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Ten-man Crawley crash
Crawley 0, Halifax 4.
Crawley played the price for some "unacceptable defending" as they ended their home campaign in defeat.
Reds were out-fought by relegation battlers Halifax in their last game at Broadfield Stadium this season.
The Shaymen scored twice in each half to edge closer to securing safety in Blue Square premier.
Crawley ended the game with ten men after James Krause was sent off with 25 minutes remaining with the score at 2-0.
Assistant manager Paul Raynor said: "We defended poorly all night and we just can't do that. We gave gifts to Halifax and they capitalised on them.
"We knew they were fighting for their lives and expected it to be tough but our defending did not help us at all.
"They dominated us up front and caused all sorts of problems, it was unacceptable defending."
Raynor was unhappy with the referee's decision to send off Krause for what appeared an innocuous tackle.
He said: "We felt it was unbelievably harsh and we also felt the reaction of the Halifax bench was extremely disappointing. Their coaches were all up and that contributed to James's sending off and gave us a massive mountain to climb."
Halifax were fired-up for the game from the start and should have been ahead with just three minutes on the clock.
Striker Jon Shaw outpaced the napping Glenn Wilson to a ball over the top to go clear on goal and sliced his shot horribly wide.
The visitors were almost made to pay after Reds created two good openings in quick succession ten minutes later.
Top scorer Jamie Cook looked to have been released by a long pass from Mustapha Carayol but his control let him down and the ball ran to keeper Adam Legzdins.
Cook then found Lee Blackburn in space just outside the six-yard box with a low cross but the midfielder's first touch was poor and the ball ran wide.
The Shaymen got the goal they craved on 21 minutes when Shaw burst down the right flank and crossed for Lewis Killeen to slide in and divert the ball into the bottom corner.
The strike gave Halifax confidence and they controlled the remainder of the first half but Reds could have gone level within five minutes with their only other opportunity before the break.
Skipper Tyrone Thompson, once again playing up front, headed over the bar from eight yards after Legzdins made a mess of an attempted punch from a corner.
It would have been a bitter-sweet moment for Thompson had his effort gone in. He turned down a new contract at Halifax to join Crawley last summer and has made it no secret he still holds the club close to his heart.
Shaw was left holding his head again ten minutes before the interval when he missed the ball completely from close range after being left unmarked at Danny Forrest's low cross.
But the visiting captain soon made amends when he doubled his side's lead two minutes later.
He was not tracked as he made a run to the near post at Forrest's corner and powered a header into the roof of the net.
Reds improved after the break but any hopes of a comeback evaporated on 65 minutes when they were reduced to ten men.
Krause received a straight red card for a lunging tackle on Forrest, who was left in a heap in front of the dug-out.
Krause was shocked by the decision and had every right to feel aggrieved as it looked a routine challenge but the referee adjudged the left-back had gone over the top of the ball.
Crawley's miserable night got worse seven minutes later when keeper Ashley Bayes gifted Halifax their third.
He sliced an attempted clearance and then, as he tried to smother his own kick, spilt the ball straight to Forrest, allowing the winger to cross for Shaw to slot into an empty net.
Bayes was almost at fault for another goal ten minutes from time with another miscued kick, although he was not helped by an overhit backpass from Wilson.
This time he got away with it as Simon Heslop fired his first time lob wide.
Kieran Murphy added insult to injury for Reds when he scored an own goal in injury time.
Halifax boss and former Albion defender Chris Wilder said: "From knowing some of their people behind the scenes (at Crawley) I knew they would come out firing and make it difficult for us but we matched them head on.."
Crawley Town: Bayes, Stevens, Murphy, Krause, Wilson, Bulman, Pinault, Thompson, Blackburn (sub Hall 57), Carayol, Cook. Subs not used: Thomas, Barton, Joseph-Dubios, Carter.
Halifax: Legzdins, Doughty, Quinn, Kearney, Forrest (sub Campbell 86), Killeen, Shaw (sub Stamp 80), Wright, Griffith, Ainge, Heslop. Subs not used: Mawson, Taylor, Davies.
What areas do Crawley need to improve upon for next season?
11:38pm Tuesday 22nd April 2008
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CommentPosted by: mickf, Crawley on 1:36pm Wed 23 Apr 08
Interested to see we improved after the break. We didnt have one single attempt on target all through the half, and that against a goalkeeper who had spread butter over his gloves before the start of the match. Ridiculous sending off but made no difference as we would never score. Play football we do well, lump it forward (Bayes, Wilson etc) and we are relegation fodder!
Interested to see we improved after the break. We didnt have one single attempt on target all through the half, and that against a goalkeeper who had spread butter over his gloves before the start of the match. Ridiculous sending off but made no difference as we would never score. Play football we do well, lump it forward (Bayes, Wilson etc) and we are relegation fodder!
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