After a dispiriting 5-0 home defeat to East Preston in the Sussex Senior Cup on Tuesday, Crawley Down bounced back to end a topsy turvy week with a fine away 4-0 away win at Lingfield on Saturday, in the SCFL Premier Division. The win moves the Anvils up to 6th in the league table. The game saw the debut of winger Michael Wood recently signed from rivals Loxwood. He marked a fine performance with two goals and his obvious talent combined with an impressive work rate augurs well for the future. He provided the highlight of the early exchanges with a powerful snapshot from just outside the area which drew a spectacular save from keeper Olly Moore. The Anvils opened the scoring on 25 minutes when Sam Cane, although well placed, unselfishly laid off a perfect ball to the debutant Wood who nonchalantly stroked it into the corner for a dream start to his Crawley Down adventure. The visitors were now in the ascendant and after 38 minutes a brilliant flick header from Russell Malton played in Oli Leslie. He still had plenty to do but outpaced the defence and rounded the keeper before slotting home to make it 2-0 to Crawley Down at the break. The home side surprisingly withdrew their recently signed prolific striker, Ben Bacon, at the break. They started the second period very much on the offensive and the Anvils had to soak up a lot of pressure. Having weathered the storm and survived a number of goalmouth scares the visitors hit back and sealed victory with two late goals. The first came in the 92nd minute when man of the match Sam Cane fired in an unstoppable shot from outside the box that went in off the crossbar. On 95 minutes Michael Wood rounded off the scoring on a memorable day for him and the Anvils. His second strike had a touch of good fortune about it as his shot was partly blocked by a defender which made it sail past a despairing Olly Moore in the home goal. Lingfield did not play badly and will feel that a 4-0 reverse was harsh but the reality was that Crawley Down were simply irresistible on the day. The Anvils now just need to find some consistency.

Team: Andy Greaves, Josh Martin, Billy Wraight (Sonny Barton), Blair Cooney, Marc Pelling, Michael Belli (Josh Brown), Russell Malton, Michael Spence, Oli Leslie (Sam Packham), Sam Cane, Michael Wood. Unused Substitutes: Dan Sullivan, Connor Baston

MOM: Sam Cane