A solid and professional home performance by City produced an emphatic victory over high-flying Crawley, massively boosting their chances of Premier Division survival.

A sun-drenched Milton Road crowd were boosted by seeing Rob Nightingale, in for the unavailable Stuart Niven, return after missing the last five league games through injury. The starting line up was otherwise unchanged from Tuesday night’s encounter with Moor Green.

City were the quickest out of the blocks, from the kick-off Wilkin and Simpson combined to force a right-wing corner, Adie Hayes place-kick finding Steve Holden who was wide of the target. City were unable to capitalise however and the game settled into tight encounter with chances at a premium. In the eleventh minute, Simpson, who had come deep to collect on the left-hand side wriggled free of Ian Payne but was felled, a challenge which earned the Reds’ Welsh left-back an early yellow card.

Crawley’s first incisive attack came on the 15 minute mark, a good deep cross from Neil LeBihan wide on the left saw Shane Wardley and Adie Hayes both attack the ball which fell invitingly for Ernie Cooksey who unleashed a fierce drive from the right hand edge of the box, the shot cannoning off Colin Vowden and behind for a corner. This effort came during a period when the visitors appeared to be gaining the upper hand, prompted by the intelligent passing of skipper Peter Fear the Reds enjoyed a spell of midfield dominance. Shane Wardley was forced into a foul on Cooksey near the corner flag. LeBihan flighted the place kick invitingly across the face of goal but none of his strikers was able to make a connection.

At this stage there seemed little between the two sides. Rob Nightingale, adding an element of controlled passing to the midfield fed the ball inside for Simpson whose intelligent ground pass gave Wilkin a run on Marc Pullan but the City striker was adjudged to have pulled back his marker and the chance came to nothing.

There then followed a spell of inept defending from the Reds which a rampant City capitalised on to put the game out of sight. There had been no evidence in the first half an hour, or in fact the two previous meetings between the clubs this season that Crawley were capable of self-destructing quite so dramatically.

The writing was on the wall on the half hour mark when Rob Nightingale robbed a hesitant LeBihan and was felled by Ben Judge. Robbie Simpson lined up the free kick but his shot struck the wall and deflected behind for a corner.

Four minutes later the persistence of Simpson kept the ball alive in the outside left position, he seemed to have lost out to Ellis Hooper but the tall defender wanted too much time to bring the ball under control allowing Adie Hayes to steal in and advance into the penalty area. Looking up Hayes cut the ball back perfectly for the on-rushing Danny Bloomfield who clinically dispatched a low shot beyond the stranded Little.

A shaken Reds defence began to put themselves under pressure through indecision and hesitancy. On 40 minutes Steve Holden powered a header forward which should have been routine for Judge. The central defender allowed himself to be muscled out of possession by Wilkin who laid the ball off for Simpson on the left hand side of the box. The young City striker brimming with confidence took the ball on his left and unleashed an unstoppable drive across Little and into the back of the net off the inside of the post.

Only a minute later a straight forward ball from Wardley down the outside left channel succeeded only in picking out Hooper. Whilst planting the ball back from where it came seemed the obvious option the hapless defender chose instead to angle a header back across the box which fell at the feet of the eager Simpson. A smart change of feet allowed Simpson to rifle a dipping right foot drive narrowly over the angle of post and bar.

With the half time whistle only moments away Crawley completed a crazy 11 minute spell by conceding yet again. Wardley played a neat ball into Simpson’s feet however the City striker had his back to goal and was tight up against the touch line. Electing to try and win the ball rather than hold up the striker Hooper went through the back of Simpson and conceded a free kick in dangerous territory. Rob Nightingale’s delivery was perfect, picking out an unmarked Kevin Wilkin who powered his header home from eight yards out. Little got hands to the ball but could only help it into the net.

As the half-time whistle blew it seemed hard to believe that for 34 minutes this had been an extremely tight encounter with neither side dominant, yet after 45 minutes City seemed to have killed the game stone dead.

