'Best team lost' says Evans as Shrimpers & Robins unable to take advantage

Gillingham took advantage of playing against 10 men for well over an hour to come from behind to beat table-topping Crawley 2-1 thanks to Jo Kuffor's second-half double.

Creepies boss Steve Evans took the defeat with his usual good grace believing the Gills bench acted outrageously and that his team dominated most of the match.

Plus ça change.

He told www.crawleytownfc.com: "Defeat was hard to take as I thought we dominated for long spells even playing for so long with ten men. I must give credit to the Gillingham players and their supporters who, I must say, were outstanding but even they must think that they have witnessed a team who is worthy of being top of the league. Our fans also played their part and helped create a brilliant atmosphere, the Broadfield was electric all afternoon."

However, to be fair, he did agree with the decision that saw his side playe over an hour with a player less.

Evans said: "I have no complaints about the sending off of Claude Davis. I thought the referee had a good match as did his two assistants although he perhaps could have been more efficient with his cautions for continuous fouling, but overall he did well for me. We gave away two sloppy goals and that is not like us as a team but the lads will learn from that. My players gave everything and more in terms of effort and passion, I cannot ask for any more. Our focus now is Barnet at home on Friday. That will be another tough match but there are a number of added incentives for us in collecting the points on offer."

Come on you Bees!

Southend though were denied the chance to close the gap on Crawley after their game at Aldershot was abandoned at half-time, with the Shrimpers leading 1-0 and the hosts down to 10 men. (Report below)

Cheltenham were also unable to make serious inroads at the summit after the third-placed side drew 0-0 at home with fourth-placed Shrewsbury.

Ashley Hemmings scored a 90th minute winner as Plymouth came from 2-0 down at half-time to snatch a thrilling 3-2 victory away to Bristol Rovers.

Fellow strugglers Dagenham also won as two first-half goals from the on-loan Cristian Montano set John Still's side on the way to a 3-0 home triumph over Barnet.

Northampton are now in the bottom two after the 10-man Cobblers threw away the lead to lose 3-2 at home to Burton, who pinched the points thanks to Justin Richards' penalty two minutes from time.

Hereford failed to take the chance to move away from trouble after Port Vale fought back from a goal down to win 2-1 at Edgar Street thanks to Marc Richards' 84th minute penalty.

Bradford City gave their relegation fight a shot in the arm as James Hanson scored twice in the second half en route to a 3-0 home win over Crewe Alexandra.

Swindon Town's promotion challenge suffered a dent as Taiwo Atieno scored the only goal of the game on 34 minutes at Plainmoor to give Torquay a 1-0 triumph.

Accrington continued their recent impressive run of form after veteran midfielder Bryan Hughes struck 15 minutes from time to secure a 2-1 success at faltering Morecambe.

Rotherham United's bid to boost their play-off prospects was frustrated by a 0-0 draw away to Macclesfield Town.

AFC Wimbledon's disappointing run of form continued after first-half efforts from James Constable and Asa Hall earned Oxford United a 2-0 away win.