The Reds put five past Three Bridges this evening in their fourth pre-season friendly. James Tilley opened the scoring, and further goals from Kwesi Appiah, Aramide Oteh and a brace from Ashley Nadesan secured victory for the Reds.
Crawley started as the better of the two sides, and the returning Ashley Nadesan almost gave the Reds the lead within the opening three minutes. A Crawley trialist made a very smart run down the left flank, which allowed space for a cross. The striker got a foot on the end of the cross, but the Bridges goalkeeper was equal to the effort.
Just like as they did at East Grinstead earlier in the week, Kevin Betsy’s side took an early lead. Jack Payne capitalised on a loose pass from the Bridges defence, which allowed Kwesi Appiah to pick up the ball in a dangerous area. The striker picked out James Tilley inside the box, who cooly slotted underneath the Bridges keeper to open the scoring.
Crawley added a second goal just moments later. Kwesi Appiah scored his second goal of pre-season with a beautiful finish into the top corner following a fantastic free-flowing move from the Reds. Ludwig Francillette was at the heart of the move as the centre-back played a neat one-two with Nadesan before dragging the ball back to Appiah, who finished it off with a fine finish.
The third goal soon followed, and it was another well-worked goal from Crawley. A trialist made a blistering run down the right-wing and squared the ball to Nadesan, who had the simple task of caressing the ball into the far corner to give his side a three-goal lead.
Nadesan added his second and Crawley’s fourth shortly after the interval. Tilley burst free down the right-wing and neatly pulled the ball back to Nadesan, who guided the ball into the roof of the net with his weak foot.
Aramdie Oteh scored his first goal of pre-season following a neat sequence of play from Dom Telford. The striker did brilliantly to beat his man to the ball and manoeuvre a cross into Oteh, who was waiting inside the box. Oteh repaid the favour by cooly slotting the ball past the Bridges keeper to extend Crawley’s lead to five.
The Reds' fifth goal proved to be the final action as the referee soon followed up with the final whistle. The Reds are back in pre-season action on Saturday as they travel to Scotland to take on Hearts.
STARTING XI: Morris, Trialist, Lynch, Conroy, Francillette, Trialist, Tilley, Payne, Balagizi, Nadesan, Appiah
