Crawley Town are now unbeaten in five thanks to Ollie Palmer’s brace against promotion-chasing Bradford City.
It was another brilliant performance from Crawley, and Ollie Palmer opened the scoring with a left-footed volley, as the Reds dominated throughout.
Palmer then got his second when Ashley Nadesan set him up with an open goal, and Crawley enjoyed some great chances to make it three in the second half.
The Bantams gave Crawley a late scare when Aramide Oteh bundled in a long free kick, but Crawley held out for another valuable win under John Yems.
Josh Dacres-Cogley and Jamie Sendles-White made starts for Crawley, while Eoin Doyle started for Bradford after being recalled from his loan spell with Swindon, having scored a hattrick at the People’s Pension Stadium for Swindon earlier this season.
Crawley came so close to taking an early lead when a corner was whipped in with pace into Ollie Palmer who headed onto the underside of the bar from very close range. And later Crawley got a deserved lead when the ball was flicked onto Ollie Palmer, who carried the ball into the box before sending a low half-volley into the bottom corner to give the Reds the lead in the 22nd minute.
Nathan Ferguson came close with a low shot from 25 yards going narrowly wide, before Ben Richards-Everton headed down the throat of Glenn Morris from a corner.
The Reds came close to a second when Ferguson darted into the penalty area from wide, before his low drive was saved, with Panutche Camara waiting in the box. But Crawley were rewarded for such a strong first half soon after when Ashley Nadesan did well to take the ball into the box, before picking out Palmer who fired in off the crossbar to double the Reds’ lead on 40 minutes.
And the Bantams were denied an instant reply when Dylan Connolly and Morris collided outside the box with the ball falling to Eoin Doyle who, with an open goal, was denied by an incredible block from Jamie Sendles-White to preserve Crawley’s two goal lead going into halftime.
Ollie Palmer came close to getting a hattrick early in the second half, when his early shot took a deflection and was tipped over by Richard O’Donnell, and moments later Camara dragged a low shot well wide from the edge of the box.
Lubala played in Palmer whose cross-shot rolled agonisingly wide, as Crawley’s dominance continued.
The Bantams eventually pulled one back when a long free-kick resulted in a scramble and the ball eventually being bundled over the line by Aramide Oteh in the 86th minute. But Crawley defended well to secure a deserved three points.
Crawley Town: Morris, Doherty, Palmer (German 86), Nadesan (Sesay 88), Ferguson, Tunnicliffe, Sendles-White, Bulman, Dacres-Cogley, Camara, Lubala
Attendance: 2361 (509 Bradford)
Report by Coren Blackburn
