The Reds picked up a second successive victory this evening with an excellent victory against Aston Villa U21. Jayden Davis cancelled out a Villa opener before an Aramdie Oteh brace put Crawley ahead. Charlie Lutz pulled a goal back for Aston Villa, but late goals from Mark Marshall and Dom Telford secured victory for Lewis Young’s side.
Crawley dominated the opening ten minutes, but it was Aston Villa who took the lead with a ferocious strike from Seb Revan. The young midfielder picked up the ball on the edge of the box and neatly picked out the top right corner. David Robson stood no chance of reaching the effort, and Crawley fell behind.
Crawley were still enjoying the majority of possession, and Ludwig Francillette almost scored the equaliser in the 18th minute. The defender headed over from close range after Tony Craig picked him out in the area.
The Aston Villa goalkeeper, Fil Marschall, then denied Dom Telford with a fantastic save from long-range. Telford expertly picked the ball from a Villa defender and immediately set off towards the goal. The striker had options but opted to shoot, and it took a mighty save to deny the frontman.
Moments later, Crawley scored their deserved equaliser. Jayden Davis picked up the ball inside the penalty area, following a Crawley corner, and expertly fired a rocket of a strike into the far left corner with his weaker left foot.
Davis was Crawley’s most influential player in the first half, and with five minutes to go before half-time, the midfielder set up Aramide Oteh, who gave Crawley the lead. Davis neatly nicked the ball from a Villa man and took off with Oteh by his side. David looked as though he was trying to find Telford, but with a neat drop of the shoulder, found Oteh, who tucked the ball home.
Oteh was at it again on the other side of half-time. Telford took a high ball down with a sublime touch and squared the ball to the striker, who powered an effort underneath Marschall for his second of the evening.
Both sides made a large number of changes in the second half. Crawley introduced Mark Marshall, Manny Adebowale, Rafiq Khaleel, Caleb Chukwuemeka and Teddy Jenks to ensure plenty of players got minutes into their legs.
Aston Villa pulled a goal back with just under ten minutes to go. Charlie Lutz finished off a decent move from the young Villa side. The Villa substitute looked to have set up a grandstand finish at the Broadfield Stadium.
Mark Marshall squashed all hopes of a Villa comeback as he scored Crawley’s fourth goal in the 83rd minute. Caleb Chukwuemeka found the Crawley winger in acres of space, which Marshall used to great effect as he blasted the ball past Marschall to restore Crawley’s two-goal lead.
Dom Telford added Crawley’s fifth from the penalty spot in the 92nd minute after Travis Johnson was fouled inside the area. The striker got his just reward for a very solid performance.
REDS XI: Robson, Francomb (Marshall 45’), Craig (Adebowale 69’), Francillette, Johnson, Wells, Davis (58’), Tilley (Khaleel 65’), Hessenthaler, Oteh (Chukwuemeka 58’), Telford
