Crawley bowed out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle as they went down 1-0 at Yeovil Town.

An error from Joe Walsh gifted Manchester City loanee Jordy Hiwula the only goal of the game after seven minutes.

Crawley rarely threatened to get back into the game with the closest they came being a header from Izale McLeod which went harmlessly over the bar.

The result will add to the growing sense of dissatisfaction among Crawley fans following a series of lacklustre displays in recent weeks.

It will also deny Reds a vital revenue stream and turn up the pressure on manager John Gregory ahead of their JP Trophy quarter-final against Gillingham on Tuesday.

Reds have been guilty of starting slowly this season and paid the price for their lethargy once again.

Yeovil gave them a warning after just 90 seconds when an innocuous looking shot from Sam Foley came back off the upright with Jamie Ashdown well beaten.

That close call failed to spark the visitors out of their slumber as Yeovil did get their noses in front after seven minutes.

Joe Walsh failed to deal with a chipped ball into the area and was outmuscled by Hiwula who then rounded Ashdown before slotting into the empty net.

The Glovers pressed for a second with Ben Nugent glancing a header just wide with Ashdown in no-man’s-land and Kevin Dawson flashing a cross-shot just wide.

Ashdown caused more alarm in the Crawley defence when he pushed a shot from Jordan Clarke back into the danger area but it was scrambled clear.

Reds slowly came into the game but the closest they came to an equaliser before half-time was a snapshot from Matt Harrold from the edge of the area which went narrowly wide.

Steer was called into action for the first time shortly after the break as he got down well to keep out a effort from McLeod at the near post.

The on-loan Aston Villa goalkeeper also comfortably saved a long range shot from Josh Simpson and when he was beaten by a header from McLeod the ball cleared the bar.

But Reds’ encouraging start to the second half was short lived as their FA Cup hopes fizzled out without as much as a whimper.

Gregory brought on former Glovers duo Gavin Tomlin and Lewis Young just after the hour in a bid to spark his side into life but it had little effect.