Crawley Town's magical Watters maintains scoring streak in match of great drama and entertainment

The match was one of great drama and entertainment although that hardly compensates for the concession of two points deep into added time.

Crawley have to settle for point at Mansfield after leading 3-1

The home side took a fortuitous early lead as Ryan Sweeney miskicked a corner into the far side of goal. Glenn Morris was soon called upon to make the first of a number of important saves and it took a while for the Reds to get a hold on the game. By the break nothing had changed and Mansfield had enjoyed a slight edge. Then the match caught fire.

Four minutes in a beautifully weighted lofted pass from Ashley Nadesan left Watters with a clear run on goal. The outcome was inevitable and the striker slotted unerringly past the onrushing keeper Marek Stech. Five minutes later the Reds took the lead as Tom Dallison battled two opponents for a half-cleared corner and very cleverly hooked an unstoppable shot into the top far corner.

Within five minutes of that the rampant Reds extended their lead to 3-1. Jake Hessenthaler played a precise pass over two defenders and straight to Watters about 25 yards out. Keeper Stech was in two minds (both wrong) as Crawley’s main man drove the ball imperiously past him. This lad doesn’t just score goals he scores great goals.

That Mansfield salvaged a point was credit to them rather than any dereliction of duty by the Reds. Both were top corner volleys from distance that no keeper could have saved, the first coming from George Lapslie. The equaliser from Andy Cook came three minutes into added time and took a slight deflection on its way to the far angle of post and bar.

We can rue losing two points lost so late in the game but both sides emerged with credit for a splendidly competitive match that the home side probably did not deserve to lose. I wonder how Leeds United will cope with Max Watters.

Only two days after their FA Cup win Reds produced a strong performance at Colchester United but the 1-1 draw was a disappointing result. They started well but were rocked by a blistering 30 yarder from Callum Harriott. Jordan Tunnicliffe soon pulled Reds level again but after that the U’s keeper Dean Gerken produced an heroic man of the match performance.

Gerken denied Nick Tsaroulla, Tom Nichols and Ashley Nadesan and upped his game even further in added time saving from Sam Matthews and Tyler Frost while Tom Dallison missed a sitter in a frantic spell. Reds should have won but deserved credit so soon after the Wimbledon game.