It was a far from pretty encounter as wind and swirling rain circled the ground and both teams struggled to hit top form.
Andy Ford introduced 29 year old former Stevenage and Farnborough defender Nathan Bunce, signed from Weymouth, into the side as cover for Paul McArthy who broke his nose against Accrington Stanley four days earlier.
On 22 minutes, Andrew Drury slipped past two defenders in the Crawley box, but his shot sailed over the bar.
Soon after a Roy Essandoh header from a Justin Skinner corner was cleared off the line.
In the 62nd minute, Daniel Marney sliced his shot wide form six yards before Danny Davidson forced keeper James Pullen into a fingertip save with a deflected shot.
Drury had a shot that had Crawley keeper Phil Smith scrambling and then a 77th minute run into the box by Moussa Sidibe was ended by a challenge from Neil Jenkins but referee Martin Yerby waved away penalty claims.
Four minutes later, Essandoh put the ball in the net with a knee high header but was flagged offside and in time added on, a free-kick from Skinner was met by Bunce who saw his header ricochet off the inside of a post and away to safety.