Joe Kizzi’s brace earns Barnet victory against Crawley

Joe Kizzi scored a goal in each half to earn Barnet a 2-1 victory against Crawley.

The home side made a dream start, opening the scoring inside the first five minutes as Mark Shelton’s corner was met by Kizzi and he headed confidently into the back of the net.

The visitors created their first real chance against the run of play in the 17th minute as Josh Flint’s ambitious effort rattled the inside of a post.

The hosts carved out another chance on the counter-attack as Idris Kanu’s low cross found Lee Ndlovu and his close-range effort was brilliantly saved by Harvey Davies.

Barnet were punished for a moment of madness as Cieran Slicker’s failed clearance rolled straight to Harry McKirdy and he made no mistake in slotting into an empty net to level for Crawley.

Just after the hour, Scott Lindsey’s side went close as Louie Watson’s curling effort was superbly saved by Slicker.

But Barnet grabbed what turned out to be the winning goal with 14 minutes remaining as Kizzi scrambled home from Ryan Glover’s inch-perfect cross.