Bury 3 Crewe 1
It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive, or something like that, and in the case of following Crewe this month, that's never been truer. Four games away from home, 15 goals conceded and no points earned. Still, I've had some good trips out.beers and dominoes at Northampton, meeting up with family at Rotherham and on Saturday a trip to Bury via a Wetherspoons pub and Taps Bar. Now Taps is a fantastic concept - you get a table which has two beer pumps on it and you can pour your own beer. The beer is charged in tenths of a pint and there's an electronic display so you can track how much beer you've had. Sadly, there are a couple of drawbacks with the concept - you're stuck with whatever is in the pumps on your table and some of the beers are quite expensive (£5.20 a pint in a couple of cases). That said, it was good fun pouring my own beer and if I was in the corporate hosting business I'd certainly look at using that venue to entertain clients. In fact, if my company ever strikes a big deal and takes us out to celebrate, I'll suggest that as a venue.
After the delights of a Wetherspoons breakfast (plus a pint of Roger The Cabin Boy and a pint of Master Bates, both from Nothumberland Brewery) and Taps bar, there was some faffery with taxis up to Bury and thence we were in the ground.
With Dario having decided to play all four of his strikers, there was a general consensus that it would either be a stroke of genius or a total disaster. In fact, in the first half, it didn't seem to be either. Both sides struggled to trouble the goal and neither keeper really had a save to make. Crewe did however manage to capitalise on their extra pace up front when a swift counter-attack saw Miller race on to a clever inside pass from Donaldson to take the ball in to the area and beat the keeper from just outside the six yard box. Almost out of nothing, and not far short of half-time, Crewe had the lead.
But they are Crewe and there were still plenty of anxious and nervous people in the crowd. Most of us couldn't believe that Crewe had nicked ahead, especially given the way they had played in previous matches. Bury didn't look particularly good but no one was counting any chickens...
Bury started the second half with all guns blazing but still couldn't find a way through the Crewe defence. Te ever dangerous Byron Moore had a good chance to put Crewe further ahead, but the keeper made a decent block. Bury came back again and Crewe started to look a little uncertain. On the hour mark, Bury manager Alan Knill made the substitutions that were to change the game. Off went the largely ineffective John-Lewis and Picken and on came the extra pace of Kyle Bennett and the battering ram of Andy Bishop (who usually scores against Crewe). Dario responded by swapping Moore for youngster Nick Powell, but the truth is that that wasn't what was needed. In my humble opinion, he should have brought on Murphy and shored up the midfield by going to a 4-4-2, with Moore on the left and Murphy on the right and Donaldson and Miller up front. With Bury starting to throw the numbers forward, the arrival of Bennett had an almost immediate impact. He found himself in space on the right of the penalty area and the ball fell to him and his instant cross-cum-shot caught out Tootle who could only bundle it over his own line for the equaliser. In short order Crewe were behind as their defence was again caught out by the movement of the front men of Bury. This time, Bennett was given time and space on the edge of the area to hit a shot past Taylor in the Crewe goal. Taylor could possibly have done better but he was probably a little unsighted when the shot was hit. Calamity was to follow calamity as Ryan Lowe found himself unmarked following some neat inter-passing on the edge of the are and he scored for the seventh consecutive game, to match a Bury record set some 57 years ago. In little more than ten minutes Crewe had gone from leading and looking almost comfortable to trailing by two goals and chasing the game.
In truth, although they had chances Crewe never really looked like getting back in the game, but by the same token Bury never really looked like extending their lead. A mad fifteen minutes or so cost Crewe the game, but it was easy to see that once Bury scored their first, at least one more was going to come. Crewe's defence had the collywobbles and the midfield weren't tracking back quickly enough to cover their opposite numbers.
Ah well, that's February out of the way and there are a couple of nominally easier games to come so perhaps Crewe can find their form again and go on another run. With two months of the season left, automatic promotion maybe beyond them now but there's still the play-off spots to aim for. Fingers crossed.
Monday 28 February 2011
Friday 25 February 2011
Wir Tanzen Ado Hinkel
Accrington 3 Crewe 2
This game was originally scheduled for Boxing Day but was, of course, postponed as the bad weather wiped out most of the lower league fixtures. I'd originally pencilled myself in for going to the re-scheduled date, but found that I was lacking the necessary enthusiasm for attending and instead chose to take my nephew to watch Nantwich Town at home to FC Halifax United. Not that that worked out any better...
Whilst Crewe were struggling on Accrington's half-finished pitch, Nantwich were fighting a valiant rearguard action against the Evo-Stik League leaders. Both sides made it to half-time level but whilst Crewe had managed to score before conceding, Nantwich were lucky not to be three or four goals behind.
In both matches things went downhill in the second half.
Up at Accrington, Crewe were being outplayed and were soon behind. They worked hard to level the game but then threw it away just three minutes later, conceding yet another poor equaliser. It stayed that way till the end of the game and that meant that it was five consecutive defeats away from home. Disappointing form that has probably scuppered their play-off-cum-promotion hopes for another season.
