Adam Campbell, Laurence Maguire and Danilo Orsi all scored as Crawley Town beat Sutton United 3-0 at the Broadfield Stadium, in a resounding victory that saw them move joint-top of the Sky Bet League Two table.
Campbell struck with just six minutes of the game gone, rounding off a lovely team move by firing low past Dean Bouzanis in the Sutton goal. It was a dream start for the Reds, as they looked to record a fourth straight Sky Bet League Two win in a row.
With 20 minutes on the clock, Sutton thought they had levelled proceedings when Aiden O’Brien was on hand to stab home past Corey Addai, but the goal was swiftly chalked off due to an offside call in the buildup. Just seven minutes later, O’Brien saw another effort ruled out for offside, this time after he had fired an effort into the roof of the Crawley net following some penalty box pinball.
Addai enjoyed a solid first half in goal for the Reds, making some fine stops – perhaps most notably getting down low to his left to prevent a vicious Omari Patrick strike finding the net with a little more than half an hour played. Despite being behind on the scoreboard, Sutton grew into the game and looked a dangerous outfit for large parts of the first half, but resolute defending saw the Reds head in for the break with a slender advantage.
Crawley went close to doubling their lead minutes before half-time, but Liam Kelly’s volley lacked power to match its accuracy, and it was a comfortable catch for Bouzanis.
The home side doubled their advantage with 54 minutes on the clock, as Laurence Maguire steered the ball in from close range after Ronan Darcy’s original effort was saved by substitute goalkeeper Jack Rose – who replaced the injured Bouzanis just minutes after the second half began.
It was the defender’s second goal for Crawley Town – and what a crucial time to get it!
With half of the second period gone, the Reds lead was extended yet again, this time by Danilo Orsi, who was on hand to prod home from close range. The Ors was fed, and he duly scored. Aaron Henry then went close to making it 4-0 with an audacious free-kick attempt from the halfway line, but his effort grazed the roof of the net- incredibly close to a mind-blowing goal.
The goal was the least Crawley deserved, as a much-improved second half display began to pay its dividends rapidly. They looked cool, calm and collected on the ball, yet attacked with great precision and energy, whilst remaining as solid as ever at the back to deny their visitors any sniff of success.
The rest of the half filtered out, with the Reds keeping Sutton at arm's length and putting on a real show for the fans , who were in fine voice as per usual.
With tomorrow bringing with it the dawn of a new month, this was certainly a September 3-0 to remember for everyone associated with Crawley Town.
REDS XI: Addai, Conroy, Wright, Maguire, Williams, Kelly, Darcy (Roles 76'), Tsaroulla (Khaleel 76'), Gladwin (Forster 76'), Campbell (Lolos 63'), Orsi (Henry 73').
