Crawley should have no fear going into tomorrow's relegation showdown with Halifax.

Reds need a point at The Shay to secure their place in the Conference for next season.

The odds will be against them as they face another side fighting for their lives, a boisterous crowd of passionate Yorkshiremen and the fatigue of a five-hour journey.

But they will have every confidence of getting the job done after a battling performance at Grays.

They put consecutive poor displays in defeats against Exeter and Northwich behind them to out-battle the home side.

There were a few nervy moments, as you might expect, but overall Reds had the better of the game and could have come away with all the spoils.

The caretaker management trio of Ben Judge, Dave Woozley and John Yems should take a lot of the credit.

They bravely decided to go head-to-head with Grays' attacking 4-3-3 formation and it paid off in the first half.

With Tony Scully floating in a free role behind the front two, Reds overran the hosts in the opening 20 minutes and carved out three chances to score.

Skipper Dannie Bulman fired a 25-yard drive wide, Marcus Richardson headed past a post and Scott Rendell shot straight at keeper Danny Knowles from an angle.

Grays gradually got more into the game as it wore on but rarely looked like breaking down Reds' resistance.

Judge said: "We tried to play a narrow formation with Lee Blackburn holding and Tony Scully getting in between the two forwards.

"We worked on it all week and I thought it worked very well in the first half.

"We had reports that they play 4-3-3 and our belief as a management trio is that we play best when we match up with teams.

"We believe that individually we are as good as anyone in this league so if you match up, tactics then don't come into it.

"It is down to hard work and who the better player is in that position on the day."

Judge believes the turning point in Crawley's dominance was an unsuccessful penalty appeal midway through the first half.

Rendell, making his first start in five games in place of Elliot Benyon, appeared to be tripped close to the right by-line just inside the area by defender Anthony Barness.

It looked stonewall and the referee did not book Rendell for diving which suggests he was not totally sure as he waved play-on.

Judge said: "The first 20 minutes were good but then a few decisions went against us and they got back into it.

"Scotty is convinced it was a penalty at the near post but overall we are happy with what we got."

Grays had their best spell five minutes after Rendell's tumble. Dennis Oli went close with a flick past a post and Aaron O'Connor twice brought out the best in goalkeeper Ben Hamer with shots on the turn.

John Martin also had a clear opportunity just before the hour when he beat the Reds' offside trap and scuffed wide with only Hamer to beat.

But, other than that, Crawley looked fairly comfortable and a first clean sheet in three games is a major confidence booster ahead of a game against a Halifax side struggling to score goals.

Judge said: "There is still work to be done but it is another week gone and another week we are not in the relegation zone. There is only one more week to go, thank god."

Grays: Knowles, Sambrook, Stuart, Downer (El-Kholti 76), Thurgood, Oli, O'Connor, Martin, Barness, Rhodes (Bodkin 63), Nicholls.

Subs not used: Bayes, Harding, Joseph-Dubois.

Crawley: Hamer, Judge (Obersteller 69), Okuonghae, Woozley, Hiley, Blackburn, Bulman, Evans, Scully (Blackman 74), Rendell, Richardson (Benyon 63).

Subs not used: Tolfrey, Berry.