Meanwhile down at the Dabberdome, Nantwich were imploding in spectacular fashion. There was a hint of offside for the first goal and a definite push in the build-up for the second, but Halifax were ruthless and once Nantwich's central defender Charlie Reeves went off, the defence lacked the organisation to cope. Halifax could, probably should, have scored more, having settled the game with four goals in little over ten minutes. Nantwich put in a manful effort to limit the damage, but they were thoroughly outclassed and in the end the six-nil scoreline didn't really flatter the visitors.
So, having had a unrewarding night at the Dabberdome, it's off to Gigg Lane this Saturday to watch Crewe against Bury. As is usual with Manchester-based games, that means it's off to the pubs early for a few beers and a bite to eat before a last-minute dash to the ground. Given Crewe's away form, I'll probably be better off staying in the pub and watching England play France in the rugby...
This game was originally scheduled for Boxing Day but was, of course, postponed as the bad weather wiped out most of the lower league fixtures. I'd originally pencilled myself in for going to the re-scheduled date, but found that I was lacking the necessary enthusiasm for attending and instead chose to take my nephew to watch Nantwich Town at home to FC Halifax United. Not that that worked out any better...
Whilst Crewe were struggling on Accrington's half-finished pitch, Nantwich were fighting a valiant rearguard action against the Evo-Stik League leaders. Both sides made it to half-time level but whilst Crewe had managed to score before conceding, Nantwich were lucky not to be three or four goals behind.
In both matches things went downhill in the second half.
Up at Accrington, Crewe were being outplayed and were soon behind. They worked hard to level the game but then threw it away just three minutes later, conceding yet another poor equaliser. It stayed that way till the end of the game and that meant that it was five consecutive defeats away from home. Disappointing form that has probably scuppered their play-off-cum-promotion hopes for another season.
Meanwhile down at the Dabberdome, Nantwich were imploding in spectacular fashion. There was a hint of offside for the first goal and a definite push in the build-up for the second, but Halifax were ruthless and once Nantwich's central defender Charlie Reeves went off, the defence lacked the organisation to cope. Halifax could, probably should, have scored more, having settled the game with four goals in little over ten minutes. Nantwich put in a manful effort to limit the damage, but they were thoroughly outclassed and in the end the six-nil scoreline didn't really flatter the visitors.
So, having had a unrewarding night at the Dabberdome, it's off to Gigg Lane this Saturday to watch Crewe against Bury. As is usual with Manchester-based games, that means it's off to the pubs early for a few beers and a bite to eat before a last-minute dash to the ground. Given Crewe's away form, I'll probably be better off staying in the pub and watching England play France in the rugby...
Monday 21 February 2011
Open Your Heart
Crewe 0 Stevenage 1
For the second consecutive home game, there was no lucky walk pre-match as I was otherwise engaged, disposing of half a tree. The top half of the tree in my back garden was blown down during some high wind recently and had lain in the garden awaiting my attention for a couple of weekends. Having purchased the necessary tools - bow saw, loppers and axe - I set about it with some vigour. Only to find myself knackered after about an hour and a half and with only half the tree dealt with. So I've got another bit of work to do there one weekend.
Anyway, having done some exercise that I felt the gods of luck would be OK with, it was off to the Alexandra Stadium to see my beloved Alex take on Stevenage. I wasn't expecting a feast of football given Crewe's recent form and Stevenage's preferred style of play. Sadly, I wasn't disappointed.
With Shaun Miller not recovering from his thigh injury in time to play, Dario left Byron Moore up front to partner the returning Donaldson and AJ Leitch-Smith was dropped to the bench. Other than that there were no changes from the side that had scraped a draw against Gillingham the previous week. Personally, I'd have moved Moore back to midfield, dropped Shelley and left AJ up front. The reason being that with Moore and Donaldson up front, there was no genuine pace in the middle, meaning that there was no outlet out wide unless the full backs pushed up.
Despite my reservations, Crewe didn't play too badly. They certainly made more chances and if Donaldson had not just had three weeks on the sidelines, he may well have done better with the chance he got in the first half. To be fair, Stevenage keeper Chris Day came out to make a good block, but Donaldson in top form would surely have buried the chance. As it was, the rebound came to Shelley and he somehow manged to put his effort wide as he knocked it back across goal. Two good chances and neither of them went in. Apart from that there was little action of note in the first half. There was, however, the curious incident of the Stevenage time-out. There had been some talk on the Internet earlier in the week that, at about 28 minutes into the game, a Stevenage player would go down injured and while he was being treated his team-mates would come to the technical area, take on drinks and receive tactical instructions. And lo, it came to pass that at about 26 minutes into the game, a Stevenage player went down for an injury (the cause of which was unseen by me) and the rest of the team came to the technical area, and so on... Most curious. Not strictly against the laws of the game, I suppose - lots of teams take drinks when there's a break in play - but certainly against the spirit. If this is happening on a regular basis, I wonder if the Football League ought to be taking notice...?
