Crawley Town 3, Harrogate Town 1: Ruthless Reds snap six-game losing streak to move within one point of safety

The lead did not flatter the home side as their front three ended the match with two goals and three assists between them, with the most impressive of the three being Aramide Oteh who scored two first half goals.

The game started well for Crawley as with only eight minutes gone, Oteh broke the deadlock with a fierce strike outside the box, beating Mark Oxley in the Harrogate goal. Fast starts at home have been a common occurrence under Lindsey with the only home game without a half-time lead for Crawley being when they faced Carlisle in second.

Harrogate struggled to get a foothold in the game with most of their attacks resulting in the offside flag being raised with their first shot on goal coming in the 33rd minute

The Red Devils had a penalty shout turned down in the 23rd minute as Dom Telford seemed to be taken down amongst a sea of bodies in the Harrogate box. Referee Simon Mather did not think anything of it.

Not too long after that, Mr Mather upset the home fans again as James Tilley fell outside the box, potentially giving Crawley a good free kick, but the referee saw things differently as he gave James Tilley a yellow card for simulation.

Crawley ended the first half just as they started it, as Ashley Nadesan broke away on the right wing before cutting the ball back to Oteh who tapped it in from close range, doubling his and Crawley’s tally in the 44th minute.

Crawley were fortunate to keep their clean sheet as Jack Muldoon got past Mazeed Ogungbo with Luke Armstrong available for a cross and only Ludwig Francillette back to defend. However, Crawley got away with it as the ball thankfully went straight into Corey Addai’s arms.

The side from Sussex sealed the three points in fantastic style as Jordon Mutch scored his first Crawley goal with a curler from outside the box in the 67th minute. The goal came quickly after substitute Matt Daly missed an open goal for Harrogate, leading to the attack which gave Crawley a deserved three goal lead.

Harrogate may have been done on the pitch but they still had to fight off it as a scuffle between players before a throw-in was taken led to a war of words between the two managers on the touchline. In the 71st minute.

The ending of the game summed up the day for Harrogate as Toby Sims was given a straight red for throwing the ball at Nadesan. Harrogate did find a goal however with the last kick of the game as the ball fell to Anthony O’Connor at the back post. It was only a consolation; however, it means Crawley are still without a clean sheet under Lindsey.