Crawley overcome absences to beat Brighton

Scott Patto slipped the ball into the hands of Luke Wilson who crossed the line for the first points of the day, which were ably converted by Kieron Gosling.

Brighton responded by scoring a try in the corner with a move which was easily converted by the Brighton kicker.

Crawley showed great spirit as they defended for five minutes on their line as the visitors tried to power over.

Crawley’s Huw Bowen drew his man and put Ali Moffat into space.

Faced with a two-on-one situation the Brighton defender was drawn by Moffat’s dummy pass and allowing him through to have a well won leg race with the visiting defence for Crawley’s second score.

Brighton came back strongly and again found themselves camped on the Crawley line and managed to scramble the ball to the line.

And with many hands from both sides on the ball the referee deemed the ball grounded by the visitors which took the score to 12-12 at the half-time.

In the second half a lack of concentration from Brighton’s No.8 won a reprieve for the hosts as he knocked on over the line allowing the lines to be cleared and play resumed at the other end.

It was now Crawley’s turn to exert the pressure and after four minutes of failing to break the visiting defences, the forwards formed the perfect platform for a Huw Bowen drop-goal taking the hosts three points clear with just a minute left on the clock.

For the coaching staff this final 60 seconds was the longest minute of the season.

Crawley: Eaton, Mansfield, Riley, Gosling, Gilliat, Dean, Morgan-Smith, Hall, Searle, Bowen, Wilson, Patto, Moffat, Oladapo, Figg, Theobald, Harding, Turner.