Crawley Town 1-3 Reading
The FA Cup with Budweiser
Third Round Proper
3pm, Saturday 5 January 2013
Broadfield Stadium
Winning clubs receive £67,500 from The FA's prize fund
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by David Barber

Crawley Town forward Nicky Adams scored after just 14 seconds of Saturday’s FA Cup with Budweiser Third Round tie against Premier League Reading but ended up on the losing side before a record crowd of 5,880 at Broadfield Stadium.

It was one of the quickest goals in the 141-year history of the world-famous competition but it wasn’t a record.

In the Competition Proper Jimmy Kebe netted after 9.7 seconds for Reading in a Fifth Round tie against West Bromwich Albion at Madejski Stadium on 13 February 2010. It finished in a 2-2 draw, Reading triumphing 3-2 in the Hawthorns replay.

There was an even faster goal in a First Qualifying Round tie between Ashton United and Skelmersdale United on 15 September 2001. Ashton’s Gareth Morris was on target after FOUR SECONDS and his side went on to win 4-2.

Crawley boss Richie Barker, speaking to the club’s website, enthused: “We got off to a fantastic start but I know that Nicky Adams is capable of scoring a goal like that”. The scorer himself said after the match: “I couldn’t have hit it any better. It’s probably the best goal I’ve ever scored”.

Nicky’s effort was a 25-yard screamer - have another look at it in the video gallery above