The Crawley players were welcomed onto the pitch by a red flare from the home fans, who made sure their presence was felt. The home side looked lively in the opening minutes but it was Wimbledon who had the first chance of the game five minutes in when Ethan Chislett crossed it to Josh Davison who fired the ball over the crossbar with a volley from the edge of the box. Tom Nichols got the home fans on their feet in the 10th minute after he controlled the ball with his chest and lined himself up for a shot but his effort went just wide of the post from an awkward angle. Despite Crawley’s recent chance Wimbledon broke the deadlock 14 minutes in when Nathan Young-Coombes broke into the box down the right before placing the ball past Corey Addai from a narrow angle. It looked as if the visitors were going to double their lead a couple of minutes later when Davison found himself through on goal but Addai made himself big to deny the striker. Frustration grew among home fans in the first half with some spectators standing up and voicing their concerns to manager Kevin Betsy. Jack Powell looked to drag Crawley back into the game with a sensational volley from outside the box in the 40th minute but his effort didn’t dip enough to challenge the goalkeeper. Crawley’s day went from bad to worse just before half-time when Chislett curled the ball into the back of the net with a fantastic free kick from the edge of the box. Boos echoed from some home fans as the referee blew his whistle for half-time.