Anyway, after a dismal first-half, the feeling round me was that it could only get better and that Crewe would surely score. It didn't and they didn't. Not for the want of trying though. The scoring that is. Moore put a shot into the side netting, saw Day save one shot with his feet and then, when he finally beat the keeper, saw his shot crash back off the underside of the bar and out. Westwood picked up the loose ball and Crewe had a decent shout for handball but the ref waved the appeals away. He also waved away appeals when Leitch-Smith was bundled over late on and when Tootle was fouled in the area. At least in the latter case he can argue that Tootle stayed on his feet and played the ball. Those three decisions certainly confirmed suspicions that the referee didn't like Crewe. (Another great piece of Internet gossip, fact fans.)
Stevenage, of whom the best that can be said is that they were average, meanwhile were doing a fairly decent job of stifling the midfield but they never really looked like carving out chances of their own. Luckily for them, Crewe's rearguard were helping them out every now and again. One shot flashed across the face of goal and that was about the sum total of efforts I can remember from the visitors. Still, in the dying minutes Tootle gave away a cheap corner to let Stevenage have another go. As they'd done all game, they put a man in front of the keeper and profited handsomely as Taylor was impeded trying to clear the ball and ended up punching it into his own net. 99 times out of 100 you'll see them disallowed for a foul on the keeper. Clearly today was the 100th time... Can't say the defence weren't upset about the goal being allowed to stand with both Artell and Bell having furious word with the referee, but to no avail.
Crewe couldn't muster an equaliser in the little time that remained and Stevenage took home all three points in what even their most one-eyed fan must regard as a fortuitous victory. Let's face it, it was a game that really deserved to finish as a goalless stalemate. In between the efforts on goal, there were long spells of dreadful football from both sides. If it had been a boxing match, the referee probably could have disqualified both sides for not making an effort.
And talking of the referee, his performance on the field was bad but not as poor as his performance post-match. Walking through the bar with his assistants, he received a fair bit of abuse, some of it over-the-top in my opinion, but there was no need for him to respond in kind. Very poor. Surely not the first time he's had a mouthful from a fan and guarantees he'll get a hostile reception next time he takes charge of a Crewe game. Although, to be honest, I hope there's never a next time.
For the second consecutive home game, there was no lucky walk pre-match as I was otherwise engaged, disposing of half a tree. The top half of the tree in my back garden was blown down during some high wind recently and had lain in the garden awaiting my attention for a couple of weekends. Having purchased the necessary tools - bow saw, loppers and axe - I set about it with some vigour. Only to find myself knackered after about an hour and a half and with only half the tree dealt with. So I've got another bit of work to do there one weekend.
Anyway, having done some exercise that I felt the gods of luck would be OK with, it was off to the Alexandra Stadium to see my beloved Alex take on Stevenage. I wasn't expecting a feast of football given Crewe's recent form and Stevenage's preferred style of play. Sadly, I wasn't disappointed.
With Shaun Miller not recovering from his thigh injury in time to play, Dario left Byron Moore up front to partner the returning Donaldson and AJ Leitch-Smith was dropped to the bench. Other than that there were no changes from the side that had scraped a draw against Gillingham the previous week. Personally, I'd have moved Moore back to midfield, dropped Shelley and left AJ up front. The reason being that with Moore and Donaldson up front, there was no genuine pace in the middle, meaning that there was no outlet out wide unless the full backs pushed up.
Despite my reservations, Crewe didn't play too badly. They certainly made more chances and if Donaldson had not just had three weeks on the sidelines, he may well have done better with the chance he got in the first half. To be fair, Stevenage keeper Chris Day came out to make a good block, but Donaldson in top form would surely have buried the chance. As it was, the rebound came to Shelley and he somehow manged to put his effort wide as he knocked it back across goal. Two good chances and neither of them went in. Apart from that there was little action of note in the first half. There was, however, the curious incident of the Stevenage time-out. There had been some talk on the Internet earlier in the week that, at about 28 minutes into the game, a Stevenage player would go down injured and while he was being treated his team-mates would come to the technical area, take on drinks and receive tactical instructions. And lo, it came to pass that at about 26 minutes into the game, a Stevenage player went down for an injury (the cause of which was unseen by me) and the rest of the team came to the technical area, and so on... Most curious. Not strictly against the laws of the game, I suppose - lots of teams take drinks when there's a break in play - but certainly against the spirit. If this is happening on a regular basis, I wonder if the Football League ought to be taking notice...?
Anyway, after a dismal first-half, the feeling round me was that it could only get better and that Crewe would surely score. It didn't and they didn't. Not for the want of trying though. The scoring that is. Moore put a shot into the side netting, saw Day save one shot with his feet and then, when he finally beat the keeper, saw his shot crash back off the underside of the bar and out. Westwood picked up the loose ball and Crewe had a decent shout for handball but the ref waved the appeals away. He also waved away appeals when Leitch-Smith was bundled over late on and when Tootle was fouled in the area. At least in the latter case he can argue that Tootle stayed on his feet and played the ball. Those three decisions certainly confirmed suspicions that the referee didn't like Crewe. (Another great piece of Internet gossip, fact fans.)
