Crawley overcame lowly Stevenage with goals from Bez Lubala and Ashley Nadesan either side of halftime.
The Reds are now up to 12th in the league after a hard-fought win over bottom of the league Stevenage.
Bez Lubala gave Crawley a deserved lead with an excellent volley from outside the box, which kissed the post on the way in.
Stevenage fought hard in the second half and Crawley missed some great chances to double their lead, but a well-executed Crawley counter-attack saw Nadesan fire in a late second for Crawley to wrap up the three points.
Crawley were without leading scorer Ollie Palmer, who missed out through injury. He was replaced by Mason Bloomfield while Dannie Bulman and Bez Lubala also made returns to the starting line-up.
The Reds nearly took the lead early in the match when Dannie Bulman’s lofted ball was headed across to Ashley Nadesan who found the net with a free-header, but he was denied by the linesman’s flag.
Crawley did eventually take a deserved lead when Josh Dacres-Cogley’s long ball was half-cleared out to Bez Lubala, who fired a stunning volley in off the post, to give the Reds the lead in the 21st minute.
The Reds could have doubled their lead when Reece Grego-Cox found Mason Bloomfield, who had time to take a touch in the box, but Paul Farman was out quickly to deny him from close range.
Stevenage had their first chance of the match when Lubala miscued his clearance, with it falling straight to Charlie Carter, who stung the palms of Glenn Morris with a decent effort from 25 yards.
The Reds nearly doubled their lead in bizarre fashion in the second half when German got in behind the Boro defence but couldn’t get the ball out of his feet. German then dug out a shot which deflected onto the post, and then bounced of Farman who was able to hold the ball.
And it was Crawley who should have scored again when German used his pace to get in behind Tom Soares, before poking the ball across to Nadesan, who returned it to German, but once again Farman did well to save at point-blank range.
Crawley came desperately close to wrapping the game up when Jack Powell freed German down the right who charged into the box before firing of the inside of the post, with Panutche Camara’s follow up being blocked.
And the Reds finally got the job done when Lubala carried the ball forwards on the counter before playing in Nadesan who fired the ball into the top corner in the 91st minute to wrap up the three points for Crawley.
Crawley Town: Morris, Doherty, Grego-Cox (Camara 61), Nadesan, Ferguson (Powell 61), Bloomfield (German 45), Tunnicliffe, Sendles-White, Bulman, Dacres-Cogley, Lubala.
Attendance: 2232 (242 Stevenage)
Report by Coren Blackburn
