Crawley were undone by two fine free kicks as they went down 2-0 at home to Sheffield United.

Tony McMahon curled an effort around the wall in the 29th minute to give the Blades the lead and doubled the lead in the 72nd minute when he found the top corner.

The result was slightly harsh on Crawley who had given as good as they got but were ultimately undone by two monents of quality on an atrocious pitch.

United went to the top of League One as a result while Crawley remain tenth.

Although the rain had stopped by kick-off the condition of the pitch meant the first half was a scrappy affair.

The visitors constructed the only really meaningful of the opening 45 minutes when Kevin McDonald drove forward from the halfway line before cleverly playing in Dave Kitson. The former Reading and Portsmouth striker looked odds-on to score but his shot was deflected over the bar by a superb diving block from Joe Walsh.

With both sides struggling to find any rhythm on a playing surface which was cutting up badly it was no surprise the opening goal came from a set-piece.

Joe Walsh brought down Shaun Miller 25 yards out and Tony McMahon curled a low shot around the wall which beat the dive of Paul Jones and crept inside the near post.

Crawley ended the first half strongly and continued to press after the restart with Mike Jones flashing a shot wide from 25 yards and Reds having an appeal for a penalty turned down when a flick from Nicky Adams hit Michael Doyle on the arm.

The Blades still posed a threat and Paul Jones had to be alert to push away a well hit shot from Nick Blackman.

Crawley still looked favourites to get the next goal until another moment of quality from McMahon. Again Walsh gave away the free kick 25 yards out and this time McMahon curled his shot over the wall and into the top corner.

Reds boss Richie Barker threw on strikers Nicky Ajose, Billy Clarke and John Akinde in search of a way back into the game but they were unable to unlock a well organised Blades defence.