Crawley Town 3, Shrewsbury Town 5: Winless run continues after 10-man Reds losing eight goal thriller

With the two sides in the relegation zone at the start of the game, both teams came out positively but it was Crawley with the best chance of the opening exchanges, Ronan Darcy had his shot palmed away by Shrewsbury keeper Toby Savin.

The visitors broke the deadlock inside 25 minutes though as John Marquis found space in the box and Connal Trueman couldn’t get enough behind the shot.

It didn’t take the Reds long to respond. Only eight minutes later Will Swan headed the ball into the net to mark his first goal in a Crawley shirt.

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The second half commenced and Crawley were lucky not to concede within the first five minutes as goal scorer Marquis saw his shot rattle the post.

Crawley were struck with a vital loss ten minutes into the half, defender Josh Flint picked up a second yellow card trying to stop a Shrewsbury attack meaning the reds would have to make do with ten men for the remainder of the game.

Playing with a man down did not halt the home side. On the hour mark, Harry Forster swung the ball into the box which was met by Crawley’s top scorer Armando Quitirna at the back post to give the hosts a 2-1 lead.

This game was not done for drama however, a goalmouth scramble following a Shrewsbury corner saw the ball bundled home for the away side by Toto Nsiala. Five minutes later, John Marquis was brought down in the box by Mullarkey to give the Shropshire side a penalty which was put away by Marquis for his second goal. From 2-1 to 2-3 in an instant.

Crawley failed to respond to the visitor’s energy levels late in the second half. In the 85th minute Shrewsbury’s George Lloyd capitalized on another set piece to make it 4-2.

The visitors were relentless and carried on charging at the Crawley goal, in stoppage time John Marquis unselfishly squared the ball to George Lloyd and make it 5-2 to Shrewsbury. A late Jeremy Kelly free kick reduced the game to 5-3 late on but Crawley now make it 11 games without a win in all competitions.

Crawley remain winless after three games with Rob Elliot in charge and travel to Reading next Saturday with hopes to regain their form.