Crawley Town 1-0 Hartlepool United
- Published
James Collins scored his 12th league goal of the season as Crawley clinched their fourth successive home win with a 1-0 victory over struggling Hartlepool.
Collins made amends after missing two good chances to leave Pools with only one win from their past eight League Two matches.
Pools had an early let-off in front of a crowd of 4,266 - Crawley's best of the season - when Collins set up Billy Clifford but he failed to test goalkeeper Adam Bartlett from the edge of the area.
Bartlett came to his side's rescue when he blocked a goal-bound shot from Dean Cox after Josh Laurent had given the ball away.
Crawley appealed in vain for offside when Sean Kavanagh had a shot turned around the post by goalkeeper Glenn Morris.
Pools improved as the half wore on but Crawley created more chances and midfielder Josh Payne shot wide 10 minutes before the break.
Former Shrewsbury striker Collins rose highest to break the deadlock after 62 minutes, heading in a Cox cross.
Pools seldom threatened an equaliser and visiting keeper Bartlett denied Crawley a second when saving from substitute Bobson Bawling late on.
Report supplied by the Press Association.