Reds joy as Yates waits on Murphy
RHYS Murphy sparked a Crawley Town comeback against Luton but manager Mark Yates revealed he had been about to haul the striker off when he netted the crucial goal.
Matt Harrold rounded off the result, as the Red Devils registered backto-back league wins for the first time since March.
Cameron McGeehan had put Luton ahead before Murphy got the hosts back into it and Yates was impressed with his side’s resolve.
“I was just about to make a substitution and take Rhys off,” he said.“So that just shows how good a manager I am.
“I felt the goal was coming and we felt if we could get one we could go on and win the game.We stuck at it and I thought we played some decent football second half.
“I’m delighted for the supporters.We’re only going to get supporters coming back if we keep producing results, and the last two have gone some way to writing the early season form off.
“We’re back on an even keel and we need to make this a really tough place for people to come.”
Crawley came into the game off the back of a 3-2 win over Leyton Orient last weekend, but a second consecutive victory never looked on the cards after a comfortable first half for the Hatters.
Craig Mackail-Smith spun away from his marker before lashing a shot wide of the near post, before McGeehan put them in front just two minutes later.
McGeehan rushed onto a cross from Sean Long at the far post, heading towards the far corner of the goal, with the ball finding the back of the net via the head of Sonny Bradley.
The second half saw a seismic shift in the game, with Crawley forcing several corners before levelling the scores in the 63rd minute.
Murphy provided the equaliser with a thumping header after an inviting cross from Gwion Edwards, who turned in an all-action display and proved a constant threat.
Harrold then delivered the knock-out blow in the 80th minute, powering a low drive past Mark Tyler and into the net after seizing on a loose ball.
“I thought we were slow out of the blocks in the second half,” said Luton boss John Still.
“We were going long when we should play short.We were going short when we should’ve gone a bit longer, and we never had that cohesion about us for that 45 minutes.
“We said at half-time that the only way they they’re going to come back into it was if we got sloppy with our passing and gave them an incentive, and gave away too many restarts – and we did both.”