Tris Whitman wants to stay at Crawley after coming off the bench to earn a first point for manager John Hollins.

The on-loan Tamworth striker scored seven minutes from time to give Reds an impressive draw at in-form Halifax.

He pounced on a loose ball in the box, coolly rounded keeper Adam Legzdins and slotted in his first goal since coming to the Broadfield Stadium on a two-month deal in mid-November.

Whitman said: "It was great to get my first goal and to do it at such an important time. I have fitted in really well here and I'm enjoying it.

"I would love to stay because there is a buzz in the team at the moment and the character we showed to get a point against a good side like Halifax was fantastic.

"It was a real confidence-booster for everyone, especially me, and hopefully I will be able to carry on now and score more."

It not surprising that Whitman wants to stay. Hollins has only been in charge for 12 days but, from the evidence of Saturday, Reds are already beginning to turn the corner.

Crawley had almost everything that had previously been missing, especially in the first half, which was easily the best 45 minutes they have played away from home this season.

They were organised, outstanding at the back, which is not something that has been said too many times lately, and played a swift counter-attacking style which should have been rewarded with more than two goals.

And all this came against a Halifax side who have the best home record in the Conference.

Hollins said: "I was very pleased with the point. We looked like a good, organised team which is what we are working towards.

"In the first half I counted five good moves of five passes or more, we just didn't have the final finish.

"It is all about organisation. Me and Alan (Lewer) have been working to see which players can do a job where and we have slotted them in. It was very encouraging but we will not sit back now, we will work even harder to build on this."

Simon Wormull was absent due to illness and Holllins surprisingly handed Danny Brown his first start since September 5.

Brown has suffered from lack of form and fitness since joining from Oxford United in the summer and was so out of the picture under former boss Francis Vines and caretaker Wormull that supporters were beginning to wonder if he had left.

But Hollins gave him a chance in the reserves last Wednesday and saw enough to throw him straight in and he gave Crawley a completely different dimension.

Brown did not play particularly brilliantly and Wormull will probably come straight back in once fit but his style suited the way Reds needed to play.

While Wormull is all-action and keen to get forward at every opportunity, Brown is the archetypal holding midfielder.

He sits in the middle, loves to put his foot in and breaks up the play.

He is also good on the ball, acting as a central pivot with his cultured left foot.

Halifax could not cope with him and the hard-working Paul Armstrong in the first half and were forced to restrict their attacks to the flanks, which was comfortable for the Reds defence to deal with.

The boos that echoed around the old Shay ground at half time were testament to how well Reds played in the first period.

It also had something to do with the way they had taken a 13th-minute lead from a Daryl Clare penalty.

It was given for a foul on Steve Burton, who went down rather too easily after tussling for a long ball with defender Adam Quinn.

The turning point for Halifax came 11 minutes after the break when the Crawley defence suffered their only blip of an otherwise solid display.

Phil Smith decided not to come for a deep free-kick to his back post, causing the defence to hesitate, and Danny Forrest capitalised to nod home from two yards.

The goal sparked the Shaymen into life and they ran riot in a ten-minute spell which saw them score a second and almost add another. John Grant hit a drive from the edge of the box on 62 minutes which Smith got a hand to but could not stop ricocheting into the top corner.

Forrest then hit a 25-yard pile-driver which smashed back off the crossbar.

Reds' confidence may have caved with the onslaught a couple of weeks ago but this time they responded by putting pressure on Halifax after a change of approach by Hollins.

He brought on Whitman for Armstrong, who had been one of the top performers, and played him in a three-pronged attack and it got its reward.

Hollins is hoping he can make more masterstrokes against Whitman's parent club on Saturday.

He said: "Saturday against Tamworth is a massive game which I want to win. If we can add three points to this one then it will get us really back on track."