Harry McKirdy returned to haunt Newport County with a quickfire brace as Crawley Town claimed a 2-0 win at Rodney Parade to boost their League Two survival hopes.
The victory maintained Colin Kazim-Richards' 100 per cent start as Crawley head coach, lifting them to 20th and four points clear of the relegation zone, while Christian Fuchs' Newport slipped to 22nd, three points further back.
Feisty First Half Flashpoints
The visitors started the stronger in a tight, ill-tempered opening period that saw five yellow cards shown. Crawley came closest to breaking the deadlock after 13 minutes when McKirdy broke through and fired in a cross that evaded everybody in the box.