Crawley boss Steve Evans admitted his side were hurting after they dropped points to a late goal for the second match running.

Reds were hanging on to their 2-1 advantage when Forest Green substitute Kaif Mohamed drilled a right-foot shot past Simon Rayner from the edge of the penalty area two minutes from the end as his side claimed their first ever point at the Broadfield Stadium.

It capped a spirited fightback by the visitors who trailed at half-time to goals from Adam Quinn and Jamie Cook before getting back into the contest three minutes after half-time through Jonathan Davies.

Last night’s setback came three days after Reds lost to a stoppage-time goal at Burton Albion.

Reds are still top of the Blue Square premier but their cushion is now just a point and Evans was left to regret missed opportunities.

He said: “We have dropped three points in the last few minutes of our last two games and that is hard to take.

“Goals change games and when they got one back they got a lift but we then had five or six chances to kill them off.

“The boys are hurting because they know we have dropped three points in two games and it is up to me and my staff to get their spirits back up before Saturday.

“But I have had to remind them that every game in this league is tough. We sat off the game in the last ten minutes and when you don’t take chances you leave yourself vulnerable.”

Crawley got off to the perfect start when big Quinn rumbled forward from the back to score his third goal of the season.

It was an easy one too as Forest Green’s defence failed to pick him up eight yards out and he powered a header from Simon Weatherstone’s free kick past Ryan Robinson.

Reds have scored early goals before this season and not gone on to dominate and it was the case again, although the visitors did not threaten much either despite the clever runs and speed of lone forward Michael Mangan.

Blow Crawley suffered an injury blow in the 16th minute when Chris Giles limped off with a calf strain.

Giles’ handball in injury time had given Burton the opportunity to end Crawley’s nine-match unbeaten run so it was some vote of confidence by Evans, who also gave Giles the captain’s armband against his former club.

He was soon handing it over to Dannie Bulman however with Sam Rents replacing him and Jake Wright, who started at leftback, moving alongside Quinn in the heart of the defence.

Forest Green worked tirelessly when they did not have possession and Crawley struggled to bring their wide players into the game for much of the first half.

But they turned round with the cushion of a second goal eight minutes before the break.

Cook did superbly to find himself a yard of space on the edge of a crowded penalty area but his right-foot shot only beat Robinson with the aid of a big deflection off defender Darren Jones.

The second goal gave Reds the confidence to get their passing game going and Weatherstone, who was always at the heart of their best moves, dragged a right-foot shot wide after a neat lay-off by Cook before Jon-Paul Pittman cut inside on the stroke of half-time only to blast his shot well over the target.

Mangan got the support he needed when the burly Michael Symons came on for the second half and within three minutes of the re-start the pair combined to put Forest Green back in contention.

Symons threaded his pass into Mangan’s path but his shot should have been held by Rayner. Instead it rebounded off the goalkeeper into the path of midfielder Jonathan Smith who scored from close range.

Reds responded to the setback by enjoying their best spell of the contest and should have restored their two-goal advantage.

On 53 minutes Weatherstone touched Cook’s cross into Dannie Bulman’s path but the midfielder’s shot went a yard wide of the post.

Robinson then saved supetbly from Pittman with his legs before getting down to keep out Cook’s low shot from 25 yards.

But the visitors still carried a threat on the counter-attack and Mangan should have levelled when Mohamed’s pass sent him clear but he side-footed widw with only Rayner to beat.

Mohamed then stormed forward only to fire wide but the substitute got what his side would feel they deserved when he beat Rayner with a low shot from the edge of the box which the keeper saw too late through a crowd of players.

Even then Crawley nearly nicked a dramatic winner but Robinson spread himself well to keep out Weatherstone’s effort from seven yards.

Crawley: Rayner 6, Wilson 7, Wright 7, Giles 6 (Rents, 17, 6), Quinn 8, Weatherstone 7, Bulman 6, Pittman 6 (Fletcher, 72), Pinault 6, Forrest 6, Cook 7. Subs not used: Stevens, Douglas, Thomas.

Forest Green: Robinson, Gill, McDonald, Jones, Preece, Afful, Smith, Fowler (sub: Simpson 80), Stonehouse (Mohamed, 66), Platt (Symons, 45), Mangan. Subs not used: Molyneux, Burton.

Referee: Rob Whitton.

Attendance: 1,156.