Stevenage, of whom the best that can be said is that they were average, meanwhile were doing a fairly decent job of stifling the midfield but they never really looked like carving out chances of their own. Luckily for them, Crewe's rearguard were helping them out every now and again. One shot flashed across the face of goal and that was about the sum total of efforts I can remember from the visitors. Still, in the dying minutes Tootle gave away a cheap corner to let Stevenage have another go. As they'd done all game, they put a man in front of the keeper and profited handsomely as Taylor was impeded trying to clear the ball and ended up punching it into his own net. 99 times out of 100 you'll see them disallowed for a foul on the keeper. Clearly today was the 100th time... Can't say the defence weren't upset about the goal being allowed to stand with both Artell and Bell having furious word with the referee, but to no avail.
Crewe couldn't muster an equaliser in the little time that remained and Stevenage took home all three points in what even their most one-eyed fan must regard as a fortuitous victory. Let's face it, it was a game that really deserved to finish as a goalless stalemate. In between the efforts on goal, there were long spells of dreadful football from both sides. If it had been a boxing match, the referee probably could have disqualified both sides for not making an effort.
And talking of the referee, his performance on the field was bad but not as poor as his performance post-match. Walking through the bar with his assistants, he received a fair bit of abuse, some of it over-the-top in my opinion, but there was no need for him to respond in kind. Very poor. Surely not the first time he's had a mouthful from a fan and guarantees he'll get a hostile reception next time he takes charge of a Crewe game. Although, to be honest, I hope there's never a next time.
Monday 14 February 2011
The Upsetter
Crewe 1 Gillingham 1
There was no pre-match "lucky" walk this week because I had too much to do on Saturday morning and anyway, my walking partner was unavailable. I had planned to do a load of stuff on my day off on Friday but I was stuck in the house all day because I had to have the front door open while it was being painted and then allowed to dry. So I had to do it all my chores on Saturday instead.
Anyway, having not had the usual lucky walk, I was fearing the worst. Crewe had looked a bit dodgy at the back in the last couple of games and were without their leading goalscorers whereas Gillingham were on a good run having climbed 16 places from 22nd since Crewe beat them at Priestfields. Gillingham had also acquired Adebayo Akinfenwa, who may be the fattest professional footballer but who always prospers in games against Crewe.
The first half was a pretty dismal affair. Crewe had a few attacks, but couldn't capitalise when they got in on goal. Gillingham only had one game plan and that was to knock the ball up to Akinfenwa and get men up to support him. Crewe did a good job of starving him of possession though but putting Lee Bell in front of him and cutting off his supply. Crewe did however have a rare stroke of luck. Danny Shelley worked hard down the left wing to get a cross in and although it was too high for AJ Leitch-Smith, his jump unsighted the Gillingham defender and the unfortunate Sinclair shinned it in to his own net. Shelley later had a chance to extend the lead but hit the ball against the keeper's legs when he maybe should have done better. Then Byron Moore managed to fall over while overplaying the ball when he should have just hit it first time. Gillingham weren't showing much and were largely reduced to shooting from distance. They weren't making any friends in the Crewe crowd though, as a number of late tackles were flying in. The referee waved a card a couple of times but never really got a grip on it.
Having got to half-time in front, Crewe knew that Gillingham would throw everything at them after the break and so it proved. They moved the ball well, pinned Crewe in their own half and got the goal that seemed to be on the cards when Weston found time and space to lash in an unstoppable shot from about twenty yards out. Disappointing but with more than half an hour to go, both sides must have thought the game was still there to be won. Actually, scratch that. After they equalised, Gillingham seemed to revert to type and played like they were happy with the point. They slowed the game down and, despite being warned twice, the goalkeeper took as long as he could to get the ball back in play whenever he had control of it.
Both sides had chances, although Crewe had rather more. Akinfenwa managed to bustle through the Crewe defence only to see his shot saved by Rhys Taylor's trailing leg. Murphy for Crewe had a couple of good efforts on target and Westwod and Shelley both had shots blocked. It looked like heading to a stalemate but Crewe still gave us a scare. They were almost caught on the counter-attack in the final minutes, but Artell took one for the team by bringing down Dennis Oli just over the halfway line. Artell earned himself a yellow card but more importantly, earned time for the defence to get back and re-organise themselves.
Overall, a draw was probably a fair result. Crewe's defence nullified the attacking threat of Gillingham's leading striker (McDonald), who barely had a sniff, but couldn't create enough against a determined Gills defence either. I would have probably taken a point before the game, although Gillingham were nothing special.
