All roads lead to Crawley and a joyful Women’s FA Cup double-header | Suzanne Wrack

Manchester United defeat Brighton but the day belongs to National League’s Wasps despite valiant defeat to Arsenal

As smoke wafted across the pitch from the makeshift burger stand on the edge of the muddied field on Tinsley Lane, fans joked of postponement. Anything to keep the joy of this tie alive. Because, almost eight years after Crawley Town, then non-league, went on a wonderful FA Cup run that saw them reach Old Trafford – falling only to a Wes Brown header – now it was the turn of the town’s biggest women’s team, Crawley Wasps, to bask in the spotlight.

In the shadow of Gatwick and with a population of just over 100,000, Crawley isn’t exactly a town known as a footballing behemoth. On Sunday, however, attentions were on Sussex as it played host to two of the tastiest ties of the women’s FA Cup fourth round. And, on a day where eight of the 16 ties fell foul of frozen and waterlogged pitches, even more eyes were focused on events down south.

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