Where did it all go wrong? Reds crashed to a 2-1 defeat against Bath on Saturday and plummeted to 16th in the Dr Martens premier division.

It's a far cry from earlier in the season when Crawley topped the table and promotion expectancy was in the air at The Broadfield Stadium.

But this latest defeat illustrated why Reds are promotion pretenders. They can't defend and are prone to making silly mistakes.

Quite what the Crawley defence was doing when Graham Colbourne was able to pounce in the ninth minute is anyone's guess.

They had a chance to clear, but instead the ball spilt loose and Colbourne accepted the gift.

There was not much Crawley could do about the second 11 minutes later when Jon Holloway and substitute Jim Fraser cut through with a one-two and Fraser blasted home.

Awful performances in the first half have been a Reds trademark this season and boss Billy Smith admitted as much afterwards.

He said: "So many times we ponce around with the ball when it should be cleared into row Z. And we end up paying dearly.

"We can't gift other teams goals at this level and certainly not if we want to get promoted to the Conference."

No disrespect intended, but if Reds had been in the Conference this season they would have been front-runners for relegation.

Smith will be thumbing through his contacts book during the summer because he knows he must strengthen if Crawley are to do better next season.

They do, however, have a two-legged Dr Martens League Cup final to look forward to amongst their 13 remaining fixtures.

They face either Newport County or Worcester and Smith knows his men must salvage something for their supporters from this wreck of a season.

He said: "We have so many games left, but I've got to be sensible and look to keep the lads fresh for the finals.

"If that means we might have to field a weakened team in a couple of league games, that's what we'll do."

The games are coming thick and fast. Reds have three home games this week and there are worries about the state of the pitch.

On Saturday, Crawley bizarrely opted to pass the ball around in ankle deep mud and were rewarded when John Ugbah headed them back into the game on the stroke of half time.

Some brilliant football followed in the second half and Dave Powell missed two gilt-edged chances to earn Reds a point.

Smith said: "The pitch looked like Hickstead. I just hope we have some sunshine to dry it out.

"It's very tiring playing on that kind of pitch. Our lads will be knackered by next Saturday and then we've four matches to play next week."

Chief Executive John Duly has not been happy with the pitch's drainage and demands the council sort it.

He said: "The pitch here is not good enough. I know we've had a lot of rain, but the drainage hasn't been up to much. That has got to be sorted this summer."

One thing that will need sorting is the finding of decent training facilities.

Smith moaned: "We end up just doing some jogging on a bit of grass in the car park."

"This is a big disadvantage. Margate have been using Charlton's training ground and Burton have a pitch outside their stadium."

But where did it all go wrong? The answer is simple. Crawley were never good enough and supporters' expectations were far too high.

Crawley: Little, Holmes, Payne (Hurdle 45 mins), Gamble, Pullan, Ugbah, Carroll, Anderson, Wordsworth (Hawthorne 45 mins), Huggins (Hynes 75 mins), Powell.

Bath: Bibbo, Clode, Walker, Tisdale, Towler, Harrington (Fraser 14 mins), Gosling, Colbourne, Bodin, Paul, Holloway. Subs not used: Davis, Allison.

Referee: Ian Bentley from Wickham Attendance: 692 *Men of the Match: Hawthorne (Crawley), Colbourne (Bath)