A sterling late solo goal from Ollie Palmer saw Crawley take all three points in a dramatic clash with Bury today.

The towering hitman jinxed past three players in the visitors' penalty area and toe-poked the ball past the keeper to clinch a 3-2 victory for his new team - and his fifth goal in Reds colours.

Luck appeared to be absent for Crawley as they went in search of their first win at the Checkatrade Stadium this season, with a hat-trick of disallowed goals going against them.

They took the lead in the third minute through a header from captain Jimmy Smith.

Summer signing George Francomb floated in an inch-perfect cross to Smith, who calmly nodded in from a tight angle.

Midfielder Filipe Morais - along with the rest of the stadium - thought he had made it 2-0 in the 20th minute when he thumped a shot from about 30 yards, and it appeared to deflect off a Bury player and over their goalie Joe Murphy.

After about a minute of celebrations, the referee was hauled over by the linesman, who cancelled out the goal for an offside - to the fury of Reds boss Harry Kewell and his assistant Warren Feeney.

Dominic Poleon had a more obvious goal disallowed in the 52nd minute, and Bury soon found a way back into the game.

Chris Dagnall received the ball from strike partner Dominic Telford and scored with a tame shot 11 minutes into the second half.

Telford turned creator once more as he played in substitute Danny Mayor with 12 minutes left.

Mark Connolly missed the interception and Mayor made him pay with a powerful finish.

Then it was Panutche Camara's time to shine off the bench.

He pulled Reds back level with a powerful header from a Dannie Bulman free-kick in the 81st minute, and was then denied a second in as many minutes by the linesman's flag.

He scored in a goalmouth scramble, but it was ruled out dubiously for offside.

But Palmer came to the fore in the 88th minute to give his side a well-fought win and move them above today's opponents in League Two.