Crawley Town 1, Bolton Wanderers 4: Reds unable to spoil Trotters' promotion party

It was an excellent display from Bolton, who achieved promotion from League Two at the first time of asking.

Antoni Sarcevic blasted in the opener with Dapo Afolayan adding a second.

George Francomb was sent off for a second yellow card, and after half-time Eoin Doyle steered in a third.

Lloyd Isgrove made it four, with Davide Rodari sliding in his first goal for Crawley late on.

Despite a positive start from Crawley it was Bolton who broke the deadlock early on when Sarcevic was played through on the left hand side, before doing brilliantly to cut inside and send a thumping finish past Morris, giving Bolton the perfect start in the ninth minute.

Glenn Morris produced a save from a tight angle to deny Afolayan after he robbed Joe McNerney of possession.

Jack Powell sliced a first-time effort wide on the edge of the box, before he had another good chance meeting Nick Tsaroulla’s deflected cross, but he could only fire over on his left foot.

Soon after Bolton got an important second when the ball was worked into Gethin Jones inside the box, who sent a low cross towards an unmarked Afolayan at the back post, who tapped in with ease to put the Trotters two up in the 26th minute.

Moments later Morris was called into action again as he came out to thwart Isgrove from close range.

Jordan Tunnicliffe’s blushes were spared by the linesman’s flag when his loose touch set up a disallowed first-time strike from Doyle.

Crawley’s afternoon went from bad to worse when skipper Francomb was dismissed for a second yellow card when he pulled down Declan John.

In the second-half Bolton secured their promotion to League One when Sarcevic teed up Doyle, who tucked a first-time left-footed effort into the bottom corner to seal the deal in the 48th minute.

Isgrove picked up a loose pass from Powell before racing through on goal and making it four, as the Trotters got promoted in style, with the fourth goal coming in the 77th minute.

Crawley did get a consolation goal, when on the break Tyler Frost set up Rodari, who swept a cool finish into the bottom corner, his first for Crawley, scored in the 89th minute. It was a positive way to end the afternoon, as the Trotters celebrated promotion back to League One.

Crawley Town: Morris, Francomb, McNerney, Powell, Nadesan (Frost 77’), Davies (Sesay 65’), Tunnicliffe, Craig, Tsaroulla, Hessenthaler, Wright

Bolton Wanderers: Gilks, Jones, Williams, Almeida Santos, Doyle (Miller 78’), Sarcevic (Delfouneso 70’), Isgrove (Gnahouha 78’), Thomason, Baptiste, John, Afolayan (Elbouzedi 77’)