Luton 2 Crawley 1: Two late goals bring another away defeat

Crawley Town skipper Jimmy Smith helped pave the way for Reds' goal with his initial shot. Picture by Jack Beard.

Crawley Town let slip a lead to lose 2-1 at Luton Town.

James Collins scored the opening goal of the game on 59 minutes with a powerful strike to net his 17th goal of the season.

However the home side responded with goals by Danny Hylton in the 69th minute and Ollie Palmer with 17 minutes to go which proved enough to edge Reds to their third 2-1 defeat in four matches.

James Collins gave Crawley the lead at Luton with a 59th minute goal. Picture by PW Sporting Photography

The loss was Crawley's tenth away defeat of the season and saw Crawley drop a place to 17th, while the Hatters rose up one spot to fourth in League 2.

Head coach Dermot Drummy made two changes to the side which drew 0-0 at Blackpool on Tuesday. Enzio Boldewijn returned in place of Andre Blackman who was on the bench.

Having completed his two-game suspension, Lewis Young was a last-minute replacement for Joe McNerney who got injured in the warm-up.

Josh Lelan, Kaby Djalo and Conor Henderson all kept their places in the side.

REDS: Morris, Lelan, Connolly, Young, McNerney, Roberts, Djalo (Murphy 77), Henderson (Payne 82), Boldewijn (Bawling 82), Smith (capt), Cox, Collins

Unused subs: Mersin, Blackman, Bawling, Clifford

Luton: Macey, O'Donnell, Cuthbert, Sheehan, Senior, Rea, Mpanzu, Jonathan Smith, Cook, Hylton (Marriott 90), Vassell (Gambin 67)

Subs: Moore, Gray, D'Ath, Palmer, Juston

REFEREE: Christopher Sarginson (Staffordshire)

ATTENDANCE: 7,316 (225 away)