ACCRINGTON Stanley were unable to deny Crawley Town promotion as they suffered a home defeat on the final day of the League Two season.

The visitors needed victory to confirm the final automatic spot and Scott Neilson’s 67th-minute goal ultimately proved enough.

Stanley handed a debut to Marcus Carver, who signed his first professional contract earlier in the week, and the young midfielder came close to scoring early on only to see his effort saved by Scott Shearer.

John Akinde fired a shot just over at the other end but Padraig Amond had a glorious opportunity to put Stanley ahead when he raced clear, but again Shearer saved.

The Crawley keeper then kept out Michael Liddle’s header before Carver nodded just wide from Jamie Devitt’s corner.

Amond had a header cleared off the line by David Hunt but Crawley were enjoying considerable territory too and Neilson fired wide when he should have hit the target.

The visitors were on top at the start of the second half and Kyle McFadzean got on the end of David Hunt’s long throw to direct a header against the top of the bar.

The same bar was struck moments later as Ian Dunbavin did just enough to prevent Akinde’s effort finding the net, before Craig Lindfield cleared another McFadzean header off the line.

Crawley did get the goal they needed in the 67th minute though as Neilson collected Warren Cummings’ long pass and swivelled to fire the ball into the bottom corner.

Stanley: Ian Dunbavin; Craig Lindfield, Peter Murphy, Toto Nsiala, Kevin McIntyre; Luke Joyce, Michael Liddle; Marcus Carver (Micah Evans 57), Charlie Barnett (Will Hatfield 87), Jamie Devitt (Bryan Hughes 60); Padraig Amond. Subs not used: Lee Nicholls, Adam Stockdale.

Crawley: Scott Shearer; David Hunt, Claude Davis, Kyle McFadzean, Warren Cummings; Scott Neilson, Josh Simpson, Dannie Bulman, Sergio Torres; Gary Alexander, John Akinde. Subs not used: Michel Kuipers, Scott Davies, Pablo Mills, Sanchez Watt, Billy Clarke.

Referee: Darren Deadman.

Attendance: 2,299.