Crawley manager Francis Vines urged his players to win the Sussex Senior Cup for the fans after they booked a place in the final.

Reds beat Lewes 2-1 at Woodside Road last night to set up a clash against either Bognor or Ringmer at Priory Lane, Eastbourne, on May 2.

First-half goals from Neil Jenkins and Steve Burton did the damage before Tobi Jinadu netted for Lewes in injury-time.

Vines, who led Crawley to the cup two seasons ago, said: "It is good to have the chance to end the season with some silverware. It will give the fans a nice day out and it would be great to win it for them.

"I was happy with how we played in the first half and the only reason they came back into it was because we took our foot off the pedal.

"I was disappointed we let one in at the end because 2-1 makes it look much closer than it actually was."

Defeat for Lewes effectively ends their season because they cannot get promoted due to their ground not coming up to scratch. Manager Steven King was proud of his side and insists they did not deserve to lose.

He said: "It was always going to be tough because they are in a higher league than us but when we pressurised them in the second half we started to dominate.

"You can't say we didn't deserve to get at least a draw because we had the chances. They had a good first half and we had a good second so we didn't deserve to lose."

It took a moment of magic by Jenkins on 18 minutes to bring the game to life. The former Southend midfielder lashed a 25-yard left-foot drive into the top corner for his seventh goal of the season.

Reds completely dominated the rest of the half and had enough chances to kill Lewes off before the half hour mark.

James Donovan met a Jenkins corner to head just over from close range with Danny Naisbitt well beaten.

Rob Kember volleyed inches wide from the edge of the box after the Lewes defence had only half cleared a Simon Wormull free kick. Kember was left holding his head again moments later when he shot straight at Naisbitt after cutting inside Max Hustwick.

Crawley finally added to their advantage on the stroke of half-time when Burton beat the offside trap to round Naisbitt and slot home for his second goal in as many games since signing from Scarborough.

Lewes improved after the break and had their first clear opening three minutes into the second half. Kirk Watts did well to cross from the left and the ball fell for the onrushing Paul Kennett, whose powerful effort was blocked bravely by Sacha Opinel.

Burton almost scored his second two minutes later when he scuffed wide under a robust challenge by Jinadu.

King ditched his defensive 4-5-1 formation on the hour mark and brought on Barrington Belgrave to partner Lee Newman up front. The move made Lewes look a much bigger threat going forward but they continued to look shaky at the back and were almost caught on the break on 70 minutes with Naisbitt spilling a shot by Burton behind for a corner.

Midfielder Charlie Mapes, recalled from a loan spell at Canvey Island, made his first appearance for Crawley since the quarter-final win against Albion Reserves when he replaced Jenkins on 75 minutes.

Belgrave went close soon after with a shot from eight yards which Andy Little saved at point blank with his legs.

Jinadu pulled one back in injury time when he slotted in from a tight angle.