletic grew into the contest after reverting to 4-4-2.

MacDonald failed with his first great chance, Smith slipping him in behind the offside trap, and then was unlucky to see a firm header rebound off the far post before James Tarkowski’s follow-up shot was superbly blocked by a diving Kyle McFadzean.

Sinclair also fluffed his lines as Crawley sat on their lead and played on the break.

The visitors were back out early for the second half, no doubt with a flea in their ear.

A positive start should have been rewarded when Joseph Mills’ left-wing cross was flicked on by Clarke-Harris as Jones raced from his goal. MacDonald should have buried his header into an open goal from point-blank range but hit the bar.

Tarkowski did brilliantly to block a Clarke effort at the other end and though Athletic had most of the ball, the home team’s counter-attacks looked the more potent.

Athletic’s team coach was fully loaded by the time the players emerged from the dressing room at around 6pm, ahead of the long journey home. On the field, they are on the road to nowhere if this impotent run continues much longer.