Conor Henderson came off the bench to snatch all three points for Crawley with a late free kick against Walsall.

The visitors had dominated the game and had chances to win it before Henderson curled home from 25 yards in the 89th minute.

It was more than Reds deserved after another unconvincing display but manager John Gregory will not care one bit following the heavy defeats to Peterborough and Notts County in their last two outings.

Henderson’s first goal since joining Crawley in the summer lifted Reds two places to 13th in League One ahead of their trip to Gillingham on Saturday.

Gregory resisted the temptation to make major changes following the 5-3 defeat at Notts County on Saturday with Josh Simpson replacing the suspended Keith Keane in midfield and Jamie Ashdown coming in for Brian Jensen in goal.

If Gregory had been looking for a reaction following the dismal showing at Meadow Lane he was to be disappointed with the start made by his team.

Reds were once again second to everything all over the pitch but were fortunate that Walsall were not able to finish off their good approach play.

The Saddlers were restricted mainly to long-range efforts but did finally open up the Crawley defence in the 27th minute thanks to Romaine Sawyers’ clever backheel. That piece of invention gave Anthony Forde a clear sight of goal but he toe-poked his effort wastefully wide from ten yards.

In total the visitors had 12 shots at goal in the opening 45 minutes but their only other decent chance came when James Baxendale burst down the right to lay the ball into the path of Sawyer on the edge of the box but he scuffed his shot off target.

Crawley’s only half-chance came courtesy of a defensive mistake by the visitors but Lewis Young was unable to make them pay as his shot was comfortably saved by Richard O’Donnell.

Walsall continued to dominant after the break and came close to breaking the deadlock early in the second half. Ashdown was called into serious action for the first time as he twice denied Sawyer with smart stops while Jordan Cook headed narrowly wide from a corner.

The visitors wasted another chance to take the lead with five minutes to go when substitute Ashley Grimes blazed over following a mistake by Joe Walsh.

It proved pivotal as Reds won the game four minutes later. Henderson won the free kick after being brought down 25 yards from goal and stepped up to send a dipping shot over the wall and past O’Donnell’s despairing dive.