Crawley picked up their first away win of the season in excellent fashion this afternoon with an excellent victory against AFC Wimbledon. Ashley Nadesan’s fifth-minute strike was enough to give Crawley a much-needed three points in the search for League Two safety.
The Reds started brightly, and it was Ashley Nadesan who was able to get the first shot of the game away. Jordon Mutch found the striker with plenty of space with a ball over the top, but the striker failed to find the target with his effort.
This chance was forgotten moments later as the Reds did manage to stick the ball in the back of the net in the fifth minute. A fantastic ball found James Tilley in acres of space on the left wing, which allowed the wide man to drill a ball across the box towards his good pal Nadesan, who had the simple task of smashing the ball into the back of the net.
Wimbledon immediately fought back in search of an equalising goal and had a brilliant chance to find the back of the net a few moments after Crawley’s opener. Ethan Chislett found himself standing over a free-kick at a very good angle from a range that he has found the net from before. Fortunately for Crawley, Chislett blasted his effort over the bar.
Not a great deal happened for the next 25 minutes. Nadesan had entered the referee’s book for a high boot, and Crawley were still enjoying good spells of possession at the Cherry Red Records Stadium.
The half-time whistle rounded off a decent half for the Red Devils. Scott Lindsey’s side had looked very dangerous with the attacking pace of Nadesan and Tilley. Wimbledon had looked positive in attack, Chislett had caused problems, and striker Ali Al Hamadi had looked like a handful to deal with. There was a ring of boos at half-time from the Wimbledon supporters, who were clearly getting frustrated with their side’s performance.
It was a solid start to the second half for Crawley, who looked very confident on the ball. The first 15 minutes were completely dominated by the Red Devils.
A handful of changes were made by Scott Lindsey on the hour mark. Ludwig Francillette was forced off with injury and was replaced by Joel Lynch. Jack Roles and Ben Gladwin were also introduced for James Tilley and Dom Telford.
The Reds were dealt a further injury blow when Jordon Mutch was forced off the pitch. Rafiq Khaleel came on to replace the stricken midfielder.
Crawley’s game management was excellent in Wimbledon. The home side didn’t have a shot on target all game, and the Reds looked very dangerous going forward for the full 90 minutes.
Crawley saw out a nervy 20 minutes with six additional added to claim their first away win of the season and climb out of the relegation zone.
REDS XI: Addai, Johnson, Francillette (Lynch 62'), Conroy, Mazeed, Powell, Mutch (Khaleel 74'), Tilley (Roles 65'), Oteh, Telford (Gladwin 66'), Nadesan
