Matt Tubbs took his tally for the season to 21 goals with a second-half double as Crawley closed the gap on Blue Square Bet premier leaders AFC Wimbledon to two points with a 3-0 win at Forest Green today.

On a snow-covered pitch, Tubbs set up Reds’ fourth-minute opener when he found strike partner Craig McAllister who beat James Bittner from 20 yards with a right-foot shot that went in off the underside of the bar.

Crawley dominated for long spells with Bittner denying Tubbs, Josh Simpson and Pablo Mills before they made their superiority count in the second half.

Tubbs exchanged passes with Pablo Mills before producing a clinical finish to make it 2-0 on 63 minutes and in their next attack Tubbs took a pass from Sergio Torres into his path before beating Bittner with another fine finish.

Reds have two games in hand on Wimbledon, who were held to a 3-3 draw by Newport County and boss Steve Evans was thrilled with their performance.

He said: “I think we gave a masterclass in how play in difficult conditions. It was an outstanding performance from start to finish.

“At 1-0 there is always a feeling they could get back into it but I trusted the players we had on the pitch. Their manager described our performances as awesome which is not easy when you have just lost 3-0 but I don’t remember Michel Kuipers having a save to make.

“Since the weather break we have produced two fantastic performances and now we have a week to get ourselves ready for the FA Cup game against Derby.”