Crawley started the game brightly and home keeper Stuart Coburn was forced to push away a long free kick under pressure.
The ball only made the edge of the area from where it was worked to Ryan Peters whose low shot was saved at the foot of the near post.
Shortly afterwards Coburn failed to deal with a passback and his weak clearance was seized by Peters. It took a good intervention by Warren Peyton to save the day.
Altrincham got into their stride and it took a good tackle by Michael Bostwick to halt Lew Chalmers charge into the box.
Val Owen then lost his footing as he tried to finish off a slick attacking move before Joe O'Neill tried a weak shot but failed to trouble the keeper.
Altrincham were giving away a lot of fouls in the early stages and they almost paid the price when Scott Rendell rose unchallenged in the area but he failed to put his header on target.
An open game saw Altrincham push their opponents back with Robbie Lawton prominent.
A good run down the left ended with a low cross that was turned over by Colin Little before O'Neill just failed to reach a deep cross from the right.
A mistake by Steve Aspinall, as he tried to clear Tony Scully's cross, gave Crawley's Lee Blackburn a chance but the defender recovered to deflect the shot wide before Altrincham had a chance of their own.
Chalmers showed guile down the left and his cross found Owen in space. The shot was powerful but wide.
Further pressure on the visiting defence saw Gary Mills get in a decisive tackle as Lawton prepared to shoot before Little's effort from 18 yards swung wide.
Then an intricate free kick routine by Alty saw Little make space for himself but the shot lacked both pace and direction.
Steve Bushell put in a dangerous looking cross that evaded the home forwards and then Owen was off target before Altrincham almost prised the visitors open.
Peyton was able to force himself into the Crawley area as he latched on to a chipped through ball from Chalmers but Ben Hamer made the save.
Crawley were able to take the initiative just four minutes after the re-start when Blackburn skipped round Bushell's attempted challenge and Peters was able to finish off the move by scooping into the net.
But Crawley's joy was short-lived.
From the re-start Chalmers was allowed space to attack the visiting defence and he took full advantage to hit an unstoppable shot from 25 yards.
Play continued at a high pace with Dannie Bulman having a powerful shot blocked before an Alty counter-attack saw O'Neill bringing a full-length save from Hamer.
Scully did well down the left to give Peters another chance that was hit off target before Chalmers once again tried his luck from distance. This time his short was comfortably saved.
The game gradually lost its sparkle again with mistakes once again in evidence.
Lawson was almost able to profit as Scott Hiley dallied.
The Alty player nicked the ball and crossed Little but the effort from 18 yards was too high.
Owen had the opportunity to clinch the game but his powerful shot from the edge of the box was blocked at the expense of a corner from which midfielder blasted over.
Chances were missed at both ends as the game ended in an unlikely flurry.
The ball only made the edge of the area from where it was worked to Ryan Peters whose low shot was saved at the foot of the near post.
Shortly afterwards Coburn failed to deal with a passback and his weak clearance was seized by Peters. It took a good intervention by Warren Peyton to save the day.
Altrincham got into their stride and it took a good tackle by Michael Bostwick to halt Lew Chalmers charge into the box.
Val Owen then lost his footing as he tried to finish off a slick attacking move before Joe O'Neill tried a weak shot but failed to trouble the keeper.
Altrincham were giving away a lot of fouls in the early stages and they almost paid the price when Scott Rendell rose unchallenged in the area but he failed to put his header on target.
An open game saw Altrincham push their opponents back with Robbie Lawton prominent.
A good run down the left ended with a low cross that was turned over by Colin Little before O'Neill just failed to reach a deep cross from the right.
A mistake by Steve Aspinall, as he tried to clear Tony Scully's cross, gave Crawley's Lee Blackburn a chance but the defender recovered to deflect the shot wide before Altrincham had a chance of their own.
Chalmers showed guile down the left and his cross found Owen in space. The shot was powerful but wide.
Further pressure on the visiting defence saw Gary Mills get in a decisive tackle as Lawton prepared to shoot before Little's effort from 18 yards swung wide.
Then an intricate free kick routine by Alty saw Little make space for himself but the shot lacked both pace and direction.
Steve Bushell put in a dangerous looking cross that evaded the home forwards and then Owen was off target before Altrincham almost prised the visitors open.
Peyton was able to force himself into the Crawley area as he latched on to a chipped through ball from Chalmers but Ben Hamer made the save.
Crawley were able to take the initiative just four minutes after the re-start when Blackburn skipped round Bushell's attempted challenge and Peters was able to finish off the move by scooping into the net.
But Crawley's joy was short-lived.
From the re-start Chalmers was allowed space to attack the visiting defence and he took full advantage to hit an unstoppable shot from 25 yards.
Play continued at a high pace with Dannie Bulman having a powerful shot blocked before an Alty counter-attack saw O'Neill bringing a full-length save from Hamer.
Scully did well down the left to give Peters another chance that was hit off target before Chalmers once again tried his luck from distance. This time his short was comfortably saved.
The game gradually lost its sparkle again with mistakes once again in evidence.
Lawson was almost able to profit as Scott Hiley dallied.
The Alty player nicked the ball and crossed Little but the effort from 18 yards was too high.
Owen had the opportunity to clinch the game but his powerful shot from the edge of the box was blocked at the expense of a corner from which midfielder blasted over.
Chances were missed at both ends as the game ended in an unlikely flurry.