Scott Lindsey praised the character shown by his Crawley side as they hit back from 2-0 down to beat Grimsby with a last-gasp winner.
Former Mariners striker Danilo Orsi settled the scores against his former club at Blundell Park deep into added time as Crawley made it three straight victories with this 3-2 success.
A frantic 12-minute spell in the first half set the tone as goals from Gavan Holohan and Abo Eisa put Grimsby in full control, only for Liam Kelly and Ronan Darcy to hit straight back for Crawley.
Orsi swept home the winner in the sixth minute of added time, lifting Crawley to fourth in Sky Bet League Two.
Lindsey said: “It was a great three points, and we are pleased with that, but we are always looking at our performance levels.
“We prepared for a team to play against us in an aggressive manner. Grimsby did that with an aggressive press and nothing was different from us doing our preparation.
“Their first goal was offside. For the second we have to do better. We had to make better decisions [after going 2-0 down] and try (to) play through their press better, which we did.
“You can’t go two down at a place like this, but we showed some great character to get back and win the game. That was down to our group and togetherness.”
Grimsby manager Paul Hurst added: “I don’t think as though we deserved it, but we have to take it on the chin. It can be a cruel game sometimes.
“For long enough both teams were trying to win the game, then it became apparent they were slowing it down as best they could.
“I think Crawley were ready to take a point from the game. For them to get that goal at the end is hard to take, especially with us going 2-0 up.
“For us to be pegged back to 2-2 so quickly was very frustrating, but then both sides had spells and chances. I thought we had the better of it.
“We had another good chance at the end and missing that summed it up.”
Holohan grabbed the opening goal in the 23rd minute as he reacted quickest after Eisa struck the post with a misguided cross.
Eisa made it 2-0 when he cut inside from the left and finished neatly for his fifth goal this season.
However, by the 35th minute, Crawley were back on level terms after two quickfire goals from Kelly – who sent a stunner into the top corner from 25 yards – and Darcy on the angle from 12 yards.
Adam Campbell and Darcy missed chances after the restart before Orsi dramatically snatched three points for Crawley at the end.
