Crawley Town move out of relegation zone with 1-0 against Rotherham

On a wet occasion at the Broadfield Stadium, Crawley Town moved out of the relegation zone and up to 20th with a 1-0 win against Rotherham. Will Swan scored the only goal of the game when he finished off a brilliant cross which was sent in by Toby Mullarkey.

Rob Elliot made a handful of changes to his matchday squad and named two goalkeepers on the bench.

Eddie Beach and Jasper Sheik were the substitutes as Jojo Wollacott returned to the starting eleven after returning from international duty.

Tola Showunmi and Ade Adeyemo came into the side to replace the injured Rushian Hepburn-Murphy and absent Bradley Ibrahim.

It was an attacking lineup from Reds and it almost paid off inside three minutes when Ade Adeyemo blasted his effort over the bar.

Rotherham quickly replied with two consecutive chances through Jonson Clarke-Harris who first had his powerful header blocked by Joy Mukena and then from the resulting corner, had his low-drilled strike brilliantly saved by Jojo Wollacott.

With Reds having started the game on the front foot, the only thing that was missing was a goal. In the 21st minute and the wind in his favour, Mullarkey played an enticing low cross into the box from the right hand side and Swan got onto the end of the ball and smashed it in from close range.

Crawley continued to dominate and created smooth chains of forward passes which were cut out at the vital moment. The visitors struggled to get a grasp in the game and were forced to rely on long balls but luck and weather was not on their side.

Half-time came around and after a few technical glitches in the interval, the players were back out for the second half.

Almost instantly, Reds got their first dangerous chance through Swan who rounded the keeper before bizarrely stopping which allowed Dillon Phillips to recover and snatch the ball up.

After seeing it late, Wollacott was called into action for the first time since the break to deny Alex MacDonald's long range free kick that flew past every man in the box.

Tyreece John-Jules came close to making an instant impact with his first touches when his strike on the turn was saved at the near post. Rafiq Khaleel skied an effort high over the bar and stadium to give The Millers a glimpse of hope with seven minutes left but Crawley did not ease up as they continued to control the game until the final whistle.

Overall it was a brilliant afternoon for all Crawley fans other than the announcer who lost his battle with the microphone as Reds picked up three crucial points and a third consecutive clean sheet in their ongoing fight for survival.