League Two side Crawley Town were unable to cause an FA Cup upset against ten-man Stoke City at the Broadfield Stadium this afternoon.
Hosts Crawley started the tie brightly and almost took the lead in the ninth minute. David Hunt sent over a corner which Stoke centre-forward Peter Crouch turned against his own crossbar before clearing to safety.
Hunt was involved in the action again in the 18th minute when he was brought down by City midfielder Rory Delap. Referee Mike Jones decided that Delap's actions were worthy of a red card and sent the former Republic of Ireland international off.
Despite their numerical advantage, Stoke broke the deadlock six minutes before the break. Crawley defender Kyle McFadzean brought down Ryan Shawcross inside the area and Jonathan Walters stepped up to convert the resultant spot-kick past Rene Gilmartin.
Tony Pulis's side doubled their advantage seven minutes after the restart courtesy of England international Crouch. Glenn Whelan curled over a free-kick which Crouch was able to head past Gilmartin from close range.
Crawley were reduced to long range efforts as they looked for a route back into the tie. The closest they came was when Arsenal loanee Sanchez Watt sent a 20-yard strike narrowly over the crossbar with ten minutes remaining.
Liam Apicella
