Donaldson double sinks Reds (From The Argus)

Donaldson double sinks Reds

5:02pm Saturday 6th October 2012 in Sport By Steve Hollis

Crawley's four game unbeaten run away from home came to an end as they went down 2-1 at Brentford.

Clayton Donaldson gave the Bees a deserved lead midway through the first half and Reds would have been further behind but for a series of fine saves from Paul Jones.

Nicky Adams brought Crawley level in the 59th minute after good work from Jonathan Forte but Donaldson grabbed the winner with 14 minutes to go after a mistake from Jones.

Brentford made by far the better start and had the ball in the back of the net after just six minutes only for Donaldson to be flagged offside.

Paul Jones then made point blank saves to keep out headers from Paul Hayes and Donaldson followed by long range strikes from Shaleum Logan and Harry Forrester.

The pressure finally told in the 23rd minute when Forrester slipped a perfectly weighted ball through for Donaldson who sprung the offside trap to slide a shot under the advancing Jones and into the net.

It could have been worse for Crawley with Jones doing well to push away an inswinging free kick from Forrester which nobody was able to get a touch on while Donaldson shot wide under pressure from McFadzean from Adam Forshaw's low cross.

Reds had offered little going forward but did offer slightly more threat after falling behind. Nicky Adams lashed a shot over the bar from the angle while Gary Alexander headed a cross from Nathan Byrne over in injury time.

Brentford goalkeeper Simon Moore was called into action for the first time seven minutes after the restart when he pushed away a well-struck effort from Hope Akpan.

At the other end Jones had to be alert once again to turn over a close range header from Donaldson.

Reds got back on level terms in the 59th minute thanks to a horrendous piece of defending from Harlee Dean.

Forte intercepted Dean's weak backpass and did well to roll the ball across the face of goal from an acute angle for Adams to bundle home.

Jones made another important stop from Forrester but undid all his earlier good work to gift Brentford the lead again with 14 minutes to go.

The goalkeeper needlessly raced off his line as Donaldson chased a ball down the left and the Bees striker lifted it over him before tapping it into the empty net.

Reds boss Richie Barker brought on Nicky Ajose and Billy Clarke in an attempt to get back into the game and Clarke almost scored when his well-struck free kick was tipped over by Moore.

Brentford finished the game with ten men after Farid El Alagui was stretchered off following a collision with Paul Jones but Crawley were unable to salvage a point.