Crawley rescued a point in dramatic fashion this evening during a 1-1 draw against Grimsby Town. The visiting side dominated the majority of the game and took a deserved lead in the 42nd minute through Harry Clifton. The Reds hung on, and just as defeat seemed inevitable, substitute Tom Fellows won Crawley a penalty in the 86th minute. Dom Telford had a brief scare when Grimsby goalkeeper Max Crocombe got a hand to his effort, but it eventually bobbled into the back of the net to save Crawley a point on the night.
For once, it was actually an uneventful start at the Broadfield Stadium. Neither side had any sort of opening inside the first ten minutes, with one Grimsby corner well dealt with by the Reds’ defence.
The game's first chance did fall to the Mariners, and John McAtee would have been bitterly disappointed that he hadn’t put his side ahead. Josh Emmanuel was looking handy for the visitors on the right flank and was able to find his teammate in plenty of space inside the Crawley box. McAtee scuffed his effort well wide of the target.
Grimsby were looking very good at the Broadfield Stadium and had dominated the opening twenty minutes of play. Emmanuel was running the show and had already forced Aramide Oteh to make a cynical foul, which saw him booked by referee Lee Swabey.
It was all Grimsby in the first half, and eventually, the visiting side broke through in the 41st minute. A determined run by Harry Clifton was not dealt with by the Crawley defence, and the Grimsby midfielder seemed to glide through the back-line before planting the ball into the roof of the net.
The half-time whistle sounded to end a miserable half for the Red Devils. A late strike from Telford tested Max Crocombe for the first time in the half, but the Reds hadn’t really looked like scoring.
It nearly got worse for Scott Lindsey’s side in the opening minutes of the second half. George Lloyd burst past Joel Lynch to have a free run at goal. The Grimsby forward still had a lot to do and curled a decent-looking effort towards goal. Fortunately, the woodwork came to Crawley’s rescue.
McAtee had a chance a few moments later but saw a shot saved by Addai. Crawley were receiving some dangerous warnings at the start of the second half and would have to get their game together soon before they fell further behind.
As they did in the first half, Grimsby settled into the game and began to frustrate the Crawley team. The visiting side hadn’t really made any more in-roads at goal but were doing enough to stop Crawley from making any themselves.
Tom Fellows looked lively when he came on for the Reds and, in the blink of an eye, won Crawley a penalty. Powell chipped a neat ball over the top of the Grimsby defence, which the winger got on the end of and cleverly won a foul inside the visitor's penalty area. Dom Telford dispatched the penalty to rescue Crawley a point at the Broadfield Stadium.
Crawley are back in action on Saturday as Scott Lindsey’s side travel to the One Call Stadium to take on Mansfield.
REDS XI: Addai, Gordon, Johnson, Lynch, Mazeed, Tilley (Khaleel 56’), Gladwin (Fellows 78’), Powell, Oteh, Nadesan, Telford (Grant 90’)
