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Shaun Williams’ second half strike consigned Crawley Town to a 1-0 defeat at relegation rivals Gillingham as Scott Lindsey suffered his first loss as manager of the Reds.

The Irish midfielder hit what proved to be the winner on 48 minutes as Crawley slipped to 21st in League Two. Harrogate Town’s 1-0 victory at Carlisle United saw them leapfrog the Reds in the table, while wins for 22nd-placed Hartlepool United and second-from-bottom Gillingham have cut the gap between Crawley and the relegation zone to just one point.

Both the Reds and Pools have 25 points, while the Gills are just a point behind after today’s results, but Crawley have three games in hand over Hartlepool.

The Reds started brightly, with Tom Fellows firing narrowly wide inside the first minute.

Corey Addai pulled off a string of excellent saves for Crawley Town in their League Two defeat at Gillingham. Picture by Pete Norton/Getty Images

Dom Jefferies fired into the side-netting for the Gills, before Aramide Oteh spurned an excellent one-on-one opportunity for Crawley.

The visitors should have taken the lead midway through the first half. The ball fell to Ben Gladwin from a corner, and the new Reds skipper managed to poke a shot towards goal but it was blocked by a Gillingham player on the line.

The action petered out before the half-time break, with neither side creating any chances of note, but the Gills only needed three of the second half to go ahead.

Former Red Devil Tom Nichols saw his volleyed effort brilliantly saved by Corey Addai, but Williams reacted quickest to finish from close-range.

And Addai pulled off another superb stop to prevent Gillingham from doubling their lead. Nichols barrelled into the Crawley box and fired towards the bottom corner, but the 25-year-old produced a fine fingertip save to tip the striker’s shot wide.

Crawley lacked any kind of attacking spark in the final half-hour. The Reds forced a late corner, after great work from Dom Telford, but the Gills easily cleared their lines.

Crawley Town: Addai, Gordon, Francillette, Conroy, Gladwin, Jenks, Powell (Roles 79), Tsaroulla, Fellows, Telford, Oteh (Nadesan 61): Unused: Schofield, Johnson, Ogungbo, Ransom, Khaleel.

Attendance:

Gillingham 1, Crawley Town 0: Reds just one point clear of the drop after defeat at second-from-bottom Gills