Reds held despite Sadler strike
Mat Sadler added to the collection of outstanding goals scored by Reds' players this season but it wasn't enough to prise three points out of a hardworking Carlisle side at the Broadfield.Sadler's thiunderbolt 11 minutes into the second half cancelled out an even more spectacular strike from Jon-Paul McGovern, who had given the visitors the lead with a free kick from 40 yards which caught Paul Jones totally unawares.
Reds hammered away at the visitors after drawing level but Carlisle keeper Mark Gillespie didn't have too many more saves to make as the quality of the final ball sometimes let us down.
The draw means Reds have reached their first objective of 50 points with 12 games to go and with no fear of the drop they can push on now and hopefully still challenge for the play-offs.
An unchanged Crawley made a good high-tempo start to the contest with Nicky Adams, Mike Jones and Matt Sparrow all prominent early on.
Adams' deflected strike looped just over and Jones was inches away with a low drive from 20 yards as the hosts dominated the opening 20 minutes.
But Carllsle began to threaten from set pieces. Sean O'Hanlon was twice inches away when he got good headed connection on a couple of McGovern corners but it was still a surprise when the visitors took a 24th minute lead.
With everyone expecting McGovern to hoist his free kick into the box the midfielder went for goal instead from 40 yards and although Jones got a touch, the ball went in off the underside of the bar.
There were signs just before the break that Reds were regaining their earlier composure and a volley from Adams in stoppage time was pushed around the post by Gillespie.
Reds maintained that tempo after the break with Jones going close before his pass into the box allowed Sadler to hit his stride and then curl only the third goal of his career into the top corner from the left-hand corner of the box with the outside of his left peg.
The home side battered away for the winner after that. Man of the match Muzzy Dumbuya was a constant threat down the right and Proctor guided a header from Adams' cross over.
But Carlisle stood firm without threatening themselves to chisel out a point. For Richie Barker came the consolation that his side are still in decent form ahead of Notts County's visit on Saturday.