Crawley suffered only their third defeat of the season after Newport County came from behind to win 3-2 at the Broadfield Stadium today.

But the game, which was played in front of a season's-best crowd of 2,566, was marred by crowd trouble in the first half.

Shortly after Crawley had equalised fighting broke out in the corner of the east terrace after Newport fans had infiltrated areas reserved for home supporters.

Punches were thrown by rivals sets of supporters although police and stewards quickly restored order. Several Newport fans were ejected before being allowed to re-enter the ground in the away end.

The game was just as explosive as Reds paid dearly for some poor defending.

After dominating the early stages the hosts fell behind in the 25th minute when they failed to clear a corner and Danny Rose's drive from 25 yards took a big deflection off Ben Smith that gave keeper Michel Kuipers no chance.

Reds levelled six minutes later when Richard Brodie turned his marker in the six-yard box to convert Matt Tubbs' cross.

They went ahead in the 38th minute when Tubbs charged down goalkeeper Glyn Garner's goal-kick and the ball fell to Scott Neilson who cut inside from the right before scoring with an angled drive which went in off the far post.

Reds were level for just four minutes, though. Dean Howell left Kuipers exposed with a horribly short back pass and Craig Reid produced a composed finish.

Newport took the lead three minutes after the break after more poor defending by the hosts.

Sam Foley's cross should have been cut out by either Adam Quinn or Kuipers and Daryl Knights nipped in and after his first shot was blocked he lashed the rebound into the roof of the net.

Reds huffed and puffed in search of an equaliser but they rarely tested Garner in the second half and Kuipers made a great save late on to keep out Foley's shot.

Boss Steve Evans had four strikers on the pitch at the end but Newport held on and AFC Wimbledon's 1-0 win over Gateshead means Reds drop down to second place.

Assistant manager Paul Raynor said: "Scoring twice at home you should get a result but you can't defend like we did, concede three goals and expect to beat a good side like Newport.

"We went a bit direct in the second half instead of trying to move the ball around like we did in the first half when we looked a good side. It is obviously disappointing but it is one defeat and we will go again."