‘It’s been a very long time coming’ – Ashley Nadesan delighted to put an end to Crawley Town’s away day woes at AFC Wimbledon

The result lifts Crawley out of the bottom-two currently, with Hartlepool United falling into the relegation zone at their expense.

It’s now two consecutive wins for the Reds, and match-winner Nadesan was relieved to have finally earned Crawley the elusive away victory:

The striker said: “It’s been a very long time coming. The lads put in an unreal shift.

“We said at half-time, ‘if we keep a clean sheet we’ll win this game’, and that’s exactly what’s happened. It’s really good to get three points away from home.

“We came off with a couple of injuries, people were putting their bodies on the line and running even further than we normally do. The gaffer [Scott Lindsey] is big on running stats, and everybody put in a shift from Corey [Addai] to me and Dom [Telford] up front.

“We’ve prepared a full week for this. It’s a derby for us and we knew it was going to be tough, but we’re just buzzing we’ve got back to back three points. The table’s looking a bit more promising now, but we’ve still got to take it onto Tuesday [at home to Doncaster Rovers].

“I don’t think they had a shot on target all game. We defended from the front and Corey praised us as he had nothing to do.”

Despite the rail strikes in London, Crawley fans travelled well to support the Reds and Nadesan was full of praise for their vocal away support.

He added: “They were cheering from minute one through to the end. We saw the limbs for the goal and full-time.

“It’s been a tough time for them and we’re happy to reward them. They’ve travelled in their numbers today and I’m just glad we’ve sent them home with three points.”

There was discussion as to whether Nadesan’s goal might’ve been an own-goal, but the striker is adamant he got the decisive touch:

He said: “It was mine all day! [James] Tilley put in a great cross, the defender went to hook it, missed it completely and I was there to get a nice clean contact on it”.

“Tilley was a big miss when he was injured. He can play in numerous positions – wing-back both sides, in the 10, on the wing. He wins fouls high up the pitch, for the goal he was in behind me and Dom.

“We’ve had a couple of seasons together so there’s some nice chemistry now.”