It was not a particularly ‘Good Friday’ for Crawley Town as they slipped to a 0-2 defeat at home to Doncaster Rovers.
It was a fairly inconspicuous start to proceedings, and a good save on 12 minutes from Corey Addai to tip Luke Molyneux’s effort round the post represented the game’s first real action. Ronan Darcy had previously gone close for the hosts.
Lolos and Orsi both missed golden chances for Crawley just before the half hour mark. Lolos was played through by Jeremy Kelly, and found himself one on one with the keeper. However, Lo-Tutala could only parry the ball straight into Orsi’s path, but his attempt was blocked well by a defender.
Moments later, Will Wright was inches from finding the opener with a free-kick from the wide-left that wormed its way through the mass of bodies in the box and crept just past the post.
Doncaster took the lead early on in the second half as Hakeeb Adelakun powered down the left hand side, cut in and unleashed a powerful strike into the top corner past Crawley ‘keeper Addai.
It was a goal that killed the mood inside the stadium, as Crawley had been much the better side up to that point in the game and could have felt hard done by going behind in such a manner.
Midway through the second half, Doncaster centre-back Tom Anderson was sent off for a horrible challenge on Orsi on the halfway line.
Tempers looked to be boiling over and it seemed like, once Orsi had recovered from the effects of the challenge, a good time for Crawley to regroup and figure out a way round this stubborn Doncaster outfit.
The travelling side had a great opportunity to double their advantage when Addai threw the ball straight to an unmarked Max Biamou. However, the Frenchman was only able to bend his shot round the far post, despite having the entire goal and penalty area seemingly at his mercy.
Substitute George Broadbent also wasted a similarly straightforward chance for Rovers, as he blazed his shot well over the bar when left one-on-one with Addai.
As the fourth official indicated nine additional minutes, there was renewed hope inside the ground that Crawley might find the equaliser they so desperately craved.
But, unfortunately, events went yet further south for the hosts and with two of the nine minutes added on left to play, Biamou doubled the away side’s lead, rolling the ball into an empty net, sparking joyous scenes on the terrace behind him.
It’s a result that sees Crawley slip to 9th in the table, with three massive away games against Newport County, Mansfield Town and Wrexham to follow this fixture before a return to the Broadfield on Saturday 13 April, when Colchester United come to town.
REDS XI: Addai, Adeyemo (Gordon 53'), Wright (Kelly 83'), Mukena, Maguire, Forster (Tsaroulla 53'), J.Kelly (Roles 64'), Darcy (Campbell 83'), Williams (c), Lolos, Orsi
Attendance: 5,336 (625 away)
