Tubbs at the double to see off Warnock’s Rangers

CRAWLEY Town maintained their unbeaten pre-season record with an impressive 2-0 win over Queens Park Rangers last Wednesday night.

New signing Matt Tubbs was the star of the show once again, netting in each half to take his impressive pre-season tally to five goals.

He opened the scoring on 14 minutes after Steve Masterton’s effort was palmed out by Rangers keeper Radek Cerny. The striker was quickest to react and he tapped home.

A strong QPR side failed to really get going after going behind, despite dominating the opening exchanges. Romone Rose and Max Ehmer had driven shots straight at Michel Kuipers in the Reds goal, while Peter Ramage nodded over the bar from close range.

Steve Evans threw triallist Marvin Kamara on at the start of the second half and he created the second goal for Tubbs in the 67th minute.

His pass through the middle found the free-scoring forward in acres of space and he superbly rounded Cerny before slotting into the empty net.

Kamara might have got his name on the scoresheet before the final whistle, but he could only direct a header at Cerny as the Reds held their visitors at bay to record another good win.

The only disappointment was an injury to Dean Howell as the curse of the left-back position continued.

The new signing from Aldershot had to go off with what looked like a bad shoulder injury and he could miss the start of the season.

Assistant manager Paul Raynor said: “Dean landed awkwardly on his shoulder and is being examined by our doctor.

“It is sod’s law as we already have an injury to Sam Rents, who plays in the same position.

“It was a shame because up to that point he’d played extremely well.

“Defensively we were very solid and we are beginning to gel nicely. Kamara showed a couple of good flashes but we’ll keep having a look at him at St Albans and at Bromley before we make a decision.”

Crawley Town: Kuipers, Rusk, Howell (Ryan 77), Mills (Flood 83), Quinn (Hutchinson 86), Hall, Cogan (Kamara 46), Masterton (Smith 86), Tubbs (Enver-Marum 83), McAllister (Malcolm 83), Torres. Unused subs: Jordan, Napper, Brewer.