SAINTS B ended their EFL Trophy run on a high with a 4-0 demolition of League Two Crawley Town at the People’s Pension Stadium on Tuesday evening.

Left-back Thierry Small struck again late as a second-consecutive Kazeem Olaigbe brace and Ramello Mitchell tap-in had sealed the win for what was a youthful Saints side.

There was no senior players such as Will Smallbone or Yan Valery on this occasion, and Dynel Simeu also missed out through suspension leaving David Horseman with a few holes to plug.

He reverted to a four-at-the-back and gave further starts to 16-year-olds Dominic Ballard up front and Kamari Doyle in centre-midfield, against the Football League outfit.

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Crawley fielded a mixture of youth and experience; amongst the were first team regulars Tony Craig and Tom Dallison in defence with Sam Ashford and former Eastleigh man Jack Payne further ahead.

Daily Echo: Former Eastleigh FC midfielder Jack Payne (Pic: PA)Former Eastleigh FC midfielder Jack Payne (Pic: PA)

And it was the home side who piled on the early pressure, with over 300 fans inside the ground despite both sides having learned they were already eliminated well before the game had kicked off.

Despite that, the dynamic Small was able to break the pressure with a surge forward for Olaigbe to open the scoring less than half-an-hour into the affair.

That lead was doubled before the break, after popular Aussie midfielder Caleb Watts led a swift counter-attack and played for Mitchell to tap home – before Mitchell fired home again from the same provider moments later but was adjudged to be offside.

The Saints defence of Lewis Payne, Oludare Olufunwa, experienced head Olly Lancashire and Small were able to eat more Crawley pressure following the interval.

Then, right-back Payne, who has three goals in his last two appearances himself, was able to burst into the box and give Olaigbe his second strike of the match from close-range.

Small finished the scoring with only minutes to play but it was the pick of the bunch, punching home from the tightest of angles before launching into another passionate celebration.

The result means Saints have won five successive matches and have kept five successive clean sheets in doing so, with a return to Premier League 2 action at Sunderland on Sunday, November 14.