Crawley Town missed a host of chances and were beaten 2-1 at home by Merthyr Tydfil, leaving assistant manager Vic Bettinelli to say: "I feel I've been mugged."

Bettinelli is in charge for five games because Francis Vines is on holiday.

He said: "After conceding the early goal we didn't play too badly and we got much stronger by half-time.

"One of their goals came from a set-piece and one was poor defending by Ellis Hooper.

"In the second half we created chances but never took them."

A defensive howler by Hooper allowed Cortez Belle to open the scoring for the visitors after only seven minutes.

Town could well have levelled if first-half attempts by Albion loan signing Carl Wilson-Denis (three times), Charlie MacDonald (twice), Robert Smith and Ian Payne had been on target.

Crawley's pressure finally paid off seconds before half-time when a Jay Richardson corner was nodded in by MacDonald.

The former Charlton and Stevenage striker was one of six players in the Crawley starting line-up making their league debuts.

The second half was a catalogue of missed Crawley chances.

Dan Marney, another loan signing from Seagulls, teed up quality crosses from the right for Wilson-Denis and then MacDonald which were not be converted.

The Martyrs regained the lead in the 57th minute when the unmarked Gary Thorne headed in a corner from skipper Danny Carter.

In the closing stages, substitute Fabien Forde and Marney fired shots over the bar and man of the match Marney rattled the woodwork.

Former West Ham striker Dave Swindlehurst is Bettinelli's temporary No. 2.

They worked together when the ex-Hammer managed Crystal Palace Reserves and Bettinelli was the goalkeeping coach.

Injured midfielders Mo Harkin and Peter Fear could be available for Saturday's visit to Bath City but both are ruled out for tomorrow night's tough trip to Dover Athletic.

Hastings United made a winning start to life under new manager Steve Lovell with a 3-1 success at home to Corby Town in the eastern division.

The former Welsh international said: "I was pleased with the result but not the performance. I do think there's a lot more to come out of us. They know that and they have accepted that which is good and it shows the spirit that we have got down here at the moment."

Hastings made a lightning start with two goals in the opening 18 minutes. Duncan McArthur opened the scoring with a long-range shot that bounced beyond the dive of the keeper and soon after a quickly-taken free kick let in Peter Taylor to double the advantage.

The home side made sure of the points with a third goal four minutes into the second half, the impressive Ryan Peters making his mark with curled finish into the bottom corner of the net.

Both teams hit the woodwork late on before substitute Liam Harrold grabbed a consolation a minute from time.