Crawley winless run in League One stretched to seven games as they were held 2-2 at home by struggling Shrewsbury Town.

Reds got off to the best possible start against a Shrews side without an away win all season when Josh Simpson fired them into the lead after just 43 seconds.

The visitors made a mockery of their away form by taking control of the game and went in 2-1 ahead at the interval thanks to goals from Matt Richards and Jon Taylor.

Reds cranked up the pressure in the second half and eventually found an equaliser with nine minutes to go as Simpson grabbed a second.

The result means Crawley have now taken just four points from their last seven matches and have slipped to tenth in the table.

Reds have found themselves chasing the game in their last six league outings but got off to the perfect start as they took the lead after just 43 seconds.

Nicky Adams scuffed a free kick but it worked out nicely as the ball fell to Simpson who placed a shot past Chris Weale from the edge of the area.

Instead of building on their lead Reds were guilty of being sloppy and were punished in the 14th minute when Shrewsbury levelled.

Paul Jones looked to have cleared the danger when he punched away a cross from Jon Taylor but Richards reacted quicker than the Reds defence to fire home as Jones tried to get back in position.

The goal lifted Shrewsbury who took control of the remainder of the first half to take a deserved lead into the interval.

Taylor was unable to make the most of a good chance after 29 minutes when he headed over following a mix up between Mark Connolly and Paul Jones.

Taylor more than made amends five minutes later with a superb solo effort. The midfielder picked up the ball on the halfway line and with the Reds defence pushing up to try to catch Luke Rodgers offside he simply continued his run before firing past Jones emphatically.

Crawley dominated possession after the restart but were still unable to force Weale into any serious action.

In fact it was the visitors who came closest to extending their lead with Jones having to make a smart stop from Rodgers.

Boss Richie Barker brought on Dannie Bulman and John Akinde after 66 minutes in an attempt to change the course of the game.

An equaliser did not look like coming until Simpson scored his second of the game with nine minutes to go. Mat Sadler did well to stab the ball across the box and Simpson fired a low shot past Weale from 12 yards.

The visitors had a great chance to win it deep into injury time but substitute Tom Bradshaw sidefooted wide from close range from Paul Parry's cross.