IT IS amazing the difference a week makes in football.

Crawley's pre-season expectations looked in tatters after they crashed to a 4-0 opening day defeat at Mansfield.

Seven days later everything looked rosy at the Broadfield Stadium after a 1-0 win against one of the title favourites made it back-to-back home wins for Steve Evans' men.

With six points out of nine, they are currently seventh in Blue Square premier and just a point behind leaders Luton.

More importantly, it was the message Crawley sent out as they packed off Wrexham back to North Wales with their tails between their legs.

Not only are the Reds able to beat the top teams in the division but they can do it by playing a way which is not necessarily their natural game.

Evans prefers expansive football but is prepared to mix it with the nitty-gritty to suit the opposition.

It was a point his No. 2, Paul Raynor, acknowledged after the game.

He said: “It was a victory for character, for desire. It wasn't pretty in the second half and we didn't get an awful lot of the ball to create but the discipline the guys showed helped us get what we felt was a deserved victory.

“We had to go man-for-man in central midfield, which is not the naturgal game of people like Thomas Pinault and Ben Smith. We had to be disciplined and the boys did a fantastic job.

“It was chalk and cheese from last Saturday against a very good Wrexham side.

“Chris Giles and Karl Broadhurst were outstanding. As much as we criticised Chris at Mansfield he has responded and been part of two fine victories. He can take the plaudits, because he tracked his runners and won his headers against some very good strikers.”

While Giles did grow in stature as the game went on, he could have spoilt what turned out to be a great afternoon inside the opening 30 minutes.

When Matty Wolfenden got in behind the Crawley defender to latch on to Gareth Taylor's free-kick, Giles clearly pulled him back but got away with it as Wolfenden stayed on his feet only for Simon Rayner to save well.

It was a decision which left Dragons boss Dean Saunders breathing fire, particularly as Taylor had an appeal for a second penalty turned down a minute later when he went down under challenge from Broadhurst.

This was part of a storming start by Wrexham but the visitors lost their way after that. By contrast, Crawley grew in stature individually and collectively as the game went on.

Eddie Hutchinson blasted a good chance over the bar on 17 minutes and Charles Ademeno failed to hit the target after being played in behind the defence by Smith 12 minutes before the break.

In the dying seconds of the first half Broadhurst fired straight into the midriff of goalkeeper Sam Russell after Ademeno helped on a free-kick but Crawley got their reward final minutes into the second half.

The hosts broke from a Wrexham corner with Pinault feeding Ademeno down the right. His cross was helped into the path of the advancing Jamie Cook by a recovering defender and the little forward accepted the chance with a smart finish for his second goal in as many games.

It could have been 2-0 on 66 minutes when Chris Giles headed against the far post and Broadhurst fired over the rebound but one goal proved enough as Wrexham, who failed to score in two defeats to Crawley last season, rarely looked like finding a way through.

Simon Rusk, who produced a faultless display at right-back , said: “Last week was a bad day and we have put that to bed now. The season started for us on Tuesday.

“It was a good win on Tuesday and today we had strong opposition who we dealt with it well. We were better team and I felt we deserved to win.

“We weren’t at the races last week, we were caught short, but we have turned what could have been a really bad start to the season into a fairly good start.

Crawley: Rayner; Rusk, Giles, Broadhurst, Rents; Hutchinson, Pinault (sub Cogan 65), Smith; Cook, Ademeno (sub Malcom 72), Killeen (sub Louis 81). Subs not used: Powell, Jordan.

Booked: Cook (90, kicking ball away).

Wrexham: Russell; Obeng, Assoumani, Mike Williams, N.Taylor; Cieslewicz (sub Spann 55), Fleming (sub Marc Williams 55), Taboubi, Jones; G.Taylor, Wolfenden (sub Baynes 75). Subs not used: Williamson, Smith.