Crawley Town 2-1 Newport County: Reds off the bottom of the table with crucial home win

The Reds started the game rock bottom of the table, with Lewis Young taking interim charge after the sacking of Kevin Betsy.

However, the home side looked full of confidence and secured three three points thanks to goals either side of half-time.

James Tilley, who was one of four Crawley changes, opened the scoring with a fine finish after being found by Tom Fellows. It came after Newport’s keeper Joe Day misjudged a long-ball and left his goal completely unguarded.

The Reds continued to dominate after the break and Day made amends for his earlier error with an incredible save from Tom Nichols from point blank range.

But he couldn’t keep the Reds out for long, with Ashley Nadesan heading in Jack Powell’s free-kick at the near post.

Newport responded well with Omar Bogle and substitute Nathan Moriah-Welsh squandering golden opportunities to half the deficit.

Moriah-Welsh did find the net soon after, though, with a fantastic strike from outside the area.

The visitors sensed a chance to draw level and put Crawley under considerable pressure late on but the Reds held on for a vital three points.

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Resilient Crawley get back to basics

Crawley were in action for the first time since parting ways with Kevin Betsy, after the former head coach won just one league game in 12 matches.

Interim manager Lewis Young made four changes to the side which lost 3-0 at Grimsby Town, with David Robson replacing Corey Addai in goal. James Tilley, Jake Hessenthaler and Travis Johnson come in for Dom Telford, Caleb Chukwuemeka and the injured Joel Lynch.

Lewis Young said post-match that he ‘went a little bit like for like from last year’, lining up in a 4-4-2 formation ‘with some old lieutenants’.

Crawley made a promising start to the game, with Nick Tsaroulla picking up good attacking positions to support Ashley Nadesan and Tom Nichols up top and winning a number of free-kicks. Tilley and Jack Powell caused problems with their set pieces.

There were a few warning signs up the other end, with Newport captain Matt Dolan striking a free-kick against the post from distance in what would have been a superb goal.

Tony Craig and Tilley both went close before man-of-the-match Tom Fellows had fans off their seats with a mazy run which ended with a shot just wide of the post. Fellows almost found himself one-on-one moments later but he couldn’t quite get on the end of Powell’s pass.

The goal did finally come, with Fellow taking full advantage of a goalkeeping error to set up Tilley – who finished with ease.

Then came a heartwarming moment, with Tilley racing to celebrate with Young on the touchline. It was a demonstration of the unity the squad has despite finding themselves in tough times.

Crawley came out for the second-half, still on top, with Nichols seeing a powerful shot kept out by the goalkeeper – somehow.

The second goal from Nadesan proved vital as the visitors eventually sparked into life and caused Crawley’s defence problems late on. Thanks to some heroic defending and goalkeeping, Moriah-Welsh's goal was just a consolation and the Reds survived the late onslaught.

Crawley Town: David Robson, Dion Conroy, Travis Johnson (George Francomb, 66), Tony Craig, Tom Fellows (Aramide Oteh, 72), Jack Powell, Jake Hessenthaler, Nick Tsaroulla, James Tilley (Ludwig Francillette 89), Tom Nichols, Ashley Nadesan (Dom Telford, 66).

Unused subs: Ben Wells, Rafiq Khaleel, Corey Addai

Newport County: Joe Day, James Clarke, Matt Dolan (Thierry Nevers, 69), Mickey Demetriou, Cameron Norman, Robbie Willmott (Nathan Moriah-Welsh, 61), Aaron Wildig (Lewis Collins, 75), Scot Bennett, Aaron Lewis, Omar Bogle (Chanka Zimba, 75), Will Evans

Unused subs: Declan Drysdale, Adam Lewis, Nick Townsend

Attendance: 2,839 (232 away)