Limp Swindon Town comfortably defeated at Crawley Town

An abject first-half performance saw Swindon well behind at the break as Danilo Orsi and Jack Roles both found the back of the net for the hosts.

Orsi added another goal not long after the break to end any remote hopes of a comeback, with Dan Kemp netting a stoppage-time consolation. 

This defeat was Town’s third straight at this ground and dropped them back into the bottom half of the table down into 16th in League Two.

Michael Flynn was forced into a last-minute change to his line-up as Tom Brewitt pulled out in the warm-ups with a dead leg. This meant that Williams Kokolo came back into the team following his recovery from an illness that kept him out of Friday night’s game with Forest Green Rovers.

Hutton under pressure (Image: Callum Knowles)

After nine minutes Ronan Darcy snuck in behind Tyrese Shade and squared to the completely unmarked Orsi to tap in from a yard out. New year, same defensive problems for Swindon.

A few minutes later Remeao Hutton looped in a cross from the right that most in the middle seemed to think was going behind, but Charlie Austin did not give up on it. He made his move to the far post and headed at goal, drawing an unconvincing save out of Corey Addai.

Swindon continued to show that they could get through Crawley as first a deflection narrowly took Austin’s cross away from Jake Young and Dan Kemp before Austin got on the end of Hutton's cross and forced another save from Addai.

Godwin-Malife plays a pass (Image: Callum Knowles)

Lewis Ward put Swindon under some needless pressure as his pass to Kokolo was a sloppy one. Ronan Darcy picked his pocket and found Will Wright, who powered a shot from the edge of the penalty area narrowly wide.

After 27 minutes a free-kick caused a quick rally of head tennis before the ball made its way to Roles on the right side of the box and he hit a sweet volley beyond Ward and into the corner of the net.

The Swindon cage was well and truly rattled, with eyes burning holes into the ground all over the pitch. Slack marking from a corner gave Crawley the freedom to pick who had a shot from the edge of the area. Roles’ low effort took a deflection that could have gone anywhere and just eluded Jay Williams on the edge of the six-yard box, who would have had a certain goal.

Khan tracks Campbell (Image: Callum Knowles)

With a minute remaining in the half Austin flicked Kemp clean through on goal. With Addai committing early to his left, Kemp tried to roll the ball the other way but caught hold of more turf than ball and sent it bobbling wide of the target. With even Kemp having his composure and craft desert him, any hopes of a comeback were relegated to pipe dreams.

Hutton once again beat Tsaroulla in first-half stoppage time and picked out Austin in the middle. His header lacked pace but was dropping quickly and needed Addai to be alert to flick it against the crossbar and over the top.

The rain became harder after half time and as if it was pathetic fallacy, Swindon’s woes increased too. After 52 minutes Dion Conroy picked out Wright on the edge of the area with nobody close to him. He had a shot that deflected into the path of Orsi, who rounded Ward and slotted into the empty net.

Kinsella on the ball (Image: Callum Knowles)

The rain continued to pour and compounded the feeling of despondency. Crawley were happy to sit and let a half-hearted Swindon pass with no rhythm or plan in front of them. Sloppy passes were met by an indifference from those further forward to get back and rectify the error, creating overloads that the Red Devils could have exploited were they in the mood.

After 67 minutes following a Crawley corner, Kemp picked up a loose ball and picked out the run of Hutton on the far side. He motored away and played a low ball into Jake Cain at the far post and his near-post finish was well saved by Addai.

Young had a chance from point-blank range to sign off his loan spell with a goal but hit it into the ground and into Addai’s gloves.

In stoppage time, Swindon won a free-kick on the edge of the box which they took short and Kemp whipped a shot, low into the bottom corner as quite possibly one last reminder of his devastating quality.

There was anger and there was frustration on the faces of the Swindon players but ultimately there was no true attempt to rectify their position in a footballing sense. A fifth defeat in six accompanied the feeling that January might not be the antidote that had been promised.

Khan dribbles with the ball (Image: Callum Knowles)

CTFC starting XI: Addai, Conroy, Ransom, Orsi, Darcy, Roles, Mukena, Williams, Tsaroulla, Campbell, Wright.

CTFC substitutes: Ashby-Hammond, Gordon, Forster, Swyer, Henry, Lolos, Adeyemo.

STFC starting XI: L. Ward, Hutton, Young, Khan, Kemp, Kokolo, Godwin-Malife, Kinsella, Shade, Minturn, Austin.

STFC substitutes: Evans, McEachran, Cain, Dworzak, Hart, Obodo.

Attendance: 3,646 (548 away)