Leigh RMI 1 Crawley 2: LEIGH RMI's hopes of a flying-start to the season were dashed by two Charlie Macdonald goals, as Conference newcomers Crawley bounced back from a goal down to clinch victory.

The Railwaymen were not helped by a harsh penalty decision, but their poor second-half display, after they had led 1-0 at the break, is something manager Phil Starbuck must quickly address.

RMI, with only three players in the starting line-up from last season, dominated the first-half and went ahead in the 15th minute when Carl Adams' free-kick found Chris Lane and he headed across the area, where Chris Gaunt tucked it away.

After the break Leigh still dominated until the 53rd minute when Martin Moran was adjudged to have handled the ball on the edge of the penalty box, when Mo Harkin fired a cross straight at him, and Macdonald made no mistake from the spot.

Leigh lost their composure as Crawley gained in confidence and it was no surprise when they grabbed the winner 10 minutes from time. A cross from Charlie Mapes was headed onto the crossbar by Danny Davidson, but the ball rebounded back to MacDonald, who grabbed his second with the simplest of tap ins.

A disappointed Starbuck said: "We dominated the first-half and should have had two goals. We came out in the second-half and the referee makes a decision, which in my opinion is not one of his best, but we have to be able to respond to that. We have enough experience in the dressing room to cope with a decision that went against us - but we didn't cope."

"We lost our shape and were disjointed and for half an hour were not doing the right things. The front lads did not hold it. We didn't deal with the threat of the big lad upfront, but when we changed our shape we dominated again and had chances at the end. We have to learn from this. It is a new team and it takes time to gel."

Crawley boss Francis Vines was sympathetic to his opposite number saying he thought his side were lucky to get the penalty.

He said: "I think we were quite fortunate with the penalty. He was only about five yards away and he has lashed it at him and it has struck his arm."

New signing Alex Meechan said: "We started very well but were very disappointed in the end. We shot ourselves in the foot when we should have taken the three points. The penalty decision changed the game a lot and we stopped playing as we had in the first-half. We had as many chances as them."