Scott Lindsey hails Crawley character after snatching point against Oldham

Crawley boss Scott Lindsey praised the character of his side after a late goal from substitute Kabongo Tshimanga rescued the struggling Red Devils a point in a 2-2 home draw against Oldham.

Ryan Loft had fired Crawley ahead in the first half, but goals from Michael Mellon and substitute Jack Stevens put Oldham in charge before Tshimanga had the final say.

Former Peterborough striker Tshimanga has now come off the bench to score three goals in the last five games to rescue points for his side, and Lindsey felt his men were more threatening in the closing stages.

He said: “In the first half we were good but we didn’t start the second half very well I thought.

“However, we showed character to get back in the game and we finished as the stronger team.”

The match ended controversially with Crawley being awarded a penalty deep into added time, only for referee Charles Breakspear to change his mind after consulting with his assistant.

The decision was made as it was Crawley defender Charlie Barker who had handled, and Lindsey admitted: “It was the right decision in the end.

“But it was a car crash – the referee stood and chatted with their players for over a minute before he changed his mind.”

Oldham boss Micky Mellon admitted he was “amazed” when Breakspear pointed to the spot and explained: “I thought the referee was letting us off at first when he blew the whistle because the Crawley guy had punched the ball, and then I saw him point to the spot and was amazed.

“But then the linesman told him what had happened. It was very strange. I’ve been in the game a long time and haven’t seen anything quite like that.”

Mellon was pleased to end a run of three successive defeats in league and cup but felt his men should have taken maximum points.

He added:” We put ourselves through it. In the end, we weren’t quite hanging on but we should have won it by then.

“I thought we were poor in the first half, too many players were slow coming out of defence, but it was better after we made tweaks and Stevens coming on made a lot of difference.

“ He was more aggressive as we should have been. The tempo got better and I thought we were going to win it.”