Both Miller and Donaldson will be available again next week and one would hope that this means that they play up front with Moore dropping back to play on the wing and Leitch-Smith and Shelley dropping to the bench. That'd be a bit harsh on Leitch-Smith who is getting his first run in the team and probably still needs games to find his feet and also harsh on Shelley who always found a Crewe shirt with his passes in midfield and gave us an extra option from free-kicks with his thunderbolt shot. Whoever plays, it's a home game against Stevenage and we really need to give them a stuffing after the capers at their place earlier in the season.
There was no pre-match "lucky" walk this week because I had too much to do on Saturday morning and anyway, my walking partner was unavailable. I had planned to do a load of stuff on my day off on Friday but I was stuck in the house all day because I had to have the front door open while it was being painted and then allowed to dry. So I had to do it all my chores on Saturday instead.
Anyway, having not had the usual lucky walk, I was fearing the worst. Crewe had looked a bit dodgy at the back in the last couple of games and were without their leading goalscorers whereas Gillingham were on a good run having climbed 16 places from 22nd since Crewe beat them at Priestfields. Gillingham had also acquired Adebayo Akinfenwa, who may be the fattest professional footballer but who always prospers in games against Crewe.
The first half was a pretty dismal affair. Crewe had a few attacks, but couldn't capitalise when they got in on goal. Gillingham only had one game plan and that was to knock the ball up to Akinfenwa and get men up to support him. Crewe did a good job of starving him of possession though but putting Lee Bell in front of him and cutting off his supply. Crewe did however have a rare stroke of luck. Danny Shelley worked hard down the left wing to get a cross in and although it was too high for AJ Leitch-Smith, his jump unsighted the Gillingham defender and the unfortunate Sinclair shinned it in to his own net. Shelley later had a chance to extend the lead but hit the ball against the keeper's legs when he maybe should have done better. Then Byron Moore managed to fall over while overplaying the ball when he should have just hit it first time. Gillingham weren't showing much and were largely reduced to shooting from distance. They weren't making any friends in the Crewe crowd though, as a number of late tackles were flying in. The referee waved a card a couple of times but never really got a grip on it.
Having got to half-time in front, Crewe knew that Gillingham would throw everything at them after the break and so it proved. They moved the ball well, pinned Crewe in their own half and got the goal that seemed to be on the cards when Weston found time and space to lash in an unstoppable shot from about twenty yards out. Disappointing but with more than half an hour to go, both sides must have thought the game was still there to be won. Actually, scratch that. After they equalised, Gillingham seemed to revert to type and played like they were happy with the point. They slowed the game down and, despite being warned twice, the goalkeeper took as long as he could to get the ball back in play whenever he had control of it.
Both sides had chances, although Crewe had rather more. Akinfenwa managed to bustle through the Crewe defence only to see his shot saved by Rhys Taylor's trailing leg. Murphy for Crewe had a couple of good efforts on target and Westwod and Shelley both had shots blocked. It looked like heading to a stalemate but Crewe still gave us a scare. They were almost caught on the counter-attack in the final minutes, but Artell took one for the team by bringing down Dennis Oli just over the halfway line. Artell earned himself a yellow card but more importantly, earned time for the defence to get back and re-organise themselves.
Overall, a draw was probably a fair result. Crewe's defence nullified the attacking threat of Gillingham's leading striker (McDonald), who barely had a sniff, but couldn't create enough against a determined Gills defence either. I would have probably taken a point before the game, although Gillingham were nothing special.
Both Miller and Donaldson will be available again next week and one would hope that this means that they play up front with Moore dropping back to play on the wing and Leitch-Smith and Shelley dropping to the bench. That'd be a bit harsh on Leitch-Smith who is getting his first run in the team and probably still needs games to find his feet and also harsh on Shelley who always found a Crewe shirt with his passes in midfield and gave us an extra option from free-kicks with his thunderbolt shot. Whoever plays, it's a home game against Stevenage and we really need to give them a stuffing after the capers at their place earlier in the season.
Wednesday 9 February 2011
Aint No Sunshine
Rotherham 3 Crewe 1
Well, there certainly ain't no sunshine at the Don Valley Stadium. That's twice I've gone there and twice that it's tipped it down with rain. As per last year I took my Dad, but this year he drove and my cousin and his son came with us. Can't say it was any better a day out though.
With the rain already falling when we set off, it steadily got worse as we got closer to Sheffield. By the time we'd found somewhere to park I was dubious that the game would actually go ahead. Last year, the pitch hadn't looked like it was draining properly and I had little confidence that things would have improved. I was right - there were groundsmen out forking the pitch virtually up to kick off. Their efforts were not in vain though and the game went ahead.
The first half was fairly dismal to be honest. Rotherham had the majority of the possession and the territory but they couldn't really create any clear cut chances. Crewe looked to break forward when they got the chance but with both Miller and Donaldson missing the strike force lacked a cutting edge. With neither side looking likely to score, a draw at half time would have been a fair reflection. Sadly though, Crewe showed their usual vulnerability to crosses, as the Rotherham winger was given enough time to put in a low cross, which found it's way to Fenton, who stabbed it home from close range.
