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Joe Mewis

Crawley Town boss John Yems reveals the half-time message that inspired Leeds United upset

Crawley Town manager John Yems used his half-time team talk to tell his players to show more belief in their FA Cup giantkilling of Leeds United.

The two sides went in goalless at the break of their third-round clash after a cagey opening half, but the hosts netted five minutes after the interval before doubling their lead on 53 minutes. A third goal sealed the emphatic win on 70 minutes as the Red Devils secured one of the biggest wins in their history.

For Leeds it meant another addition to their list of disappointing recent FA Cup exits, even if their lacklustre second-half display meant they defeat was fully deserved.

Beren Cross on Crawley 3-0 Leeds

Town boss Yems had insisted his side would not sit back against a side 62 places above them in the league and spoke after the match about his team's approach and that all-important half-time message.

"It's easy to say it now, but I've been saying it all week, we were never going to sit off," Yems told the BBC. "We were always going to have a go at them and I know we've got some good players, and we've worked hard all week, and on the day our performance was better than them and we deserved the 3-0.

"At half-time I just said keep doing what we're doing, and have a bit more belief in ourselves. We've seen all season that we've got goals in us. We had a game plan and we stuck to it and the lads really worked their socks off and got their rewards.

"All of us, all the backroom staff, worked on it, but it is all about the players. They've bought into it and we've put our ideas down and they've executed those, and if you keep on doing that you get results."

Crawley will discover their fourth round opponents on Monday evening, while Leeds will now prepare for a Premier League clash against Brighton next weekend.

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