Reds continued their pre-season preparations with two hour-long games against Southern Combination club Oakwood at a wet Tinsley Lane on Tuesday.
As expected, Harry Kewell fielded two different XIs in each match but Jimmy Smith, Glenn Morris and Billy Clifford all had to sit out the action because of injury.
The first 60 minutes was very competitive with Reds only sealing a 2-0 win with two goals in the last 12 minutes.
Oakwood had acquitted themselves well but tired in the second hour and Crawley romped to a 9-0 victory.
Conditions were far from ideal with torrential rain throughout although the parched pitch played well.
Reds fans got their first sight of Dutch striker Thomas Verheydt in the opening game and he nearly made an immediate impression, firing inches wide at full stretch in the first half of the opening game.
Enzio Boldewijn, who again operated up front, also went close but although Reds predictably dominated possession Oakwood worked hard to restrict clear-cut openings.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 48th minute when midfielder Mark Randall, who again impressed, took advantage of a defensive mistake to fire home from the edge of the box.
The lead was doubled four minutes later when Lewis Young, who scored on our last visit to Oakwood in 2014, found the top left-hand corner with a well-struck shot from 20 yards out.
Reds: Trialist; Young, Lelan, McNerney, Blackman, Dennon, Randall, Djalo, Cox, Verhydt (Garnett 30), Boldewijn.
Reds took just three minutes to open the scoring in the second game.
Moussa Sanoh’s shot was blocked on the line but Jordan Roberts reacted quickest it sweep the loose ball into the net.
Crawley doubled their lead three minutes later. Roberts’ long-range effort skidded off the turf and the home keeper could only push it into the path of Matt Harrold, who poked it home.
Oakwood were tiring and with Reds eager to impress the goals started to come. Arjan Tajbakhsh made it 3-0 in the 13th minute with a superb effort when he curled a right-foot effort with the outside of his boot after a one-two with Sanoh and Harrold then got his second and Crawley’s fourth after Oakwood failed to cut out Dannie Bulman’s cross.
Roberts rounded the goalkeeper for his second five minutes before the break and Harrold completed a first-half hat-trick when he swept home Panutche Camara’s cross before Camara scored the best goal of half seconds from the end when he picked his way through the home defence and side-footed the ball into the roof of the net.
There was no respite for the hosts in the second half.
Sanoh showed good skills and a composed finish after Harrold set him up to make it 8-0 and the ninth was an unfortunate own goal by the Oaks’ keeper when Roberts’ shot was blocked.
That’s how it finished on a good night for Crawley, who will now start preparations for Saturday’s game against Chelsea.
Reds: Mersin, Tajbakhsh, Yorwerth, Connolly, Evina; Roberts, Bulman, Payne, Sanoh; Harrold, Camara.
