SIX GOALS, two disallowed strikes and two penalty appeals - there was certainly plenty of entertainment for any newcomers who ventured to the Interlink on Saturday.

And the fact Stanley sealed the three points and moved up to fourth in the Nationwide Conference means hopefully they will return.

Stanley enjoyed their best crowd of the season as the promotion-chasers took on struggling Crawley who were desperate to get out of the bottom two.

But, as John Coleman knows only too well, nothing is easy and his team kept him on a knife edge until the final whistle blew

"Me, Jimmy (Bell) and Paul (Cook) have come off absolutely shattered. It is very draining emotionally. We have all come off with aches and pains. A win is a win and the relief when the fourth goal went in was unbelievable.

"In patches we have been absolutely breathtaking and other times we have been absolutely atrocious. We need to get some consistency back, we have got to stop conceding sloppy goals as ultimately it could cost us."

The manager stuck with the same line-up which had secured two wins, confident they could go out and make it a hat-trick.

And when a Gary Roberts cross wasn't cleared properly and Ian Craney fired the ball home on three minutes from 20 yards out, Stanley already seemed to be in charge.

David Brown then stung the hands of Town keeper Phil Smith as the Reds looked to repeat the 4-0 victory from last season.

But Crawley were no pushovers - and their front pairing of Daryl Clare, who reportedly cost more than £50,000, and Steve Burton certainly tested the Reds backline.

And they equalised when Sacha Opinel did well to keep the ball in on the half-way line and slid it to Burton who raced through and finished superbly - curling the ball round Darren Randolph and it landed in the net off the far post.

Crawley then felt they should have had a penalty. Opinel beat three defenders and set up Andy Lindegaard who was charging in with Leam Richardson and both ended up on the ground in front of goal. Crawley thought the Stanley left back had taken Lindegaard's legs but the free kick was given to the Reds.

And then it was Stanley's turn to be upset when a Robbie Williams free kick was flicked into his own goal by Town captain Ian Simpemba - but the whistle had already blown for a foul.

It was an incident packed game and it was soon the Reds turn to ride their luck again as Crawley had a seemingly good goal disallowed on 41 minutes.

Clare capitalised on a defensive mistake and crossed to Chris Giles at the far post and he touched it over the line - but the assistant ref put his flag up.

Even Reds manager Coleman said the decision was "harsh".

Roberts was then denied twice by Smith and Steve Jagielka was furious on the stroke of half-time when he was upended in the box following a Brown break - but nothing was given.

Both sets of fans then had time to draw breath at the interval and it was Stanley who improved after the break after what was probably a colourful half-time team talk by Coleman.

And they were soon celebrating the second when Roberts beat the off-side trap - although Crawley boss Francis Vines felt he hadn't - and charged down the left wing and unselfishly crossed to Jagielka who slotted the ball past Smith.

But Stanley's back line were still struggling to contain livewires Burton and Clare and the two combined with former Chester hitman Clare chipping Randolph for the second equaliser on 67 minutes to keep everyone on their toes.

Yet, within ten minutes, the Reds had once more taken charge in an end-to-end match. Sub Andy Mangan was fouled on the edge of the area, Roberts took the free kick and, although it was on target, Smith should have done better but pushed it into his own net.

Stanley's Benin international Rommy Boco got his first taste of Conference football as he came on to the loud applause of the watching home fans.

And he was influential in Stanley's fourth as he sent Mangan running through and the teenager celebrated his third goal of the season.

While Coleman breathed his sigh of relief, he was still infuriated with the goals conceded.

"Their first goal was a good goal, the defence has turned off a little bit, but it is a good ball and a great finish. The second goal was a really bad goal. He has made a predictable run and we have let him do it.

"But, all credit to the lads, we have come back and taken the game to them and we have got the three points."