Steve Evans had every right to feel robbed following defeat at Grays - and not just because his car was broken into outside the ground.

The Crawley boss discovered a window of his motor had been smashed by local vandals after seeing the referee steal three points from his side.

He had to drive home in the pouring rain with only a makeshift bin-liner protecting the gaping hole to cap an exasperating day in Essex.

Evans rightly felt Reds should have been awarded a penalty nine minutes after half-time when striker Pierre Joseph-Dubois was brought down by defender Jamie Stuart.

It looked a clear foul and, with Crawley leading 1-0 at the time and Stuart likely to be sent off for his misdemeanour, would have almost certainly handed the visitors victory had they converted from the spot.

However, the referee did not agree. He waved play-on and later told Evans he thought Joseph-Dubois slipped in the wet mud.

Evans, as Reds fans will by now come to expect, went ballistic on the sidelines but that was nothing to what he felt come the final whistle after Grays were awarded two penalties at the other end to win the game.

To make matters worse, both decisions were questionable. Striker Danny Kedwell went down under a sliding tackle from James Krause for the first on 73 minutes as the pair challenged for a cross.

It not only looked a 50-50 challenge but the Reds dressing room claimed afterwards that the foul occurred outside the area.

The second spot-kick was even less clear cut. Krause tugged the shirt of frontman Aaron O'Connor as he shot over with nine minutes remaining.

The referee did not give it at first and blew his whistle after seeing his assistant flag, leaving Kedwell to slot into the same corner from 12 yards.

Evans has often pointed the finger of blame towards referees for defeats this season and on some occasions it could be disputed he did it to cover up his own side's failings.

But, as even the Grays management team admitted afterwards, there was no doubt Evans and Co were harshly treated this time.

Evans said: "The whole world knows that Pierre got scythed down 16 yards from goal, clearly in the box, and no one understands why the penalty was not given.

"I spoke to the referee and his comments went along the lines of I thought it was a penalty, then I wasn't sure but I thought it was outside the box anyway.

"It would have been 2-0 had we taken the penalty and Grays would have been down to ten men. There is no doubt we would have then gone on to win.

"With the other two penalties, I don't know if Krause made contact with the player for the first one but it was outside the box. The ref got that one wrong and got swayed by the home end. To be fair with the winning penalty, I have to say Krause tugged the guy.

"But we have to endure decisions that are baffling and even the football assessors who I talk to say they are getting baffled by decisions and they are ones in charge of the referees."

Reds almost salvaged a point when Kieran Murphy hit the crossbar with a volley from a free-kick in the sixth minute of injury time.

But although it would have been justice had it hit the net in terms of the earlier dodgy decisions, it could be argued Reds got what they deserved in terms of the balance of play.

The visitors only had two real attacks in the first half and scored with one thanks to a superb strike by Jon-Paul Pittman.

He outpaced Stuart and guided the ball past keeper Nicky Eyre with the outside of a foot on the stroke of the break.

Crawley spent most of the second half defending, apart from the counter attack which led to Joseph-Dubois' tumble and a late foray when Grays were seeing out time.

They again lacked their high tempo from earlier in the season and have now suffered four defeats in the last ten days.

The one positive that did emerge was the lively debut of loan signing Ryan Hall. The 20-year-old looked good on the ball and tried to create following his move until the end of the season from Crystal Palace.

Evans said: "I thought for 60 minutes he was outstanding, certainly for 45 he was the best player on the park. He has great ability, he can pass it and move.

"In the last 20 minutes he got tired and we expected that because he has not had a lot of games. He will be a good player for us over the last four weeks."

Grays: Eyre, Gross, Stuart, Ashton, Downer, Thurgood (Goulding 64), O'Connor, Cogan, McCafferty, S. Taylor (J. Taylor 46), Kedwell (Standing 90). Subs not used: Whincup, Woodward.

Booked: McCafferty (23) foul, Stuart (49) foul, Downer (93) foul.

Crawley: Bayes, Thompson (Cook 87), Stevens (Thomas 41), Murphy, Krause, Blackburn, Pinault, Bulman, Hill, Pittman, Joseph-Dubois. Subs not used: Carter, Nayee, Raynor.

Booked: Joseph-Dubois (11) foul, Krause (72) dissent, Bayes (86) dissent.