Tranmere tonked! Four-goal Crawley rout Rovers

Max Watters opened the scoring with his fourth goal in as many games and Tom Nichols added a second with a precise strike.

Jordan Tunnicliffe’s towering header put the Reds three up before the break and Tyler Frost’s low drive in the second half finished off Rovers.

John Yems made no changes to the Crawley side who earned a point at Salford, as Frost and Brian Galach returned to the bench.

Crawley enjoyed the first chances of the game. Jack Powell picked up the ball outside the box, with his curling effort being beaten away by Scott Davies, before Watters blazed one over the bar moments later.

The Reds’ dominance would eventually pay off when Powell showed some great skill in midfield before playing in Watters with a brilliant through-ball. he checked inside and fired into the bottom corner to give Crawley a well-deserved lead on 13 minutes.

Crawley continued to control the game, and doubled their lead when Jake Hesketh picked up the ball and fed Nichols, who skipped into the box and beat Davies with a low finish in the 21st minute.

The Reds got a third when a corner fell to George Francomb, who lifted a delightful cross towards the back-post, which Tunnicliffe headed into the roof of the net to make it 3-0 in only the 24th minute. Rovers were left stunned by a first-half flurry from Crawley.

Crawley’s pressure continued into the second half, when a neat backheel by Nichols found Sam Matthews, who tried the find the bottom corner with a smart effort which was pushed away by Davies.

Kieran Morris fired over from outside the box as Tranmere looked for a route back into the game. But Crawley finished Tranmere off soon after when, following some great footwork, Hesketh was thwarted, with his effort falling to Reds sub Frost who drilled a first-time strike into the bottom corner in the 77th minute, as Crawley’s ruthless finishing continued.

Tarryn Allarakhia fired over on the counter-attack, in the last action of another five-star home display from the Reds which lifted them into League Two's top ten. Next up for Yems' in-form side is a home clash with Cambridge United on Saturday

Crawley: Morris, Francomb, Tunnicliffe, Craig, Doherty, Hessenthaler, Matthews (Frost 72’), Powell, Hesketh, Watters (Ashford 76’), Nichols (Allarakhia 86’)

Tranmere: Davies, Ridehalgh (O’Connor 26’), Clarke, Ellis (Nelson 34’), MacDonald, Young, Spearing (Blackett-Taylor 63’), Feeney, Morris, Vaughan, Smith.