An Ashley Nadesan first-half strike saw Crawley claim a 1-1 draw with Watford U23 this afternoon at Horsham FC.
Glenn Morris saved a penalty in the first half but it was a second spot-kick that gave the visitors an equaliser.
The Reds started the game brightly sharing a high percentage of the possession, but were tested in defence as Watford began to exert their pace. Tony Craig did excellently early on to slide in and deny a potential goal-scoring opportunity before a Watford penalty was awarded minutes later.
Without surprise, Morris stretched out to his left denying the Watford forward with a fantastic save to keep the scoreline level.
The first-half saw some intricate play between the likes of Allarakhia and Powell in midfield before the Reds took the lead through Ashley Nadesan. Tyler Frost displayed his quick thinking to pick out Nadesan in the box, who controlled calmly before firing into the top-right corner of the net.
Watford equalised minutes before the break when a second penalty was awarded, perhaps quite unfairly this time. Their number nine stepped up confidently and tucked his effort into the bottom-right corner, leaving Morris with no chance.
After the break a number of changes were made, with two trialists making appearances for the Reds, but we could not test the Watford goalkeeper until after the hour mark. Brian Galach received and controlled the ball brilliantly before pacing forward and delivering a pinpoint cross into our trialist forward who struck the woodwork.
Late on Rafiq Salah-Edine and Zaid Al Hussaini came on to replace our trialists but there was not enough time for the Reds to grab a winner, despite being the side in control in the final stages.
The Reds remain unbeaten in pre-season so far after facing three top young sides.
We begin our season at home to Millwall in the Carabao Cup on September 5th before heading to Gillingham in the EFL Trophy.
Our league campaign kicks off with an away trip to Vale Park to take on Port Vale on September 12th.
Crawley Town 1st: Morris; Francomb, McNerney, Powell, Nadesan, Frost, German, Allarakhia, Craig (C), Adebowale
Crawley Town 2nd: Trialist; Davies, Dallison, Tunnicliffe, Trialist, Sesay, Bulman (C), Ferguson, Trialist, Trialist, Galach
Attendance: N/A
