Crawley Town secure fine away win at Colchester United

Crawley Town secured their second away win of the season after Liam Kelly’s first half goal and Danilo Orsi’s penalty gave their side all three points against a deflated Colchester United who scored late on in a nervy ending to the game.

The Reds created good chances in an end to end game at the JobServe Community stadium with Kelly having an influential role in this. He almost put the Reds ahead in the 21st minute when he pulled his shot wide and then he had another chance which was blasted over the bar.

Kelly was through on goal in the 37th minute after Luca Ashby-Hammond found him with a brilliant pass but couldn’t find the target.

Finally after his earlier missed chances, Kelly put the Reds ahead with a smart finish into the bottom corner. Will Wright’s initial cross was blocked but Wright composed himself and found the midfielder in space on his second attempt.

It was a slow start to the second half with no dangerous efforts coming for either side until the 62nd minute when Colchester substitute John Akinde shot was blocked. Seconds later, the Reds charged down the pitch through Campbell on the right hand side.

He played a pass into the box which Nick Tsaroulla was able to reach with his toe. Orsi picked the ball up and slotted it into the back of the net but the referee had already blown his whistle for a penalty. The striker stepped up and scored down the middle of the goal.

Colchester were almost gifted a goal late on after Ashby-Hammond missed a bouncing back pass from Jay Williams. With 11 minutes added on The home side did manage to get one goal back through Joe Taylor who chipped it over the goalkeeper but the Reds were able to hold on to guarantee all three points.

Dion Conroy made his first start following his return from injury and Kelly also returned after he served his one- match suspension. Harry Forster, who scored the winning goal against Bristol Rovers on Tuesday started on the bench.

It was a very wet and muddy pitch which Crawley struggled to get to grips with as they started slow. After a defensive mixup, Samson Tovide almost put the home side ahead but couldn’t reach a low cross put across the box by Joe Taylor.

Once the Reds had got used to the difficult pitch conditions, Scott Lindsey’s side were able to string some nice passes together, which ended with a tame effort at goal from Orsi.

Once again, Crawley moved up the pitch well when Campbell played a chipped through ball to a charging Kellan Gordon down the right who found Kelly in space inside the box. The midfielder mistimed his shot but it was another good spell for the Reds.

Colchester opted to target an out of position J Williams on the right hand side of the defence. Jayden Fevrier looked at getting past the midfielder time and time again with Williams putting up a good fight against the tricky winger.

After his impressive display on Tuesday, Forster joined the field of play in the 66th minute and once again hinted at his available skills but was forced off with an injury in the 88th.

REDS XI: Ashby-Hammond, Gordon (Darcy 66’), Williams, Conroy, Maguire, Tsaroulla (Forster 66’ (Swyer 88’), Wright, Gladwin, Kelly (Lolos 72), Campbell (Adeyemo 72’), Orsi.