John Hollins paid tribute to Exeter City after his side crashed to a painful 4-0 defeat at St James Park.

The Crawley boss admitted his side were out-fought and outclassed in a game that was over as a contest by the half-time break.

Hollins said: "Full credit to Exeter - they were sharper and faster to the ball.

"We came back with a bit of punch and almost knocked them down a few times but we wanted to play on a good surface down here and it was disappointing that we didn't do that.

"I don't want to make excuses but we have problems with injuries and now it is a case of keeping some of those players fit in order to complete the season."

Crawley went into the game with the threat of a three points deduction and a £10,000 fine hanging over them as punishment for slashing the players wages earlier in the campaign but hopes of brushing that disappointment to one side were crushed as they were hit by a four-goal blitz.

With the home side eliminated from the play-off race following a dramatic slump in fortunes since Christmas, Jon Challinor had the first sight of goal when he dragged his shot wide inside the first minute.

Crawley had to weather an early spell of pressure and struggled to gain possession against a City side adopting a slick style of passing football.

But the visitors carved out a couple of decent opportunities in the space of 30 seconds. First Danny Ekoku succeeded in connecting with thin air as he went to pull the trigger and then Neil Jenkins almost capitalised on some shoddy defending.

At the other end Challinor, whose last- gasp brace fired City to a 2-0 victory at the Broadfield Stadium earlier in the season, then scooped an effort over the bar.

Ekoku squandered the best chance of the opening half hour when he collected a measured pass from Chris Giles, only to see his shot clawed away by City keeper Martin Rice.

Both sets of players then took an unscheduled break when referee Phil Gibbs pulled up with an injury and had to be replaced by fourth official Steve Knapp.

Yet the home side did not let the disruption hamper their flow and broke the deadlock after 34 minutes.

Challinor was the architect, slipping a pass into the path of Jamie Mackie who outstripped Ben Judge and, after Phil Smith had parried his initial effort, the former Wimbledon striker slotted home the rebound.

The home side almost doubled their advantage when Mackie forced Smith into a smart stop but the shell-shocked Reds fell further behind from the resulting corner.

Craig Farrell flung over the corner and Danny Seaborne powered into the box to plant a fierce header past Smith.

It got even worse for Crawley when Farrell cut inside and let fly with a low drive that squirmed underneath the despairing dive of Smith.

Crawley almost grabbed a lifeline on the stroke of half-time when Rob Kember unleashed a blistering drive but was foiled thanks to some smart reactions from impressive keeper Rice.

After Smith had clawed away Farrell's piledriver, Crawley were denied a route back into the match when Rice performed similar heroics at the other end.

Jenkins engineered enough space to fire straight at the keeper and Danny Woodards completed the mop-up operation when he launched a last ditch block from the follow-up attempt.

Tempers briefly flared when Danny Brown became the first player to find his way into the referee's notepad following a late challenge on Woodards.

And Crawley's misery was further compounded as they conceded a fourth goal. Dean Moxey remained alert to race on to Mackie's throw-in and, after leaving Judge trailing in his wake, the midfielder cleverly lifted the ball over the advancing Smith and slotted into an empty net.

Crawley knew it was not their night when they spurned yet another opening, this time Lee Blackburn watching in horror when his point blank drive was somehow pushed away by Rice.

Exeter: Rice, Woodards, Seaborne, Todd, B.Jones (sub Vinnicombe 73), Mackie, Gill, Challinor (sub Clay 90), Moxey, Farrell, Phillips. Subs not used: P.Jones, Gaia, Flack.

Crawley: Smith, Judge, Woozley, Mendy, Brown, Blackburn, Kember, Bostwick, Jenkins (sub Marshall 71), Ekoku (sub Burton 63), Giles (sub Opinel 71).

Subs not used: Ward, El-Abd.

Referee: P. Gibbs (West Midlands).

Attendance: 1,782.

Man-of-the-match: Danny Ekoku.