One nil down at half time and playing in terrible conditions, things didn't look good for the Alex. However, they worked hard in the second half, created a few more chances and got back in the game. Just after the hour mark, AJ Leitch-Smith latched on to a through ball from Lee Bell and, despite looking slightly offside, turned inside the defender and rolled home a shot from the edge of the area. Parity and just reward for the work that Crewe had done in the first fifteen minutes of the half.
As the second half wore on both sides had opportunities to add to their tally. For Crewe, Leitch-Smith couldn't hit the target from an acute angle and then Shelley rolled the ball wide when he looked odds-on to score. Up the other end, Newey blasted a free-kick against the Crewe wall and Law sky-ed the rebound. With six minutes to go, disaster struck for Crewe. A long ball upfield was headed on into the Crewe penalty area and with Taylor and Ada both hesitating, Le Fondre nipped in between them to lob the bouncing ball over the keeper's head. Tootle made a desperate attempt at a clearance but the ball had already crossed the line before he hooked it out. Worse was to come. With two minutes to go, Artell attempted to play the ball out down on the touchline, only to be robbed by Taylor who took it into the area and hit an unstoppable shot into the top corner. From playing reasonably well and looking like getting a hard-earned point, the Alex once again shot themselves in the foot. I'm blaming my Dad, of course - I don't think he's seen a Crewe win since that last game of the season against Coventry in 2005. Mind, they have been poor since then, and he only gets to three games a season at most.
Post-match, we had to take a bit of a detour to get back to the car park due to the stewards sending all the away fans out at the opposite side of the ground to where we entered. It was a bit of a ramble over a railway bridge, then a canal bridge and a splash down a wet canal tow path. The good news though was that my Dad decided he wouldn't be going back, so if Crewe play there next season, there's a chance I might see a win!
The upshot of the defeat, combined with last night's results, is that Crewe have slipped out of the play-off positions and are now four points adrift. They do have games in hand on some of the teams above them but with tough games against Gillingham, Stevenage and Bury coming up, I'd rather they had the points, to be honest. Anyway, back to the lucky walk on Saturday morning, hoping it works against a resurgent Gillingham team.
Well, there certainly ain't no sunshine at the Don Valley Stadium. That's twice I've gone there and twice that it's tipped it down with rain. As per last year I took my Dad, but this year he drove and my cousin and his son came with us. Can't say it was any better a day out though.
With the rain already falling when we set off, it steadily got worse as we got closer to Sheffield. By the time we'd found somewhere to park I was dubious that the game would actually go ahead. Last year, the pitch hadn't looked like it was draining properly and I had little confidence that things would have improved. I was right - there were groundsmen out forking the pitch virtually up to kick off. Their efforts were not in vain though and the game went ahead.
The first half was fairly dismal to be honest. Rotherham had the majority of the possession and the territory but they couldn't really create any clear cut chances. Crewe looked to break forward when they got the chance but with both Miller and Donaldson missing the strike force lacked a cutting edge. With neither side looking likely to score, a draw at half time would have been a fair reflection. Sadly though, Crewe showed their usual vulnerability to crosses, as the Rotherham winger was given enough time to put in a low cross, which found it's way to Fenton, who stabbed it home from close range.
One nil down at half time and playing in terrible conditions, things didn't look good for the Alex. However, they worked hard in the second half, created a few more chances and got back in the game. Just after the hour mark, AJ Leitch-Smith latched on to a through ball from Lee Bell and, despite looking slightly offside, turned inside the defender and rolled home a shot from the edge of the area. Parity and just reward for the work that Crewe had done in the first fifteen minutes of the half.
As the second half wore on both sides had opportunities to add to their tally. For Crewe, Leitch-Smith couldn't hit the target from an acute angle and then Shelley rolled the ball wide when he looked odds-on to score. Up the other end, Newey blasted a free-kick against the Crewe wall and Law sky-ed the rebound. With six minutes to go, disaster struck for Crewe. A long ball upfield was headed on into the Crewe penalty area and with Taylor and Ada both hesitating, Le Fondre nipped in between them to lob the bouncing ball over the keeper's head. Tootle made a desperate attempt at a clearance but the ball had already crossed the line before he hooked it out. Worse was to come. With two minutes to go, Artell attempted to play the ball out down on the touchline, only to be robbed by Taylor who took it into the area and hit an unstoppable shot into the top corner. From playing reasonably well and looking like getting a hard-earned point, the Alex once again shot themselves in the foot. I'm blaming my Dad, of course - I don't think he's seen a Crewe win since that last game of the season against Coventry in 2005. Mind, they have been poor since then, and he only gets to three games a season at most.
Post-match, we had to take a bit of a detour to get back to the car park due to the stewards sending all the away fans out at the opposite side of the ground to where we entered. It was a bit of a ramble over a railway bridge, then a canal bridge and a splash down a wet canal tow path. The good news though was that my Dad decided he wouldn't be going back, so if Crewe play there next season, there's a chance I might see a win!
