Crawley boss Francis Vines believes the Dr Martens Cup will be the first of many trophies coming to the club.

Reds won their biggest competition to date after over coming a 2-1 first leg defeat against Halesowen last night.

Nigel Brake got the party started after just 12 minutes and Nic McDonnell sealed the win on 54 minutes to spark wild celebrations at the Broadfield.

Vines, who took over in charge in January, was delighted with the victory and with the Sussex Senior Cup Final against Eastbourne less than a week away, insisted there will be more silverware to come.

He said "Hopefully that is just the start and there will be many more successes like that in the future.

"I am delighted to have won something in my first season as the manager at the club, so it is a feather in the cap from my point of view.

"It's also good for the players as well and hopefully that will get them used to winning things and we can carry that on.

"The Sussex Senior Cup is next and we know Eastbourne will be a lot different to Halesowen but we will be looking to go all out for a win and try and continue our success in that."

Club captain Peter Fear, who had to watch from the sidelines with a groin injury, dedicated the win to the home supporters.

He said "It is great for everyone at the club, especially the fans who deserve it because they have been brilliant this season.

"I'm really pleased for all the players as well and hopefully we can go on and build on this success."

Crawley, who lost in the final two years ago, were looking to make no mistakes against a Halesowen side whose cup run was a welcome relief to their awful league form.

The Yeltz, who have won the Worcestershire Cup this season, are on the brink of relegation, needing to win their last game of the season while hoping Grantham win theirs to have any chance of staying up.

Reds had beaten the visitors 4-0 at the Broadfield two months ago and the early signs indicated there may be a similar scoreline as Brake gave Reds the lead with just 12 minutes gone.

Ernie Cooksey, who had gone close with a shot which went into the side netting after two minutes, collected a loose ball just outside the penalty area on the left flank. He miskicked an attempted cross and the ball fell to Brake who coolly fired high into the roof of the net eight yards from goal.

Despite Crawley's early dominance the opening stages did not all go the home side way however. Lee Collins had already bounced a header off the crossbar on nine minutes when Halesowen had a great chance to equalise on 20 minutes.

Lee Williams managed to squeeze a cross in from the right flank to Mark Dank who had two chances to shoot but the former Bradford striker hesitated both times giving Andy Little the opportunity to come and smother.

Play then switched immediately to the other end when Crawley had strong appeals for a penalty turned down. McDonnell went down in a heap under a challenge by Collins but the referee turned a blind eye as the Reds striker limped off to receive treatment.

Moments later Cooksey was guilty of missing a glorious chance when he headed Neil Le Bihan's free-kick across the face of goal from two yards when it looked easy to score.

Reds almost doubled their advantage four minutes before half time when Brake played a through ball to Le Bihan.

The visiting defence stopped as Warren Bagnall was in an offside position but the referee waved play on as the Reds striker was not interfering with play leaving Le Bihan clear on goal and it needed a desperate tackle by Yeltz keeper Gary Hateley to clear the danger.

Le Bihan then curled an inswinging corner on to the crossbar and moments later McDonnell flashed a 30 yard volley inches over as Reds finished the first half on a high.

Despite away goals counting as double meaning Reds' slender advantage would have been enough, the home side came out for the second half unprepared to sit on their laurels.

They continued where they had left off the first half and got their reward just nine minutes after the restart.

Ian Payne sent a high free-kick to the area for Cooksey to flick on but he missed the ball causing the visitors' offside trap to be totally mistimed leaving McDonnell all alone to slot the ball home.

Reds continued to press as a goal by the visitors would have levelled the aggregate score taking the game into extra time.

Cooksey came within inches of easing the tension just before the hour mark with an angled drive which sped wide off Hateley's right hand post.

The home side were dealt a setback on 72 minutes when McDonnell went down clutching his right knee after controlling a long ball. It was the same knee which had caused him to be sidelined recently and he had to hobble off to be replaced by Danny Hockton.

It almost got worse for Reds five minutes later when Dank's found space on the edge of the box and crashed a shot back off the crossbar. The ball then bounced to substitute Kirk Master who was unmarked on the angle of the six yard box, but pressure from the retreating home defence caused him to blast over.

Hockton could have wrapped it up in stoppage time but he sidefooted high over with only the keeper to beat.

Crawley Town: Little; Holmes, Payne, Hooper, Pullan, Le Bihan, Harkin, Cooksey, McDonnell (Hockton, 73), Bagnall, Brake. Unused subs: Matten, Vines, Hemsley,Timlin.

Halesowen Town: Hateley; Colwell, Hines, Stone, Collins, Trainer, Williams (Master, 67), Ashby (Leadbetter, 62), Danks, Blackwood (Skidmore, 46), Spencer. Unused subs: Smith, Clarke.

Referee: Mr R. Vaughan (Yatton).

Attendance: 1,049.

Man-of-the-match: Ellis Hooper.