James Tilley ended Crawley’s dismal six-game losing streak in style with victory at faltering Barrow.
The midfielder’s crisp second-half effort separated the two sides as Mark Cooper’s outfit went a worrying seven league games without a win – and two without scoring.
The Bluebirds have lost their spark in front of goal after Cooper shored up their leaky defence.
Crawley keeper Glenn Morris clawed away Joe Grayson’s corner as it swung towards goal before Barrow’s Matt Platt almost scored a calamitous own goal as his mishit clearance beat Paul Farman but thankfully went wide.
The recalled Remeao Hutton fired over the Crawley bar after being slipped in behind on the stroke of half-time.
Tilley broke the deadlock in the 56th minute as he drilled a decent strike beyond Farman in the hosts’ net.
Substitute Josh Kay almost made an instant impact, but Morris kept out his back-post header.
Former Leeds midfielder Robbie Gotts saw his curling strike go agonisingly wide of the Crawley goal.
Grayson almost painfully missed a glorious chance to level at the death from close range.
Report supplied by PA Media.
Line-ups
Barrow
Formation 3-5-2
- 1Farman
- 14Jones
- 5Platt
- 18Grayson
- 24Hutton
- 8JonesSubstituted forWhiteat 61′minutes
- 28BanksBooked at 27mins
- 15Gotts
- 3BroughBooked at 66mins
- 33JamesSubstituted forKayat 61′minutes
- 10Zanzala
Substitutes
- 2Brown
- 4Taylor
- 11Kay
- 13White
- 21Lillis
- 25Arthur
Crawley
Formation 4-4-2
- 1Morris
- 2Davies
- 15Francillette
- 5Craig
- 4Francomb
- 11FrostSubstituted forFerryat 69′minutes
- 39Hessenthaler
- 8Powell
- 14TilleySubstituted forAshfordat 85′minutes
- 10NadesanSubstituted forNicholsat 69′minutes
- 21Appiah
Substitutes
- 9Nichols
- 12Battle
- 18Ferry
- 23Ashford
- 26Kowalczyk
- 30Bansal-McNulty
- 40Nna Noukeu
- Referee:
- Samuel Barrott
- Attendance:
- 3,429
Live Text
-
Match ends, Barrow 0, Crawley Town 1.
-
Second Half ends, Barrow 0, Crawley Town 1.
-
Foul by Joe Grayson (Barrow).
-
Tom Nichols (Crawley Town) wins a free kick on the right wing.
-
Foul by Robbie Gotts (Barrow).
-
Will Ferry (Crawley Town) wins a free kick on the left wing.
-
Attempt saved. Joe Grayson (Barrow) left footed shot from the left side of the six yard box is saved in the centre of the goal.
-
Corner, Crawley Town. Conceded by James Jones.
-
Substitution, Crawley Town. Sam Ashford replaces James Tilley.
-
Joe Grayson (Barrow) wins a free kick on the left wing.
-
Foul by George Francomb (Crawley Town).
-
Hand ball by Offrande Zanzala (Barrow).
-
Offrande Zanzala (Barrow) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
-
Foul by Ludwig Francillette (Crawley Town).
-
Attempt blocked. Kwesi Appiah (Crawley Town) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Tom Nichols.
-
Attempt missed. Robbie Gotts (Barrow) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Tom White.
-
Attempt saved. Josh Kay (Barrow) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Joe Grayson with a cross.
-
Offrande Zanzala (Barrow) wins a free kick on the left wing.
-
Foul by Ludwig Francillette (Crawley Town).
-
Corner, Crawley Town. Conceded by James Jones.
