Seven things you may have missed if you weren't watching Crawley Town beat MK Dons on Sky Sports including a 'powerful message' from goal scorer

It was an incredible atmosphere as goals from Liam Kelly, Jay Williams and Ronan Darcy ensured Reds go to Stadium MK for the second leg with the advantage. You can a recap of the action here.

The game was also shown live on Sport Sports with Gary Taphouse and Lee Hendrie commentating. Being at the game, I was grateful to soak up the atmosphere and capture the moments as they happened.

But on Wednesday morning I rewatched the game on Sky and this is what I missed from their coverage:

The pitch looked good

Obviously, I could see the pitch looked good being at the Broadfield Stadium. But Sky presenters, pundits and commentators couldn’t help themselves by saying how good it looked every time they could in the build up to kick off. The game was rearranged from Monday when a freak downpour waterlogged the pitch and referee Ross Joyce postponed the game. The pitch suited both teams’ style of play and was a credit to Ben Harwood and ground staff.

SEE ALSO Crawley Town player ratings: Midfielder gets 10/10, defenders get 9/10 and 8s for the rest as Reds dominate MK Dons | 33 fantastic pictures of Crawley Town action, goals, celebrations and fans as they beat MK Dons | Laurence Maguire pinpoints 'crucial' moment in Crawley's win over MK Dons | Crawley Town boss says his side must remain 'professional and humble'

The atmosphere was captured perfectly

Nothing quite beats being at the Broadfield Stadium under lights with a packed crowd. The atmosphere was incredible and it was caught perfectly by the camera. Commentator Taphouse was a little patronising when he said it was a ‘lovely compact stadium’. But it’s the compactness (is that a word?!) that makes it such a great atmosphere. You could feel the atmosphere through the TV for every big moment, from Will Wright’s goal line clearance, to Corey Addai’s fancy footwork and every goal.

The Crawley Observer got a mention

It’s always nice to get some publicity when the Sky cameras are in town. After Will Wright pulled off his astonishing goal line clearance, Taphouse said: “He ended up in the net the ball didn’t, crucially. The player of the of the season for the local paper here, the Crawley Observer.” We have been at every home game and charted their brilliant season with our Reds pullout every week in the Crawley Observer and with great coverage online at SussexWorld.co.uk – so it was nice to get a mention.

The cameras love Corey Addai and he loves the cameras

We all know what a huge part Corey Addai has played in Crawley Town’s success this season, but his entertainment levels stepped up for the cameras. From very early on, when he pretty much just strolled to the half way line, the commentators were loving it. When they showed his area map in the first half, it looked like that of a right back. And what can we say about THAT moment when he showed incredible composure and skill to control Liam Kelly’s mis-hit back pass and then skip past a challenge to clear the danger. It was box office stuff. And it drew a comparison with a similar incident involving Lee Dixon and David Seaman for Arsenal years ago. Taphouse commented: “I don’t think David Seaman would have taken it down like that.”

Celebrations – but not just the goals

I did notice a little of this during the game but it’s difficult to spot everything when you are tweeting, writing player ratings, doing videos etc. But the Crawley Town players were clearly up for this and they ‘celebrated’ big moments in front of the fans. Wright celebrated his goal line clearance like a goal, pumping his fists towards the home crowd while tangled in the net. In the second half, Klaidi Lolos was fouled and he punched the air before geeing up the crowd. The passion and commitment was there to see.

A great advert for League Two

Lee Hendrie said in the first half ‘this is a great advert for League Two’ before commenting that one of the last games he saw at this level resulted in him having a strained neck! While watching, my main focus was on Crawley Town and I have known all season they play great football. In the build-up, Scott Lindsey said he had enjoyed watching MK Dons and said they were almost ‘identical’ to his side. And watching the game back, MK Dons played better than I remembered and had chances. Hendrie was right, this wasn’t your stereotypical League Two match. Hopefully we will see the same standard – and result – on Saturday.

Powerful message

With all the fans standing up in front of the press box as Ronan Darcy’s deflected effort lopped over Michael Kelly, I completely missed his celebration. The midfielder lifted his Crawley shirt to reveal a shirt which said ‘MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS’. In his post-match interview, Darcy said it was an issue that was significant to him and said: “It’s a powerful message and I wanted everyone to see it and what better time to do it than when the cameras are here. A lot of people need to look into it more because of lot of people suffer from it. That’s why I did it.” Darcy’s brother Ben tweeted: “What a performance from @crawleytown but couldn’t be prouder of my brother @ronan_darcy firstly for his goal but also for using his moment to spread such an important message. Love you Ro.” Just when you thought this Crawley Town team couldn’t get more likeable. Lindsey has a team full of absolute gems.

And if you were watching on Sky….

If you were not at the ground, you may have missed co-owners Eben Smith and Hunter Orrell in attendance. Hunter later went into Crawley town centre to celebrate with Reds fans. Crawley Observer columnist Steve Herbert posted on Facebook: “I wouldn’t normally post this so late at night, but when half the fan base are descending on Crawley High Street on a Tuesday night with one of our owners Hunter buying the beers, what is a man to do! Unbelievable performance tonight from Scott Lindsey’s Reds, to say we have one foot at Wembley would be an absolute understatement! We are Crawley Town football club and we do love playing away!”