Stevenage 2, Crawley Town 1: Nichols scores stunner but Reds unbeaten start to 2022 comes to an end

There was one change to the Reds team who drew at Carlisle United on Saturday with Archie Davies replacing Nick Tsaroulla, who dropped to the bench.

Ashley Nadesan, who scored at Carlise, was again proving a threat early on with his pace and created chances for Sam Matthews and Tom Nichols.

It was a late header that denied the Reds all three points at Carlisle, but it was a first half header that put them behind at Stevenage when Jake Taylor nodded home from close range.

The club twitter account tweeted: "Cannot say that is deserved."

Glenn Morris was on fine form again and showed lightning-quick reactions to deny Ben Coker's headed effort before Joel Lynch nodded over on 38 minutes.

But just as it looked like the Reds would go into the break behind, Tom Nichols popped up with a stunning strike.

He tricked forward teasing Scott Cuthbert before curling into the far top corner with precision.

Crawley, buoyed by Nichols' strike, played some exciting football at the start of the second half and chances fell to the goal scorer and substitute Tsaroulla, who replaced Davies at the break.

But it was that man Morris who once again kept Reds in the game on 65 minutes. The club tweeted: "WHAT A SAVE ONCE AGAIN FROM THE CAT! Morris denies Taylor from point-blank range with a ridiculous reaction save which tips the ball behind."

However, seven minutes later it was the home team who scored next when Luke Norris found himself with the ball a yard out following a set-piece and tapped into an empty net.

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