Crawley began to show glimpses of the good side they undoubtedly are after the break but crucially City kept them at arm’s length in the opening minutes of the second period. On 52 minutes Stewart Holmes angled a ball in from the right inviting Cooksey to challenge Vowden in the air. The Reds midfielder got more of the ball which deflected of the City skipper and into the path of Nigel Brake, who despite looking potentially dangerous at times was well contained by a combative Jack Wignall. On this occasion he connected well but couldn’t keep his shot down and it sailed high of Martin Davies’ crossbar. Cooksey himself was then withdrawn from the action to be replaced by Kevin Hemsley.

As Crawley began to exert greater pressure Brake fired across the box to LeBihan who guided the ball into the path of Danny Hockton but the alert Colin Vowden was on hand to snuff out the danger. The increasingly influential Brake seemed to be the key to any chance Crawley had of grabbing a lifeline. On the hour mark his dipping drive from wide on the left forced Martin Davies into a double handed punch, the ball landing invitingly for Hemsley, however the Crawley substitute rushed his shot when he had more time than he may have realised and the ball flew high of the target.

With Fear’s intelligent probing from the middle Crawley began to establish greater territorial advantage, looking to the play the ball in behind City’s back line. The policy met with limited success. When Hockton was freed down the right he delivered a dangerous low cross but with Hemsley lurking City managed to force the ball away for a corner.

With Crawley looking to introduce fresh legs Neil LeBihan made way for Francis Vines. Within moments of the new man being on the field the Reds threatened again. This time Wignall reacting quickly to clear his lines with an over-head kick from Ellis Hooper’s downward header.

With 20 minutes on the clock Gary Roberts made his first change in attempt to allow City to play the game further away from their own goal. Robbie Simpson who had again worked tirelessly and been rewarded with a quality strike was withdrawn to be replaced by Matt Clements who took up his customary position wide on the right allowing Danny Bloomfield to move alongside Kevin Wilkin in the centre.

Brake continued to pose a threat on the left and on 71 minutes his deflected cross looped up to Judge whose aerial volley forced Martin Davies to turn the ball behind for a corner.

In a rare City sortee Wignall played the ball down the right wing to Wilkin who combined with Bloomfield to create a shooting opportunity for Rob Sturgess but his strike lacked both power and direction.

As the visitors frustration began to show through player-manager Francis Vines picked up a yellow card for dissent. To be fair to the persistent Brake he remained committed throughout again produced a moment of anxiety in the City defence when playing in Hemsley but Martin Davies was out smartly to collect on the edge of the box.

As the game enterted the final twelve minutes a foul on Adie Hayes wide on the left allowed City a breather. Rob Nightingale flighted in a superb ball which the back-peddling Little was forced to tip over the bar for a corner.

Crawley were still in the hunt for what would by now be only a consolation, with 10 minutes left Judge robbed Wardley but could only fire into the side netting when seemingly well placed.

City then made two substitutions in quick succession as they looked to run down the clock, firstly Danny Bloomfield made way for Owen Paynter and then a tiring Rob Nightingale was replaced by Lawrence Church, the two departing players having played key roles in this victory, job done.

As Crawley accepted that the game was beyond them Peter Fear was withdrawn from the action to be replaced by John Timlin. There was still time however for the Reds to carve out their best chance of the afternoon. With four minutes remaining Payne played in Hockton with only Davies to beat. The City ‘keeper raced off his line and got in enough of a challenge to force the ball behind for a corner.

City played out time in the closing stages to complete a comprehensive victory yielding three very useful points. Added to the good passing football on display in the second half of Tuesday’s game with Moor Green was a resilience at the back where Colin Vowden was dominant and Steve Holden put in an immense display and a cutting edge up front where City’s forward players hassled their opponents and got on the end of balls played into the danger area. The key now is consistency if City can reproduce this level of performance in the remaining nine games then there is every reason to be optimistic of a safe finish.