Walsall 1, Crawley Town 1: Reds pick up point at Banks's Stadium as Nichols strikes

Crawley Town gave all their fans travelling to Walsall a free pie and hot drink as a show of appreciation for their support and rewarded them with a hard-fought point.

Tony Craig was booked early on for accidentally clipping the heels of Connor Wilkinson who took a dive onto the turf.

Glenn Morris made a crucial save on 24 minutes to stop the wide effort of Brendan Kiernan, who looked lively in the early stages.

Crawley's injury list is well-publicised and their bad luck continued when the list it was added to when Jake Hessenthaler had to be replaced by Will Ferry.

On 43 minutes Kiernan gave the home side the lead after running clear and placing past a helpless Morris and it looked like the Reds would go into the break 1-0 down.

But Nichols, who had just missed a golden opportunity, made sure they went in level with a superb finish after a great run and pass by Francomb.

A bouyant Nichols raced forward with only two defenders to beat a minute into the half but was brought down by Rollin Menayese who was booked.

Menayese then found himself with the ball at his feet with only Morris to beat but the Cat made a superb reaction save from point-blank range.

The Reds applied more pressure in the latter stages but had to settle for a well-earned point.