Altrincham 2 Crawley 3.

Crawley claimed all three points from a tough battle against ten-man Altrincham - but did it the hard way.

After going 2-0 up through goals from Jon-Paul Pittman and Tyrone Thompson, a silly error from Ashley Bayes allowed Colin Little to drag the home side back into it.

But a wonder goal from Thomas Pinault sealed the points before Little added a consolation in injury time.

Although he was delighted with the final score, Crawley manager Steve Evans believes his side could have made life much easier for themselves.

He said: "I thought it was a game we should have won 3-0.

"Ashley Bayes made an error to let them back into the game at 2-0, which is unlike him because he was solid tonight.

"But this is a young team and they will learn from that. We needed the win and we got it in the end.

"I'm pleased with the second-half performance, we passed the ball around really well at times and we deserved the three points."

The first half was an extremely cagey affair, with barely a shot on goal from either side.

Altrincham came closest with striker Joe O'Neill making a real nuisance of himself.

The hard-working frontman tested Bayes with a well struck volley just three minutes in and was again denied by the Reds keeper on the half-hour mark after receiving a cut back from Liam King six yards out.

A half-chance also fell to the Robins' right-back Ryan Shotton.

But after Robbie Lawton had released him with a delightful through ball, he produced a true defender's finish, pulling the ball across the face of goal from 15 yards.

Just as it seemed a largely uneventful half was coming to a welcome conclusion though, the game was blown wide open.

After O'Neill went up for a challenge with Jamie Stevens, the referee decided he had led with his elbow and produced a second yellow card for the Altrincham striker.

Even with the man advantage, the Reds laboured to break down their hosts straight after the break but it mattered little, as they took the lead with their first shot on target.

Pittman collected the ball on the right and cut inside, beating a couple of defenders, before firing a superb low shot into the far corner of the net on 58 minutes.

Reds endured a minor scare when Little fired wide but they extended their lead 15 minutes later. Kevin James split the home defence with a purposeful run before releasing Dannie Bulman with a through ball down the right.

Bulman squared across goal and Thompson had a simple tap in at the far post.

Crawley conspired to give Alty a way back into the game, as a catastrophic mix-up between Jamie Stevens and his keeper Bayes, allowed Little to nip between the two of them and walk the ball into an empty net.

But Pinault wrapped the points up with a dipping, swerving drive from 25 yards before Little grabbed his second late on, latching onto a quick free kick from Tom Cahill to chip the ball over Bayes.

Altrincham: Acton, Shotton, Tinson, Young, Lynch (Battersby 73), Lane (Toulson 85), Lawton, King (Cahill 64), Peyton, Little, O'Neill. Subs not used: Senior, Roca, Crawley: Bayes, Murphy, Stevens, Wilson, Bulman, Thompson, Pinault, Thomas, Dutton-Black (Carayol 68), James, Pittman (Joseph-Dubois 81). Subs not used: Blackburn, Allen, Krause.

Referee: S Procter-Green (Lincolnshire).