Both Danilo Orsi and Jack Roles were on the scoresheet, with the former bagging a brace, as Crawley Town saw the New Year in in the best way possible by defeating Swindon Town 3-1.
Orsi opened the scoring with 9 minutes played, and was on hand to stab the ball home following an excellent ball across the box from ex-Swindon man Ronan Darcy.
It looked to have sparked a game that had got off to an otherwise innocuous start into life, but it was a very quiet affair even after the opener from Orsi.
With 25 minutes on the clock, Will Wright had a shot from range which fizzed wide of the left hand post, and it represented the first chance either side had really had since the goal.
Then, from seemingly nowhere, Jack Roles then doubled the Crawley advantage on 26 minutes with an excellent volley from a clearance which nestled perfectly into the bottom corner.
Swindon had a couple of chances to get back into the game before the break, but Dan Kemp first missed a golden chance for the Robins, before Crawley ‘keeper Corey Addai showed great athleticism to tip a Charlie Austin header onto the crossbar.
Shortly after the resumption, Orsi was on hand to make it 3-0 to Crawley. Will Wright’s vicious strike was spilt by Lewis Ward in the Swindon goal, and Orsi showed great awareness in the area to take it round him and score once more.
The second half was similar to the first in the sense that, goals aside, there was fairly little action. But, with 67 minutes played, Corey Addai made a superb save to prevent Swindon scoring following a lightning-quick counter attack. Swindon swept down the pitch at pace, with four or five men charging towards the away end, but Jake Cain’s effort was met by a strong palm from Addai.
It was the last real opportunity of the game for either side, bar a Will Wright free-kick. It looked to be from an ideal distance, but unfortunately the 26-year-old could not replicate last week’s stunner against Gillingham, and he saw his effort fly into a wall of Swindon purple.
In added time, Swindon scored a well-worked consolation goal as Dan Kemp found a way past Addai following a precise free-kick routine. A goal, but too little too late for the visitors today.
It was a well-earned three points for Town, against a side who beat them 6-0 in August, and they now sit in 12th place in the League Two table heading into Saturday’s clash away at Bradford City – where they’ll be hoping to replicate the excellent opening day performance that saw the boys emerge as 1-0 winners.
REDS XI: Addai, Darcy (Gordon 75'), Ransom, Conroy (c), Mukena, Tsaroulla, Wright, Williams (Forster 86'), Roles (Lolos 69'), Campbell, Orsi
Attendance: 3,646 (548 away)
