Stafford Rangers 0 Crawley 1

Crawley are close to securing Conference safety after a smash-and-grab win at Stafford Rangers.

Reds withstood large spells of pressure from the home side after Steve Evans scored a scrappy goal early on.

Another three points against Exeter City at home tomorrow should be enough to beat the drop.

Caretaker-manager John Yems said: "We knew it was going to be a battle and we would have to scrap it out to get anything from the game.

"The pitch was terrible but we dug in and showed plenty of character.

"It puts us in a good position but we are not taking anything for granted."

The game was the first held at Marston Road since its revamp to meet Conference guidelines.

There was a new temporary-looking all-seater stand behind the goal Crawley were defending in the first half and a covered terrace at the other end constructed of scaffolding.

Stafford had been in danger of being kicked out of the league before the improvement, regardless of whether they beat relegation.

Crawley struggled to adapt to the hard, bumpy pitch in the early stages.

But they took the lead with their first effort on goal after just seven minutes thanks to a wicked deflection.

Steve Evans, back in the side following injury in place of the suspended Tony Scully, tried his luck from 20 yards following a poor clearance by Nathan Talbott and it ricocheted off defender Richard Sutton and spun into the opposite corner.

Rangers continued to have the majority of possession after the goal and went close to hitting back on 15 minutes.

A cross by Robin Gibson found danger man Guy Madjo in space 12 yards from goal but Magnus Okuonghae recovered to out-muscle the striker off the ball.

Crawley had adopted a direct approach, getting the ball forward as quickly as possible, and they gained control as a result.

They carved out a good opportunity with one long ball on 18 minutes. Elliot Benyon did well to bring it down and release Tyrone Berry down the inside right channel but, rather than shoot, the pacey winger opted to square for Marcus Richardson and the chance was cleared.

Reds went even closer four minutes later when Richardson stabbed an opportunist strike inches past the post from just inside the area.

Dannie Bulman then forced keeper Robert Duggan into a full-length save with a low drive from 20 yards.

It was Rangers who finished the half the strongest, however, and they went into the interval disappointed not to have equalised after missing three good chances.

Madjo, who scored against Crawley in Stafford's 2-1 win at the Broadfield Stadium earlier in the season, made space for himself in the D and toe-poked a shot straight at Ben Hamer.

Levi Reid should have done better with a header wide after he had beaten the offside trap from Robin Gibson's cross.

Madjo threatened again three minutes before the break with a superb chest-trap and volley which dipped over with Hamer routed to the spot.

The Cameroon frontman was proving a real handful for Crawley and it was only some brave goalkeeping by Hamer that prevented him scoring two minutes after the restart.

The Reds stopper smothered two efforts at the feet of the muscular forward, who had been left completely unmarked at the angle of the six yard box from another cross by Gibson.

Hamer frustrated the home fans again moments later with a point-blank stop from Craig Lovatt's drive following more good work from Madjo.

The visitors enjoyed a brief spell of pressure around the hour-mark and Duggan had to be alert to tip over a bending free-kick from Evans.

Rangers were soon back on the attack and created another scoring opportunity on 71 minutes. Veteran striker Neil Grayson sent a looping volley over the bar, sparking hopeful celebrations from some Stafford fans who thought it had gone in.

It did little to change the balance of play and Grayson fired another volley into the stand two minutes later following more Stafford pressure.