Manager Francis Vines believes Crawley's Sussex Senior Cup win against holders Albion Reserves will help their Conference play-off hopes.

Reds progressed into the semi-finals at a rain drenched Woodside Road thanks to a goal by Fouhade Belaid in the second half of extra time.

The game finished 1-1 in normal time with Adam El-Abd's long-range effort on 75 minutes cancelling out Dan Marney's strike just after half-time.

Vines said: "The fact we kept our winning form going was probably more important than the game itself. Of course, we want to do well in the competition and it is nice to be in the semi-finals but the main thing for us as the moment is to keep getting results because that's how you get long term success.

"It doesn't matter what competition you are playing in, you need to keep winning because success breeds success, so hopefully this will help us on Saturday when we have a crucial game against Halifax."

Despite the defeat, Albion reserve boss Dean White was pleased with the performance of his young side.

He said: "It was good experience for the players and it was nice to see us get the ball down and pass it, even though we were playing on a terrible pitch.

"Considering we had a very young side out, we did pretty well. We had only one recognised forward in Joe Gatting and he's only 17 and we had people like Scott Chamberlain playing, who was making only his second appearance for the reserves.

"I'm disappointed with the result because I want to win every game but considering the circumstances there were a lot of positives to take from it."

Crawley just about edged a scrappy first half in which both sides struggled on a heavy pitch.

Vines named a strong starting line-up which included five former Seagulls - Ryan Palmer, Paul Armstrong, Simon Wormull, John Robinson and Marney.

Palmer almost put his old side ahead after six minutes with a miscued clearance which Neil Jenkins did well to clear off the line.

Kerry Mayo did well to prevent a certain goal five minutes before half-time with a goal-line clearance after Millwall loanee Joe Healy had poked a shot under keeper Chris May.

Albert Jarrett, Albion's liveliest player in the first half, should have broken the deadlock moments later when he side-footed wide from close range after a neat square ball by Gatting.

Marney put the Reds ahead six minutes after the restart thanks to good work by Robinson. The former Charlton midfielder broke clear down the inside right channel and had an angled drive parried by May only for Marney to tap in the rebound.

Hammond missed two chances to equalise in quick succession, including a goalbound volley which Jenkins cleared with keeper Andy Little beaten.

It took a bolt from the blue by El-Abd to level the scores on 75 minutes. There seemed no danger when he received the ball 30 yards out until he unleashed a thunderbolt to give Little no chance.

Crawley almost responded immediately with May having to tip over a shot straight from kick-off by Wormull.

Substitute Belaid won it for Crawley in the second half of extra time when he slotted in from close range after May spilt a cross by Palmer.

Albion striker Jake Robinson scored on his debut for Aldershot in a 2-1 win over Exeter last night. Robinson, who is on loan at the Conference outfit, was joined on the scoresheet by former Seagulls team-mate David Lee.