Scott Rendell did the damage with a double as Crawley clawed their way off the bottom of the table with a fine win at Cambridge United.

The young striker opened the scoring in the 68th minute with a straightforward finish after former Cambridge player Lee Blackburn slipped the ball into his path six yards out.

Rendell settled the issue eight minutes later with a cool tap-in from Jake Edwards' square pass after being left unmarked by the United defence.

The hosts could only respond with a 30-yard drive from Jon Brady that came too late for a recovery in the third minute of injury time.

Changes had been forced on John Hollins following last Tuesday's 3-0 home defeat by Weymouth with winger Tony Scully missing out on the chance of facing his former club after picking up a knee injury in training on Thursday.

Hollins went with a 4-3-3 formation as a result with Edwards, back from injury, joining Ben Strevens and Rendell and they caused problems for the Cambridge defence throughout.

Rendell forced Paul Crichton into punching the ball clear as he gave notice of his intent in the early stages while Edwards also tested the United keeper following a corner.

Only a slip at the final moment denied Rendell a terrific chance to put the Red Devils ahead on 15 minutes as he raced through to latch onto a terrific centre from Edwards.

Crawley went on to dominate the first half but could not make the breakthrough.

But inside 90 seconds of the restart Rendell hit the join of bar and post with a deflected shot against a stranded Crichton.

The goal finally came and Crawley got the taste for blood with Edwards hitting a post just a minute before Rendell bagged his and Crawley's second.

Cambridge finally came to life in the final ten minutes but substitute Danny Carey-Bertram blasted one shot over from eight yards and smacked the upright from 18 yards with another before Brady hit the target.

Hollins was delighted his finely-honed plans to counter Cambridge had paid off.

He said: "It's a difficult place to come and we had problems with injuries and illness in the squad.

"We set out our way of playing without wingers and I was very pleased with the way it went. We've bounced back from the Weymouth defeat.

"They hit quite a lot of long stuff but that suited us. Cambridge had some chances but they didn't have the calmness to take them.

"I think Dave Woozley, the centre-back, was magnificent and I was pleased that our plan of keeping Jon Brady quiet worked because he's a dangerous player and we stopped him putting in his crosses. "

Hollins was also delighted to have Edwards back in the side and felt he played a huge part in the victory.

He said: "Jake Edwards is a key player for us and he's not match-fit after injury.

"But he's a very strong player and that showed in his performance on Saturday."

Crawley: Hamer, Hiley, Judge, Woozley, Brown, Blackburn, Bostwick, Bulman (Marshall 71), Strevens (MacLeod 80), Edwards, Rendell. Subs not used: Tolfrey, Sappleton, Lovegrove.