NO PROFFITT FOR TOWN
Crawley Town striker Dorryl Proffitt has left the club by mutual consent.

Proffitt who joined the Reds in November after his summer trial was cut short by injury, made two Conference appearances as a substitute for caretaker manager Simon Wormull, but never played in the league for the first team under new manager John Hollins.

Hollins wished Proffitt well after his release from the club.

He said: “Dorryl is a nice young man but unfortunately it hasn’t worked out for him with us and now he can move on and hopefully get some football eslewhere”.

He added: “It’s been hard for him with the club struggling near the bottom of the table but he has ability and I’m sure once he gets settled at a club, he will do well."

Everybody at Crawley Town would like to wish Dorryl all the best in his future endeavours and thank him for his hard work since he first appeared for the club last summer.

CRAWLEY SLIP UP AT AGGBOROUGH
Crawley Town slipped to a disappointing Conference defeat on a cold, windy Tuesday evening at the Aggborough Stadium.

Harriers’midfielder Simon Russell sealed the points for Kidderminster after 24 minutes as, following some good build-up play, Russell bent home a lovely goal from the edge of the area inside Phil Smith’s left-hand post.

Reds manager John Hollins handed a debut to new signing Gavin Gordon, who had signed 24 hours early following his release from Notts County.

It was a disappointing debut for Gordon as he and strike partner Daryl Clare were starved of the ball during the first half as the Reds played into a strong wind.

The first chances of the game fell to Harriers, both from free-kicks. Smith was alert to the danger, though, while at the other end Tony Scully fired wide following some good work in the middle of the park by a busy Lee Blackburn.

David Woozley had a chance to level the scores just two minutes after Russell had netted. A corner from the left was met by the defender but his header went high over the bar and into the stand where the Harriers fans were housed.

Crawley, with the wind in their favour, improved during the second period and Paul Armstrong had a super chance to level matters in the 49th minute but his effort was deflected wide.

Blackburn almost scored direct from the resulting corner and Mendy headed wide from the next one. Steve Burton was brought off the bench in the place of Gordon but Kidderminster then fired in a brilliant free-kick to the far post which was slammed into the Reds' net but the referee blew his whistle for a free-kick in Crawley’s favour.

Danny Clay was brought off the bench for Woozley, who had been booked, and Town looked to level the score line. Crawley piled on the pressure and were almost rewarded in spectacular fashion when Tony Scully let loose with a cracking shot but unfortunately for the travelling Crawley fans, it went just over.

Scully was again involved when a great run by the speedy winger took him into the box but he couldn’t beat Jon Danby in the Kidderminster goal, while Burton fired into the side-netting in the last minute of normal time as the game and the
points slipped away from Crawley.

Manager John Hollins was left frustrated with his side's performance. He said: “I was bitterly disappointed with our first-half display and I feel sorry for our fans who made the long trip to Kidderminster this evening.

“This certainly wasn’t the result we wanted but we will regroup and look to pick up the win this Saturday at Canvey Island”

Hollins was pleased with his side’s second-half performance, though. He said: "Phil Smith pulled off some good saves in the first half which got us to the break with only a one-goal margin and I was pleased the way we improved in the second half.

“We weren’t able to convert our chances, but we maybe felt we deserved a point from this game.“Credit to Kidderminster though, they worked hard and got their goal”.

Hollins also had a special message to the Crawley fans who made the midweek trip to the West Midlands. He said: “Thank you to all our fans for your untouchable support.

“We will improve and I hope to see you all this Saturday at Canvey as
we look to pick up the three points and reward your fantastic support.”

Result: Tuesday 21st February (Nationwide Conference)
Kidderminster Harriers 1
Crawley Town 0
Attendance 1,302
Crawley Town: Phil Smith, Ben Judge, Ian Simpemba (Captain), Leonard Mendy, Paul Armstrong, David Woozley (Danny Clay 72), Sacha Opinel, Tony Scully, Lee Blackburn (Danny Ekoku 81), Daryl Clare, Gavin Gordan (Steve Burton 58)
Unused Subs: Rikki Banks, Daniel Brown

CRAWLEY COMPLETE THE SIGNING OF GORDON
Crawley Town have moved quickly to snap up Gavin Gordon on a free transfer following his release from Notts County.

Gordon, who made his debut in Tuesday’s defeat against Kidderminster has joined the Reds on a deal for the rest of the season.

Boss John Hollins was pleased to add Gordon to his squad as Town look to pull away from the relegation zone.

He said: “I’m delighted Gavin has joined us. He is an excellent striker with a good goalscoring record and I was a little surprised when he was released from Notts County.”

Gordon has been training with fellow Conference side Burton Albion since his release from the League Two club and will fill the gap made by Dorryl Proffitt’s departure from the club.

Hollins added: “Gavin is a big lad and gives us that presence up front as we look to pull away from the relegation zone”.

Gordon will wear the number 33 shirt.

ONE IN, ONE OUT AS REDS SIGN KEEPER BANKS
Crawley Town goalkeeper Scott Ward has joined Championship side Plymouth Argyle for a week’s training.

Ward who has been restricted to a handful of first-team appearances this season, has caught the eye of Plymouth boss Tony Pullis and will be looking to gain valuable experience with the Championship side.

Crawley Town boss John Hollins was happy for Ward to join Plymouth for the week.

He said: “Scott is a decent young keeper and I was delighted for him to train with Plymouth.

“Plymouth have an excellent set up down there and it will only benefit us and Scott from him training with them”.

The Reds have filled the gap left by Ward’s trip to Plymouth by bringing Rikki Banks in from Crystal Palace on work experience.

Banks, who has represented Crawley’s reserve side in recent weeks, was named among the subs for Tuesday’s game with Kidderminster Harriers and Hollins was happy to give Brighton resident Banks a chance to shine.

Hollins said: “Rikki is a very impressive young keeper and with Scott joining Plymouth for the week we need to fill the gap.

“I have had good reports on Rikki from our reserve games and I had no problem with throwing him into the thick of first-team action.”

“I like to give the young players a chance and as you would have seen in recent weeks, we have had Scott Marshall and Sami El-Abd both turning out so the opportunity is there for them.”

He added: “Hopefully this will benefit Rikki greatly and we can send him back to Crystal Palace a better player.”