Crawley Town see off Horsham and Three Bridges in pre-season double-header
The Reds recorded a comfortable 5-0 victory over the Hornets at The Camping World Community Stadium in front of 887 spectators on Saturday afternoon.
Crawley opened the scoring on 13 minutes. Tom Nichols calmly slotted past Horsham keeper Sam Howes after great pressure from Jake Hessenthaler to sharply intercept the ball in midfield.
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Hide AdJack Powell made it two on 24 minutes with a cool finish after an excellent lofted pass from Nichols carved open the Horsham backline.
Sam Matthews added a third just before half-time. Tom Dallison switched the play to Owen Gallacher, who beat his man before playing in Matthews.
The 24-year-old glided past a Hornets defender before placing the ball neatly into the corner of the net.
The Reds made it 4-0 on the hour mark. Nichols deflected the ball across to Hessenthaler who bundled home.
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Hide AdCrawley added their fifth on 73 minutes after a glorious solo effort from Tyler Frost. The 22-year-old expertly intercepted a loose ball in midfield, before striding up the pitch to arrow the ball into the bottom corner.
Friday evening saw the Reds win 1-0 at near-neighbours Bridges in front of a healthy crowd of 350.
A Davide Rodari goal on 26 minutes proved to be the difference between the two sides.
The Swiss forward netted what proved to be the winner after coolly slotting the ball past Bridges keeper Kieron Thorp from the edge of the box.
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Hide AdReds XI v Horsham: Morris, Francomb, Dallison, Craig, Gallacher, Matthews, Hessenthaler, Powell, Frost, Nadesan, Nichols. Subs: Noukeu, Davies, Trialist, Adebowale, Al-Hussaini, Payne, Ashford, Tilley, Trialist, Khaleel.
Reds XI v Three Bridges: Noukeu, Davies, Adebowale, Trialist, Dallison, Al-Hussaini, Payne, Powell, Tilley, Rodari, Trialist. Subs: Trialist (GK), Trialist, Trialist, Craig, Francomb, Khaleel, Hussein, Ashford. Kowalcyzk.
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