A 47th minute goal fired in by Jose Baxter proved enough to hand the Reds their first ever defeat in five meetings by the South Yorkshire giants. Crawley made two changes from the line-up which lost 3-1 to Bradford City on Tuesday with Lewis Young and Conor Henderson replacing striker Gavin Tomlin and denender Sonny Bradley who were both on the bench. Ryan Dickson dropped back from left wing to left back. Sheffield made just one change from the XI which beat Peterborough 2-1 away in midweek with striker Michael Higdon preferred to Marc McNulty. Crawley got off to the better start at the impressive Bramall Lane ground as Jimmy Smith had a well struck shot narrowly wide from 25 yards. In a breakaway attack, Izale Mcleod passed to Bobson Bawling who had a shot deflected wide for a corner. Sheffield striker Michael Higdon headed a corner over the bar while in a later attack, Jose Baxter fired into the side-netting. McLeod actually had the ball in the net after 33 minutes but the whistle had correctly blown for Young being offside. Both sides battled for superiority with neither team taking control although Crawley looked more confident as the half went on. Henderson volleyed comfortably over the bar from 30 yards. Reds keeper Brian Jensen got down well to grab the ball from a testing free-kick by Davies which looked like it was going to be bundled in from a crowded penalty area. The Reds finished the first half strongly when Gwion Edwards nearly gave his side the lead with a shot which hit the crossbar before Bobson Bawling saw his follow-up attempt blocked by a defender. Sheffield began the second half in positive style and almost immediately took the lead from the restart when Ben Davies crossed for Jose Baxter to put away first time from just outside the area. Utd kept the pressure on in search for a second goal with Jamie Murphy blasted side from a similar position. They then created a third opportunity through Higdon which was well blocked by Dean Leacock. Crawley tired to fight back with an attack down the wing from Lanre Oyebanjo whose drive was blocked while McLeod could not connect with a cross from Young. John Gregory brought on Gavin Tomlin for Young and Charles Banya for Oybanjo as Reds pressed for an equaliser. For the last few minutes Dean Leacock pushed forward to join Mcleod and Banya up front while Bawling switched from forward duties to right back. Sheffield nearly made sure of victory with a cross to Davies who blasted wide from just 12 yards. Finally in the last move of the match Jensen went forward to receive a corner, McLeod struck a volley only for the ball to be blocked on the line. REDS: Jensen, Oyebanjo (Banya 83), Dickson, Henderson, Leacock, Edwards, Smith, McLeod, Walsh (c), Young (Tomlin 75), Bawling. Unused subs: Bradley, Rose, O’Connor. THE BLADES: Howard, Alcock, Basham, Doyle (c), Murphy, Baxter (Flynn 68), Collins, Davies, McGahey, McEveley (Harris 85), Higdon (Reed 78). Unused subs: Harris, McNulty, McGinn, Campbell-Ryce, Turner. REFEREE: Andy D’Urso ATTENDANCE: 18,178 (155 away)