Crawley Town rescued what could be a very valuable point under the Monday Night Lights at the Broadfield stadium against Stockport County.
The first chance of the game fell to Crawley - Laurence Maguire had a great chance to open the scoring, he was picked out perfectly in the penalty box by Kellan Gordon, but his free header flew past the post.
Harry Forster had just previously gone close with a shot from just inside the area, but his blushes were spared when the assistant flagged him offside.
With 38 minutes on the clock Danilo Orsi tested Stockport ‘keeper Ben Hinchcliffe with a ferocious strike from just outside the area. The shot was a good one, and it could only be parried away. It was the first real chance either side had had for a good while in a game that was being played out mainly in the middle third of the park.
Minutes later, Gordon wove his way into the box from his traditional right wing-back position, but his low shot went missing amongst the plethora of Stockport bodies in the area.
The visitors didn’t really pose too much of a threat in the first half, but midfielder Callum Camps saw a couple of efforts whizz narrowly past the post.
Corey Addai, in the Crawley goal, made some superb saves early on in the second half to keep his side in it. The hosts withstood a couple of spells of Stockport pressure and it was thanks solely to Addai that the game remained deadlocked as the clock ticked over the hour mark.
Crawley had a strong shout for a penalty turned down following a potential Stockport handball.
However, just minutes later the visitors took the lead as Antoni Sarcevic poked home a header from a corner for his first goal since December. It was an unfortunate goal for Crawley to concede given some of the attempts they had kept out up to that point.
Odin Bailey went close to doubling the Hatters lead, but his curling effort dipped too late and subsequently sailed over the bar.
With just under seven minutes to play, Klaidi Lolos levelled the score with a thunderous strike that arrowed past Hinchcliffe into the top left-hand corner, much to the delight of the 3,000+ fans in attendance tonight.
Attentions then swiftly turned to hunting for a winner, and with five added minutes announced by the fourth official, the atmosphere inside the ground ramped up a notch.
In the dying seconds, the ball fell to Laurence Maguire in the box following a trademark Will Wright long throw, but he blazed his effort high over the bar.
All in all, it was a valuable point for Crawley against strong opposition who posed a threat throughout.
Tonight’s result sees the Red devils climb to ninth in the table, level on points with both Walsall and Gillingham who occupy the two spaces either side of them and just one behind AFC Wimbledon who are currently sat in the crucial and highly-sought after 4th play-off spot.
This weekend Crawley travel to Prenton Park to take on 14th-place Tranmere Rovers before welcoming Doncaster Rovers to the Broadfield on Good Friday, the 29th of March.
REDS XI: Addai, Gordon (Adeyemo 69'), Wright, Mukena, Maguire, Forster, J.Kelly (Roles 54'), Williams, Darcy (Campbell 69'), Lolos, Ors
Attendance: 3,339 (451 away)