Clayton at the double as Green go through

FA Cup, extra preliminary round: Crawley Green 2 Rothwell Corinthians 1
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Two early goals from Crawley’s Charlie Clayton secured a hard-fought 2-1 FA Cup victory against UCL opponents Rothwell Corinthians.

Kicking up the slope, with a strong wind at their backs early on, Green started brightly with Aarron Browne a constant threat on the left.

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After nine minutes Crawley took the lead when Clayton chased down a long ball to beat Martyn Thorpe in the Rothwell goal.

Rothwell replied with an effort from Lewis O’Dell which was saved by Dean Bull, before Green doubled their lead on 20 minutes, when Browne’s corner fell to Clayton who converted from close range.

In less than 60 seconds Rothwell were back in the game though as a long ball reached Callum Plowright who beat Bull to make it 2-1.

The game became an end-to-end affair as Crawley’s Sean Bishopfired wide and Rothwell’s O’Dell saw his effort tipped over by Bull.

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Just before the break, Browne’s in-swinging corner was cleared to Henry Mungwira who had a shot blocked and from the rebound Mario Santos-Costa shot was narrowly wide.

After the break, Browne had an early effort saved by Thorpe and O’Dell fired wide for the visitors.

Crawley’s Mark Smith then had a long range effort saved by Thorpe before Rothwell had their best chance of the half as Plowright’s attempt drew a magnificent one handed save by Bull.

Despite one late scare when O’Dell shot wide, Crawley ran down the clock to win 2-1 and progress into the next round where they entertain Uxbridge.

Green get their SSML Premier Division campaign underway at home to Holmer Green on Wednesday evening.

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