Izale McLeod scored his seventh goal of the season as Crawley came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw at home to Crewe.

Crewe had been the better side in the first half and went in 1-0 ahead thanks to George Cooper’s 19th minute strike.

Crawley boss John Gregory threw on a second striker at half-time in the shape of Matt Harrold and it made a big difference as they came back into the game.

The equaliser arrived in the 68th minute as McLeod smashed his shot into the top corner from 12 yards following a cutback from Gwion Edwards.

It was the striker’s fifth goal in seven career appearances against Crewe and was enough to stretch Crawley’s unbeaten run to three games.

The result saw Crawley slip to 15th in League One while Crewe drop to bottom spot.

Crawley had produced one of their best displays in the first half at Gillingham the previous weekend but were unable to make another positive start.

Reds were sluggish right from the kick-off and allowed a Crewe side missing half a dozen key players to settle into the match.

The visitors deservedly got their noses in front after 19 minutes when James Baillie was given acres of room down the right to pick out Cooper who’s first time shot gave Jamie Ashdown now chance.

Reds were fortunate not to fall further behind before the interval as Crewe nearly punished them twice for some awful defending.

Lanre Oyebanjo completely missed his clearance from a corner and had his blushes spared by Ashdown who denied John Guthrie from point-blank range.

Ashdown came to the rescue again four minutes before half-time as Crawley failed to deal with another corner. Harry Davis’s initial shot was well blocked by Mat Sadler and when the ball rebounded to the same player his low effort was kicked away by Ashdown.

Reds had posed virtually no threat in the first half - apart from one shot from Izale McLeod which was comfortably saved – and that prompted boss John Gregory to make a change at the interval.

Matt Harrold replaced Conor Henderson and joined McLeod up front as Crawley switched from 4-1-4-1 to 4-4-2.

It made little difference in the opening stages of the second period with Crewe looking more likely to double their lead than Crawley find an equaliser.

The home side did begin to build some momentum with Garratt forced into his first serious action on 61 minutes when he got down to save a deflected effort from McLeod.

Reds got back on level terms in the 68th minute when Gwion Edwards cut the ball back well from the byline and McLeod smashed a shot into the top corner from 12 yards.

Crawley (4-1-4-1): Ashdown; Oyebanjo, Leacock, Walsh, Sadler; Keane; Young, Henderson (Harrold, 46), Simpson, Edwards; Harrold. Subs not used: Jensen, Bradley, Smith, Banya, Bawling, Tomlin.

Crewe (3-4-3): Garratt; Guthrie, Davis, Dugdale; Leigh, Atkinson, Turton, Baillie; Brandy (Saunders, 88), Haynes (Jones, 76), Cooper (Haber, 88). Subs not used: Shearer, Johnston, Waters, Ng.