Reds crash to humiliating defeat

11:15pm Thursday 27th March 2008

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Crawley manager Steve Evans locked his players in the changing room for over an hour following a humiliating defeat against Kidderminster.

Evans gave his side the hairdryer treatment after witnessing a first-half horror show at Broadfield Stadium.

Reds conceded four goals inside the first 45 minutes to suffer their third defeat in a week.

The performance will go down as the worst of the season so far and the boos which rung around the ground at the final whistle illustrated what the disgruntled fans felt of it.

Reds did not have the ideal preparation for the game following the shock departure before kick-off of midfielder Kevin James.

The former Nottingham Forest winger, who made 13 appearances following a January move from Woking, is believed to have asked to leave the club after he was abused by Crawley fans during Monday's 1-0 defeat against Aldershot.

He was followed out the Broadfield door yesterday by defender Dominic Shimmin, who was released after being restricted to just two starts in two months due to injury.

Evans softened the blow of James' exit by bringing in winger Ryan Hall from Crystal Palace on loan until the end of the season before yesterday's temporary transfer deadline.

The 20-year-old was not signed in time to be included last night, though, forcing Evans to name every player he had on his books to make up the 16-man squad, including his assistant Paul Raynor.

The threadbare nature of Reds' squad played a part in their nightmare first half display.

Unable to rotate players and freshen up the side following two games in three days over the Easter weekend, they looked sluggish and were left staring defeat in the face by half-time as a result.

Things may have been different had striker Jon-Paul Pittman not been guilty of the miss of the season a minute before Kidderminster's goal blitz started.

He was left with an open goal after visiting captain Mark Creighton miscued a backwards header over his keeper Chris McKenzie and somehow sliced over from six yards.

Reds were made to pay almost immediately as Harriers dangerman Iyseden Christie netted twice in 60 seconds with just seven minutes on the clock.

The powerful striker sent a delightful lob over keeper Ashley Bayes for his first after he was given too much space just outside the area.

He then took advantage of Crawley's ponderous attempt at an offside trap to round Bayes and slot into an empty net.

The third goal came 13 minutes later after another piece of poor defending. Reds failed to clear a blocked shot from Matthew Barnes-Homer and the Harriers striker followed up to volley home from eight yards.

The shell-shocked home side rallied briefly around the half-hour mark and came close to giving themselves some kind of lifeline with long range shots from Dannie Bulman and Thomas Pinault.

But they never really looked like getting back into the game and were soon picking the ball out of their net again. Christie had a shot saved by Bayes and again a yellow shirt was quickest to react to the rebound as Simon Russell turned the ball in unchallenged.

Crawley improved after the break but by that time the damage had already been done.

Kidderminster were happy to see out the rest of the game and allow Reds the majority of possession.

But Evans' side struggled to create any openings to give the sparse crowd any sort of consolation.

Crawley: Bayes, Wilson (Murphy 44), Stevens, Thomas, Krause, Thompson, Bulman, Pinault, Carayol (Blackburn 46), Pittman, Cook (Joseph-Dubois 78). Subs not used: Carter, Raynor.

Kidderminster: McKenzie (Coleman 37), Kenna, Hurren, Creighton, Russell, Penn (McGrath 54), Bennett, Barnes-Homer, Jeannin, Christie (Smikle 69), Knights. Subs not used: Ferrell, Bignot.

Was that the worst Crawley performance of the season?