5:04pm Saturday 14th November 2009
By Bruce Talbot
Crawley went down 2-0 to play-off chasing Mansfield who were comfortable winners despite playing for the last 20 minutes with ten men.
The Stags went ahead after 11 minutes when Jake Speight scored from close range after Ben Smith could only clear a shot from Scott Garner into his path.
Danny Forrest and Chris Giles went close either side of half-time but Reds lacked a cutting edge in the final third against a well-organised home side.
Nick Jordan, deputising for Simon Rayner in the second half after the keeper had fallen awkwardly, made good saves from Blair Sturrock and Kyle Perry but Mansfield were down to ten men when Matt Somner was sent off for two fouls in the space of four minutes.
But it made little difference and Paul Heckingbottom doubled Stags' lead with 14 minutes remaining when his free-kick into the bottom corner gave Jordan no chance.
Crawley's assistant manager Paul Raynor said: "We're disappointed with the result. Mansfield were a good side, they were well organised and we didn't do enough in the final third or create enough chances.
"Mansfield soaked up the pressure well and hit us on the break. We thought the two-week break would refresh us but we weren't brave enough on the ball in the final third and they hit us well with two good set-pieces."
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