Tom Nichols strike enough for Crawley to see off Bristol Rovers in cup clash

Tom Nichols scored the only goal of the game against his former club as Crawley gave boss Kevin Betsy his first win in three attempts with a 1-0 Carabao Cup victory over League One Bristol Rovers.

Betsy made six changes after two successive 1-0 league defeats and the Reds responded with an energetic performance.

Striker Nichols settled the tie 16 minutes from time as Rovers went out of the competition at the first-round stage for the third season in a row.

Rovers boss Joey Barton, who made only one change to his side by recalling defender Alfie Kilgour, went into the game admitting he is currently working with a “very small, tight-knit group”.

Striker Aaron Collins forced Crawley goalkeeper Corey Addai into an early save and Harry Anderson’s touch was too heavy when fed by Collins shortly afterwards.

Former Rovers striker Nichols was gifted with a chance after James Belshaw failed to gather the ball cleanly, but the keeper recovered to keep out a low shot.

Crawley threatened shortly before the interval when Tony Craig fed Jake Hessenthaler and his cross was volleyed wide by George Francomb.

Addai came to the Reds’ rescue in the 49th minute by turning a goal-bound shot from Collins around a post after he was played in by John Marquis.

Sam Finley saw a deflected shot go over for Rovers before Collins had a close-range effort ruled out for offside just after the hour.

Striker Ryan Loft should have done better when heading an Antony Evans cross wide, before Nichols struck to put Crawley ahead.

Nichols raced onto a through ball by Jack Powell and, after having his initial shot blocked by Belshaw, he calmly steered the rebound low into the net.

Substitute Aramide Oteh struck the outside of a post and also fired over from a pass by Nichols as Crawley finished strongly.