Ahead of Tuesday's clash with Notts County, we take a look at our recent head to head record.
The first meeting with County took place in November 2012, in our first season in League One. Neal Bishop opened the scoring at Meadow Lane but Jonathan Forte scored against his old club to level the scores and ensure Crawley could take a respectable point back to West Sussex. The scores were level in the corresponding fixture as the two sides played out a 0-0 draw at the Broadfield.
The next two games the following season saw both sides share the wins, as Mark Connolly scored the only goal in a 1-0 Reds win, while Jimmy Spencer scored the only goal in a 1-0 County win.
With just four goals in the first four fixtures between the two sides, many could have been forgiven for expecting another low scoring affair when the Reds travelled to Nottingham in October 2014. When a brace from Garry Thompson’s brace and Zeli Ismail’s strike had County 3-0 up at the break, Crawley fans were fearing the worst. However, Gwion Edwards and Matt Harrold pegged the scores back to 3-2, before Thompson completed his hat trick and Gary Jones added another to restore County’s three goal lead. Marvin Elliott bagged another for the Reds as the game finished a whopping 5-3.
The Reds made amends a few months later as Kelly Youga and Darren Ward both scored to ensure an important three points went the Reds way in a 2-0 win.
Until January of this year, Notts County had won five matches in a row against the Reds, including three at the Broadfield Stadium. That run of five in a row included 4-1, 3-1 and a second consecutive 1-0 away win.
So, onto January of this year when the Reds picked up their first ever win at Meadow Lane. Just three weeks after the chaotic win at Yeovil that saw the home side pick up two red cards and a stoppage time winner for Crawley, history was to repeat itself in a crazy night in Nottingham. Jimmy Smith opened the scoring in the first half, before Jon Stead leveled from the penalty spot in the second half. As the game went into stoppage time, Matty Virtue picked up a second booking and was sent off. Just minutes later, County’s goalkeeper Ross Fitzsimmons was shown a red for punching Mark Connolly in the area and the Reds had a penalty. Six minutes into added time Josh Payne slotted past substitute keeper Branislav Pindroch to win it late yet again for Town.
