THE last thing Crawley need is for assistant manager Paul Raynor to join his boss in the stands.

So not surprisingly Raynor chose his words carefully when asked about the pivotal moment at Aggborough on Saturday.

Lone striker Calum Willock was through on goal in the 21st minute and was sent spinning to the ground after a challenge from Gavin Caines.

The only debate for referee Darren Drysdale appeared to be whether the offence was committed inside the penalty area or not.

But Drysdale, who was demoted from the Football League list at the end of last season, waved play on to the obvious relief of Harriers’ boss Mark Yates.

In the opposite dugout all Raynor could do was turn to Evans in the directors’ box with his hands in the air.

To compound their frustration Caines profited when Crawley’s defensive organisation deserted them for the only time in the game to score an undeserved winner in the last minute of normal time.

Reds could only clear a corner as far as substitute John McDermott and when his shot took a deflection ,it fell into Caines’ path six yards out. Reds appealed for offside but Simon Rusk was standing on the goal-line and neither he or goalkeeper Simon Rayner could keep out the defender’s shot.

Coming a week after the controversy surrounding Barrow’s winner at the Broadfield Stadium it was a bitter pill to swallow for Crawley.

Raynor said: “I have to watch what I say because I don’t want to get into trouble but why would Calum go down in that situation when he was clean through on goal with the ball at his feet?

“He’s a goalscorer and he is not going down unless he’s been clipped. They should have had a man sent off and we should have had a penalty and been 1-0 up.

“The referee was demoted from the Football League last year and you can draw your own conclusions from that. Some of his decisions were baffling and spoiled the game.”

Crawley are no strangers to refereeing controversies and Raynor is convinced he knows why.

“Maybe our reputation for being passionate on the sideline goes before us and we don’t always get the rub of the green,” he said. “It needs to be looked at because there are guys in our dressing room playing for their livelihoods and I feel for them because they gave everything and we should have taken something out of that game.”

That last statement could not be argued with. Evans opted for a 4-5-1 formation with Calum Willock supported by Barry Cogan and Danny Forrest when Crawley were in possession.

It worked well for the first 25 minutes when Willock could not get enough power in his shot to test Dean Coleman after Cogan’s pass found him in space before Cogan saw his shot from the edge of the box tipped onto the post by the Harriers’ keeper.

Unfortunately the visitors didn’t retain the courage of their convictions and Harriers began to dominate in midfield. Rayner pulled off a great save from John Finnigan and Aaron Farrell headed over an open goal. Crawley were certainly happier to hear the half-time whistle.

They re-organised and Evans had made three attacking substitutes by the 70th minute but the second half was a non-event with neither keeper seriously tested until Caines’ dramatic intervention.

“It’s a kick in the teeth,” said Rayner. “The players are disappointed and have every right to be.”

That is four games without a win and Crawley have now scored a meagre three goals on their travels, a statistic which needs improving to take the pressure off their decent home form. But the system was a success and will be persevered with.

“We felt the 4-5-1 worked extremely well,” said Rayner.

“We have only scored three goals away from home which speaks for itself and needs to be looked at but we had enough chances. It was a workmanlike performance but we need to turn a few of those performances into wins. Hopefully the luck will turn and we might get a decision go for us and when it happens it won’t be before time.”

Kidderminster (4-3-1-2): Coleman; Courtney, Caines, Riley, Baker; Bennett, Finnegan (sub: McDermott 65), Smikle; Knights; Barnes-Homer, Farrell (Sharpe 86). Unused subs: Dolman, Hadley, Hayward.

Crawley (4-5-1): Rayner; Rusk, Wilson, Quinn, Rents; Forrest (sub: Malcolm 45), Pinault, Hutchinson (Smith 63), Cogan; Killeen, Willock (Louis 70). Unused subs: Giles, Jordan.