PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE FOR REDS IN HOLLINS' FIRST WIN
John Hollins secured his first league victory as Crawley Town manager as the Red Devils scored a valuable and eventually deserved 3-0 Conference success against Tamworth at Broadfield Stadium on Saturday.

In the week when London's famous Routemaster buses were retired from duty it was perhaps appropriate that Crawley fans had to wait almost 80 minutes for a goal before three arrived at once.

Hollins made several changes to the team which secured a point at Halifax seven days earlier. With Tris Whitman unavailable and Jamie Cade, Neil Jenkins and Chris Giles injured, Crawley brought former player-boss Simon Wormull back into midfield and there was a start for youngster Sami El-Abd at left-back. Danny Brown played left midfield in order to accommodate Wormull in the centre.

Much of the game was easily forgettable, although the home side had much the better of possession and defence-minded Tamworth looked on course for the point they wanted until the final 11 minutes.

Crawley 's patience paid off though, with the first goal coming from a corner on the right. Tony Scully picked it up and swung a ball into the box where defender David Woozley neatly steered a header into the net.

Steve Burton then struck twice in the final five minutes, beating the offside trap with a well-timed run before slotting his shot under the Tamworth keeper for his first, and thumping home Crawley 's third in added time.

The action didn't finish at the final whistle though, as Lambs defender Matt Redmile was shown the red card as the players walked off.

Hollins was delighted with the striker's late double. “On both occasions Steve was not offside. I was willing him to stick the first one in and he did it well – that gave him the confidence to score the second one.

“It's my first win and our best result since we've been here and we also like the zero at the other end of the score.

“We slotted Sami in at left-back because we like what we've seen of him so far, he's a solid player, a big lad, and he did more than enough before we made a tactical change.

“In games like that you need good concentration from the back four and the goalkeeper and it was a tough, non-stop game.

“The quality of our crossing was poor but our first goal changed the game. Danny Brown was excellent, both in midfield and when he moved to left-back.

“We just need to get a bit sharper. We are getting into some good positions and the people who are getting into the positions have the quality but they are not always doing what we want.

“Steve Burton did extremely well. He's a good player up front but we could also use him just off the front two or even in midfield.

“We have Eastbourne in the Senior Cup on Tuesday and Stevenage in the Trophy next Saturday, but whatever team we field on Tuesday will be one I expect to win the game.”

Centre-back Chris Giles picked up a slight Achilles problem and was not risked, and Hollins said that Neil Jenkins and possibly Jamie Cade may return from injuries against Eastbourne.