High flying Bromley came from behind to dominate relegation-threatened Crawley in a comfortable 3-1 victory in blustery conditions at Hayes Lane.

The gulf in quality was evident as Bromley cruised into 4th place following the win while Crawley sit 4th from bottom and just a point from safety.

The game was intriguingly set with a large away following and some familiar faces in the Crawley team in the guise of former Bromley manager, Neil ‘Smudger’ Smith, assistant manager, and former players Harry McKirdy and Harry Forster. 

The Red Devils started positively showing good attacking intent and found themselves in front in the 9th minute following a careless pass from Arthurs that was gleefully picked up by McKirdy racing down the left to ping in a pinpoint cross which was met by a diving header back across the goal by Loft and evading Smith’s despairing fingertips. 

Bromley were stunned but started to edge back into the game and came close in the 15th minute with an opportunist chance from Whitely who intercepted an errant pass beating Crawley keeper Wollacott in a footrace only to see his shot squirm wide with the goal at his mercy.

Bromley missed another fantastic chance in the 29th minute as a clever Pinnock quick throw released Cheek who raced 30 yards through on goal from the left only for his side-footed shot to beat the oncoming keeper but trickle narrowly wide of the far post.

Crawley had a chance to extend their lead in the 37th minute as McKirdy’s cheeky backheel found a team-mate whose low cross evaded everyone in the box before falling to Forster who shot wide from an angle.  

The Ravens started to turn up the heat and following a succession of corners levelled the score just before half-time. An in-swinging corner by Pinnock was bullied into the net by Sowunmi as Wollacott failed to impose himself as he melted away like a snowman in a heatwave. 

Crawley just could not get going following the break. Cheek latched onto a dangerous cross from Pinnock in the 46th minute swivelling and skewing his shot over then a minute later the same combination came close again this time with Cheek volleying wide to the left. 

Three minutes later a piece of great skill by Whitely started a move that culminated in Bromley taking a deserved lead from Odutayo. The left-back’s opportunistic shot from the edge of the box seemed to take a heavy deflection leaving the keeper frozen to the spot. 

Pinnock was increasingly pulling the strings and seemed to be at the heart of every Bromley attack ably abetted by Krauhaus whose incessant energy, growing strength, and ingenuity kept Crawley on the backfoot.

Bromley added a third to put the game out of sight in the 69th minute as Krauhaus pinched the ball and played in Whitely whose low cross was gleefully converted by Cheek with a signature tap in from 5 yards.

It was all one-way traffic in the second half except a late scare in the 76th minute as Roles raced clear for Crawley with only Grant to beat only to plant his shot just wide of the post in an almost identical manner to Cheek’s first half miss. 

A convincing win for Bromley who travel north to face 16th placed Accrington Stanley on Saturday at 3pm. 

Line ups:

Bromley: Grant, Ifill, Elerewe, Sowunmi, Odutayo, Arthurs, Hondermarck (84 Stepien-Iwumene), Whitely, Pinnock (89 Ilunga), Krauhaus, and Cheek (77 Kabamba).

Unused subs: Long, Cameron, Thompson, and Dinanga.

Crawley Town: Wollacott, Bajrami, Barker, Forster, Brown, McKirdy (59 Tshimanga), Loft, Adeyemo (59 Dixon), Williams, Watson (70 Roles), and Flint.

Unused Subs: Holohan, Conroy, and Davies.

Referee: David Rock