The upshot of the defeat, combined with last night's results, is that Crewe have slipped out of the play-off positions and are now four points adrift. They do have games in hand on some of the teams above them but with tough games against Gillingham, Stevenage and Bury coming up, I'd rather they had the points, to be honest. Anyway, back to the lucky walk on Saturday morning, hoping it works against a resurgent Gillingham team.
Friday 4 February 2011
Look Out, There's a Monster Coming
Northampton 6 Crewe 2
Can't say that that was the best Tuesday night I've ever spent. Having won free tickets and coach travel in the Crewe ASi Christmas Raffle, I was looking forward to a first trip to Northampton in a long while. The last time I went there they were playing at the County Ground. The day started well with a couple of beers and lunch in the pub before boarding the coach. As is usual with the Sandbach Travelling Alex coach we stopped off at a pub on the way. In this case it was the Cherry Tree at Catthorpe. I settled in for a few pints of Ringwood's Boondoggle (very nice) but somehow got suckered into a game of dominoes. Serious dominoes with money on it and everything. Well, it was close but my partner and I just missed out in a tight best-of-three series. At one all and with both teams just needing one point to win, we were getting the hurry up as the coach was about to leave. A rushed last hand saw the opposition sneak home and take the money.
Worse was to come though. Much worse. For starters, the coach driver managed to miss the turn off the motorway to the stadium and then travelled another three miles before turning round, meaning we arrived at the ground with about five minutes to spare. (Not sure why anyone was surprised tho - getting lost seems to be a regular occurrence on the Fordy fun bus.) I had to collect my tickets from the ticket office, so the late arrival wasn't ideal. Still, I picked them up and got into the ground in time for kick off. and Crewe promptly took the lead when the Cobblers keeper let AJ Leitch-Smith's effort squirm through his hands and into the net. If the ref had blown the whistle there and then it would have been a decent day. Unfortunately there was another 88 minutes to be played and things rapidly went downhill for the Alex.
The first came from some decent play by Northampton but Pat Ada unaccountably threw himself to the floor instead of marking Shaun Harrad and Harrad made the most of his opportunity from close range. Harrad then won a rather fortunate free-kick just outside the area. Rhys Taylor positioned his wall to cover the near post and then stood behind it, obscuring his view of the ball, which duly went in at the far post. From one up, Crewe were two down in a matter of minutes. The rest of the half was much more even though as Crewe recovered their composure. Despite lacking the pace of Moore and Donaldson up front, Crewe were still creating chances with Miller providing the main threat. Miller it was who duly won a penalty shortly before half time. It was definitely a penalty, but his theatrical dive was a bit exaggerated to say the least. Westwood stepped up to take it, but his low penalty was too close to the keeper, who blocked it easily, and saw the rebound scrambled out for a corner. Crewe couldn't make the corner count either and within a minute Northampton had a corner of their own. Crewe have been vulnerable from the set-piece all season and Northampton's Beckwith had a free header to put Northampton 3-1 at the break.
If the calamitous defending in the first half had been galling, things turned simply embarrassing within three minutes of the restart. Barely a minute into the second half, Crewe got very caught out trying to play the offside trap against a Northampton free kick. Whilst it could be argued that at least three players were offside, the ball never went anywhere near any of them. Instead Holt, in yards of space and onside, took the ball into the area and slipped it past a hopelessly exposed Rhys Taylor. Two minutes later, Westwood was dispossessed in the middle of the park and Osman ran twenty yards unchallenged before letting fly a shot into the top corner that Taylor had no chance with. Game over. From one up to five one down in about 35 minutes. Most of us were left shaking our heads in disbelief. The rest of the second half was a bit more even but clearly Northampton had taken their foot off the gas a bit. With Miller having gone off injured at half time, Crewe were lacking a cutting edge and were finding it difficult to create chances, although the forward line did look more threatening with the introduction of Powell and Sarcevic just after the 70 minute mark. Northampton were really doing a lot either, but then they didn't have to - Crewe could be relied on to gift them another chance. and that chance duly arrived in the 80th minute. Northampton attacked down the right and rolled in a harmless looking cross. Bell, the covering player in the area, then slipped on his backside and the ball bobbled past him to McKay, who couldn't believe his luck, but made no mistake with his finish. The sixth goal was the cue for a lot of Crewe fans to head for the exits. Can't blame them but they did miss Sarcevic's debut goal for Crewe - a well-taken shot from the edge of the area after neat interplay with Grant.
In the end, it was embarrassing, but not because Crewe were thoroughly outplayed but because they gifted Northampton some seriously soft goals. All six of them were entirely avoidable, although given Crewe's weakness from corners at least one was inevitable. The penalty miss was also frustrating - Crewe must have missed more penalties than anyone else this season.
