Michel Kuipers was sent off on his Crawley debut as Reds went down 1-0 at home to relegated Grimsby in their Conference opener.

Referee Carl Berry had no choice when Kuipers came out of his area trying to head clear but he mis-judged the bounce and made contact with his left hand.

It got worse when Lee Peacock threaded the resultant free-kick past substitute goalkeeper Nick Jordan into the bottom corner.

Crawley deserved something for their efforts, having dominated long spells even with ten men.

Sergio Torres and Matt Tubbs both went close on two occasions but Grimsby keeper Kenny Arthur’s handling in the wet conditions was exemplary although he was at full stretch to keep out Tubbs’ flicked header in the 69th minute.

Reds' boss Steve Evans said: "Their manager Neil Woods said afterwards that the best team did not win and I agree. I am not going to make silly comments about referees this season but that was a huge decision for him to make with the goal.

"I will look at the DVD but if he is wrong then his decision has cost us the game."