Matt Tubbs took his tally for the season to 19 goals as Crawley shook off the rust following their three-week lay-off to comfortably defeat Sussex rivals Eastbourne Borough 3-1 at the Broadfield today to climb to second in the Blue Square Bet premier.

Tubbs scored twice after Ben Smith’s early opener and Dan Walker’s late reply was a mere consolation for the visitors who could have no complaints about the result.

Crawley’s assistant manager Paul Raynor said: “It was a tremendous performance, I thought some of our attacking play was outstanding and on another day we could have been talking about a six or seven-goal win.

“The guys in possession of the shirt raised their games and did incredibly well. It was total domination from start to finish after we had set our stall out in the first 15 minutes. We’ve had a long break but the boys have stuck together and you could see how much we just wanted to get out on the pitch and play.”

Both sides included two new players in their squads. James Norwood and Walker made their Borough debuts but Crawley boss Steve Evans kept David Hunt and Josh Simpson on the bench, preferring to start with his regular midfield quartet.

It looked fully justified when Smith gave Reds the lead in the 13th minute with a smartly-taken volley from six yards after Borough had been opened up down their left-hand side.

Tubbs missed an easy chance when Pablo Mills’ long ball found him clean through as he side-footed straight at keeper Rikki Banks but moments later Tubbs got a 28th-minute second for the home side.

Glenn Wilson was the creator but it was another routine ball which Borough failed to deal with and Tubbs lashed a volley past Banks from 15 yards.

The visitors did not threaten until stoppage time when Michel Kuipers kept out a volley from Jamie Taylor but normal service was restored in the second half.

Dean Howell smashed a free kick against the underside of the bar with Banks beaten but Reds got their third after 61 minutes when Gary Elphick handled on the ground and Tubbs nonchalantly dinked the penalty down with the middle as Banks dived to his right.

Reds could have had further goals with Tubbs, from another free kick, and substitute Richard Brodie hitting the post before spirited Borough pulled one back five minutes from time when Walker scored the goal of the game, beating Kuipers with a swerving 30-yarder which flew into the top corner.

Borough boss Garry Wilson had no complaints. He said: “We have had to go to two of the top three over Christmas which was hard for us. If I was critical we conceded a couple of poor goals but we never gave up and finished strong in both halves and our fitness levels were good.”

Neil Jenkins was one of six players booked and the Borough defender will miss Monday's home game with Cambridge United.

Attendance: 1,894