Got to put this result behind them though and hope that it really was just one of those days when everything that could go wrong did. We shall see how the side bounces back against a Rotherham team that managed to lose to crisis-stricken Port Vale on the same night Crewe were self-destructing against the Cobblers. The bad omen for this though is that I'll be taking my Dad to the game and he hasn't seen Crewe win in nearly six years...
Can't say that that was the best Tuesday night I've ever spent. Having won free tickets and coach travel in the Crewe ASi Christmas Raffle, I was looking forward to a first trip to Northampton in a long while. The last time I went there they were playing at the County Ground. The day started well with a couple of beers and lunch in the pub before boarding the coach. As is usual with the Sandbach Travelling Alex coach we stopped off at a pub on the way. In this case it was the Cherry Tree at Catthorpe. I settled in for a few pints of Ringwood's Boondoggle (very nice) but somehow got suckered into a game of dominoes. Serious dominoes with money on it and everything. Well, it was close but my partner and I just missed out in a tight best-of-three series. At one all and with both teams just needing one point to win, we were getting the hurry up as the coach was about to leave. A rushed last hand saw the opposition sneak home and take the money.
Worse was to come though. Much worse. For starters, the coach driver managed to miss the turn off the motorway to the stadium and then travelled another three miles before turning round, meaning we arrived at the ground with about five minutes to spare. (Not sure why anyone was surprised tho - getting lost seems to be a regular occurrence on the Fordy fun bus.) I had to collect my tickets from the ticket office, so the late arrival wasn't ideal. Still, I picked them up and got into the ground in time for kick off. and Crewe promptly took the lead when the Cobblers keeper let AJ Leitch-Smith's effort squirm through his hands and into the net. If the ref had blown the whistle there and then it would have been a decent day. Unfortunately there was another 88 minutes to be played and things rapidly went downhill for the Alex.
The first came from some decent play by Northampton but Pat Ada unaccountably threw himself to the floor instead of marking Shaun Harrad and Harrad made the most of his opportunity from close range. Harrad then won a rather fortunate free-kick just outside the area. Rhys Taylor positioned his wall to cover the near post and then stood behind it, obscuring his view of the ball, which duly went in at the far post. From one up, Crewe were two down in a matter of minutes. The rest of the half was much more even though as Crewe recovered their composure. Despite lacking the pace of Moore and Donaldson up front, Crewe were still creating chances with Miller providing the main threat. Miller it was who duly won a penalty shortly before half time. It was definitely a penalty, but his theatrical dive was a bit exaggerated to say the least. Westwood stepped up to take it, but his low penalty was too close to the keeper, who blocked it easily, and saw the rebound scrambled out for a corner. Crewe couldn't make the corner count either and within a minute Northampton had a corner of their own. Crewe have been vulnerable from the set-piece all season and Northampton's Beckwith had a free header to put Northampton 3-1 at the break.
If the calamitous defending in the first half had been galling, things turned simply embarrassing within three minutes of the restart. Barely a minute into the second half, Crewe got very caught out trying to play the offside trap against a Northampton free kick. Whilst it could be argued that at least three players were offside, the ball never went anywhere near any of them. Instead Holt, in yards of space and onside, took the ball into the area and slipped it past a hopelessly exposed Rhys Taylor. Two minutes later, Westwood was dispossessed in the middle of the park and Osman ran twenty yards unchallenged before letting fly a shot into the top corner that Taylor had no chance with. Game over. From one up to five one down in about 35 minutes. Most of us were left shaking our heads in disbelief. The rest of the second half was a bit more even but clearly Northampton had taken their foot off the gas a bit. With Miller having gone off injured at half time, Crewe were lacking a cutting edge and were finding it difficult to create chances, although the forward line did look more threatening with the introduction of Powell and Sarcevic just after the 70 minute mark. Northampton were really doing a lot either, but then they didn't have to - Crewe could be relied on to gift them another chance. and that chance duly arrived in the 80th minute. Northampton attacked down the right and rolled in a harmless looking cross. Bell, the covering player in the area, then slipped on his backside and the ball bobbled past him to McKay, who couldn't believe his luck, but made no mistake with his finish. The sixth goal was the cue for a lot of Crewe fans to head for the exits. Can't blame them but they did miss Sarcevic's debut goal for Crewe - a well-taken shot from the edge of the area after neat interplay with Grant.
In the end, it was embarrassing, but not because Crewe were thoroughly outplayed but because they gifted Northampton some seriously soft goals. All six of them were entirely avoidable, although given Crewe's weakness from corners at least one was inevitable. The penalty miss was also frustrating - Crewe must have missed more penalties than anyone else this season.
Got to put this result behind them though and hope that it really was just one of those days when everything that could go wrong did. We shall see how the side bounces back against a Rotherham team that managed to lose to crisis-stricken Port Vale on the same night Crewe were self-destructing against the Cobblers. The bad omen for this though is that I'll be taking my Dad to the game and he hasn't seen Crewe win in nearly six years...
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