Bristol City Leave It Late To Beat Crawley.

Bristol City defender Luke Ayling came up with an 87th minute winner that made sure City stayed at the top of league one, albeit by only one point.

Ayling came to City’s rescue with just three minutes of normal time remaining when the ball came into his path some ten yards out and he lashed home an important volley from a tight angle.

It was a tough game for the Robins, make no mistake about that, Crawley came looking for a point and set their stall out well restricting City’s chances, although they did have to defend in numbers just before the goal.

Crawley keeper Price was on form and he made a stunning save in the first half, preventing Kieran Agard from getting on the scoresheet.

As for the visitor’s chances, they mainly came from distance, two of those efforts of note came from Shaun Miller and Lanre Oyebanjo, but mainly their game was to restrict City’s chances.

Set pieces always caused the visitors a problem, Aden Flint and Matt Smith’s height causing a problem or two.

Ayling told reporters after the game: “It`s important to be able to grind out results and stay top of the league.

“The other sides at the top will see that result and know that we have won again. They are doing well themselves, but they still can`t catch us.

“We`ve shown that we simply refuse to be beaten and are prepared to keep on going until the last whistle. Our spirit is brilliant and that`s what got us the result today. We`re still top and that is something we are proud of.

“We want to stay there all season if we can and we`ve shown that we`re not going to give it up without a fight.”