Jay Williams strikes late to snatch draw for Crawley against Chesterfield

Captain Jay Williams denied play-off chasing Chesterfield a fourth win in six games as relegation-threatened Crawley salvaged a 1-1 draw at the Broadfield Stadium.

Midfielder Williams headed in a Ronan Darcy cross at close range in the final minute of added time to cancel out Liam Mandeville’s strike just before the interval.

Crawley boss Scott Lindsey insisted there was “no need to panic” at his struggling side’s lack of goals going into the clash and said he had not been considering freshening things up at the top of the pitch.

Striker Danilo Orsi had a shot blocked by the legs of keeper Zachary Hemming early on but this was the nearest Crawley came as Chesterfield bossed the first half.

Lee Bonis was inches wide, Chey Dunkley headed wastefully over and Dilan Markanday was denied in a one-on-one situation by keeper Jacob Chapman before Chesterfield made the breakthrough.

Mandeville struck a well-placed shot into the roof of the net to give Paul Cook’s side a deserved lead.

Dylan Duffy and substitute Will Grigg both could have extended Chesterfield’s advantage before Crawley’s Darcy fired against the outside of the post 12 minutes from time.

Chesterfield looked set for a deserved win but Williams ended a run of four Crawley games without a goal in dramatic fashion.