A brace from Ben Garrity helped the Valiants to secure three points. David Worrall notched again and Connor Hall opened his account for the club.
The Valiants were put under pressure from the away side in the opening minutes and keeper Aidan Stone stood firm to deny the visitors with a strong punch from a set-piece opportunity.
Moments later, a David Worrall cross from the right found the head of Jamie Proctor in the area but the forward’s header flew just off the mark.
The Reds had another sight at goal from a corner, Stone did well to save the initial contact but the ball found its way back into the back of net via a deflection from Nathan Smith to give the visitors the lead.
Andy Crosby’s charges grew into the game as the minutes ticked on and started to enjoy a greater spell of possession in Crawley Town’s half of the pitch. Ben Garrity was next for Vale to find space just outside the area and attempted to test Crawley keeper Glenn Morris.
James Wilson was next to test Morris after he latched on to a long ball to find space behind the Crawley defence and took aim at goal from a narrow angle, forcing Morris into a save at the near post.
The persistence from Vale eventually paid off close to the half hour mark when a through ball from Tom Pett was left loose outside the penalty area and Ben Garrity was quickest to react, rounding the away keeper before slotting it into the net with great composure to level the scores.
After containing a reaction from the visitors, the Vale went on to take the lead with Wilson at the centre of the attack once again. He latched on to a well-timed ball in behind and bided his time in the box to send a sumptuous cutback for Worrall, who poked it home to make it 2-1.
Moments later, Stone was called to action after a Crawley town counter attack ended with a strong volley by Kwesi Appiah which produced an exceptional save from Stone to keep it 2-1 for the Vale.
Towards the end of the first half, there were chances to be had to extend the lead with Proctor and Chris Hussey coming close.
The Valiants carried their momentum from the first half into the second with Worrall the first to find sight of goal after a pin-point switch from Garrity to find him on the overlap.
Soon after, Garrity was involved again. A well-placed goal-kick from Stone landed at the feet of Proctor who flicked it into the path of Garrity who slotted it past Morris with a composed half-volley to make it ten goals for the season for him.
Vale's confidence grew from strength to strength following the goal, with Hussey the next to find space in the box but his volley flew just wide of Morris’ post.
It wasn’t too long before Garrity was involved again, finding space down the right and sending a hanging cross into the box, where Harry Charsley was fouled after collecting a knock-on from Proctor, the loose ball was then prodded into the back of the net by Connor Hall who opened his account for Vale.
Kian Harratt replaced Wilson in the second half and was close to threatening Morris himself as Vale continued to create chances and keep up the pressure on the visitors.
With ten minutes to go, it was Tom Pett who found himself in an advanced position after good work from Smith to send him on his way. Pett’s through-ball found Harratt who then attempted to lob it past Morris but was ultimately flagged offside.
Closer to full-time, the visitors produced a cross from the left that flashed just past Stone in goal with nobody making contact. Soon after, Hall stood tall to win an important header to keep the score unchanged.
Both substitutes Harratt and Ryan Edmondson did well in their cameos late in the second half as the game finished 4-1.
Port Vale XI | Aidan Stone, Connor Hall, Aaron Martin, Nathan Smith, David Worrall, Tom Pett, Harry Charsley, Ben Garrity (73’ Brad Walker), Chris Hussey (81’ Mal Benning), James Wilson (65’ Kian Harratt), Jamie Proctor (69’ Ryan Edmondson).
Subs not used | Tomas Holy, David Amoo, Joel Cooper.
Crawley Town XI |Glenn Morris, Archie Davies, Tony Craig ((66’ Owen Gallacher), 78’ Mark Marshall) , Jack Powell, Tom Nichols, Ludwig Francilette(57’ Isaac Hutchinson), Will Ferry, Kwesi Appiah, Nick Tsaroulla, Jack Payne (45’ James Tilley), Jake Hessenthaler.
Subs not used | Taylor Seymour, Florian Kastrati.