Crawley boss Colin Kazim-Richards hails ‘one of the best feelings in my career’

New Crawley head coach Colin Kazim-Richards thanked his players for giving him “one of the best feelings” he has had in his career after tasting victory in his first game in charge.

Stoppage-time goals from Taylor Richards and Tobi Adeyemo gave the relegation-threatened Red Devils their first win in 11 league games, and moved them two points clear of the drop zone with six games left.

Many Crawley fans had called on former boss Scott Lindsey to change to a 4-4-2 formation towards the end of his second spell in charge, and Kazim-Richards’ switch helped spark a change of fortune.

He said: “I wanted to put players who can score goals in the right areas – it’s as simple as that.

“Gillingham changed their formation, which made me even more confident, and I always believed we had the quality to unlock them.”

The 39-year-old former Derby, Brighton and Sheffield United forward has taken over until the end of the season and he described the win as “a reset”.

He added: “The players have given me a very unique experience that can never be taken away – it’s one of the best feelings in my career.”

Gillingham boss Gareth Ainsworth accused his side of “chucking it away” after they fell to a fifth consecutive defeat.

The Gills have now won only four of their last 24 league games and Ainsworth has pledged he will bring about an improvement before the end of the season.

He said: “That’s just not good enough. We defended okay for 90 minutes and then in the end just chucked it away.

“It’s incredibly frustrating that it’s happened yet again and it’s a terrible feeling.

“I couldn’t fault them for their effort throughout, but it’s clear we’ve got to work on our defending right to the end.”

Crawley’s two goals came in the first three minutes of stoppage time and Ainsworth confessed: “I couldn’t see us capitulating.

“We were solid enough without any great quality, but it’s the same old feeling in the end.

“It hurts me but it hurts the fans. I wouldn’t go as far as apologising to them, but I promise I will do everything in my power to turn this around.

“I just want to win games and get the mentality up to another level.”