Matt Tubbs has fired Crawley Town into a slender 1-0 half-time lead over Tranmere Rovers at the Broadfield Stadium tonight.

The 29-year-old hitman opened the scoring by delicately curling a free kick beyond the reach of goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams seven minutes from the interval.

Tubbs had earlier been the recipient of the game's first chance, latching on to a Josh Simpson cross, but he thumped his shot narrowly wide from 18 yards out.

Rovers' first sight at goal came through Max Power, whose 25-yard thump was saved by goalkeeper Paul Jones on the half-hour mark as Town held out to secure the narrow lead.