Crawley Town 3, Exeter City 1: Hepburn-Murphy scores two as Reds pick up much-needed win

Reds were without the suspended Bradley Ibrahim and Kamari Doyle dropped to the bench while Max Anderson and Gavan Holohan came into the starting line-up.

Rushian Hepburn-Murphy put the reds 1-0 up after 7 minutes and it was 2-0 two minutes later after some great passing play between Hepburn-Murphy and Panutche Camara with Camara slotting the ball home from just inside the area.

The Reds went 3-0 up after 23 mins after Hepburn-Murphy netted from close range after Jeremy Kelly had his shot saved on the line. Caleb Watts pulled one back for Exeter in the 25th Minute.

Both Gavan Holohan and Jeremy Kelly had efforts go narrowly wide in what was an excellent display from the Reds, something we haven’t seen too much of this season.

Exeter City made changes at the start of the second half, and it appeared to give them a spark, as they had the better of the second half, without really creating any chances. Crawley, on the other hand, seemed to go back into the shell a little, also creating nothing of note.

One moment of controversy in the second half, when the Grecians’ Goalkeeper Joe Whitworth appeared to handle the ball outside the area after Ryan Woods headed the ball back under pressure, but neither the assistant referee or the referee spotted it. Ed Francis for the Grecians was sent off late in the game for two bookable offences.

Crawley are now four points from safety after results in other games going their way and with a huge game against Northampton Town next Saturday.