Gambin’s brace helps Crawley to first win in six

Posted Wednesday, January 02, 2019 by PA

Ten-man Crawley clinched their first win in six games with Luke Gambin scoring both goals in a 2-0 home win over promotion-chasing Colchester.

Crawley battled for nearly an hour with 10 men after Joe McNerney saw red, and Colchester had a man sent off late on when Frankie Kent picked up two bookings.

Crawley keeper Glenn Morris was called into action early on and saved a header from Sammie Szmodics before gathering a low from Luke Norris following good work by the recalled Harry Pell.

Morris later needed treatment after being challenged by Frank Nouble and was helpless shortly after when Norris headed against the cross-bar after a cross by Ryan Jackson.

The hosts were reduced to ten men on 31 minutes when defender McNerney received a straight red card from referee Andy Davies for a bad challenge on Pell.

Colchester ended the half on top and Morris dived to hold a shot from Pell after a Szmodics effort was blocked by Paul Connolly.

But Crawley broke the deadlock against the run of play when midfielder Gambin, on loan from Luton, ended a strong run with a low shot to the left of keeper Rene Gilmartin in the 61st minute.

Former West Ham and Wolves man Frank Nouble came close to replying when he fired an angled shot over.

However, Gambin sealed victory in the first minute of stoppage time with a free kick from the edge of the area after defender Kent received a second yellow card for bringing down Panutche Camara.