It's Over...

Bradford 1 Crewe 5

It's only taken me a week to get round to it, but here, finally, is a report on the last game of the season. With neither side really having anything to play for, it was a chance for both teams to relax and play without pressure. Except, of course, there's always some pressure. The expectation from the Bradford fans, who have endured yet another frustrating season of under-achievement, and the away-day hoodoo that has seen Crewe lose their last eleven consecutive matches away from home.
As I had another engagement on that side of the country, I decided to combine the two and made the trip to my first away game for a while. First since Macclesfield, I believe.And I have to say, I'm glad I made the effort.
Despite having nothing to play for, Dario still fielded his strongest available side, the same side which had dispatched Stockport after a bit of huffing and puffing last week. There was no huffing and puffing in the Crewe ranks this week, as they strolled to a comfortable victory and inflicted their heaviest defeat of the season on Bradford.
Clayton Donaldson was obviously keen to get his name on the score sheet, to claim the Golden Boot, and when Crewe won a free-kick after only ten minutes in "Danny Shelley territory", he claimed the ball and took it, instead of letting Shelley hammer it. To no great surprise, Donaldson's effort came back off the wall. Fortunately, for the frustrated Crewe faithful, a goal was not long in coming. Shaun Miller saw his chance and challenged for a loose pass. The ball broke for him and he charged forward into the area and took the ball past the advancing keeper, with a fair amount of skill it has to be said. He then had the simple task of slotting it into the empty net. This only served to spark Bradford into action and they nearly equalised when James Hanson got on the end of a rebound from a save by Rhys Taylor, but he hit the bar and Crewe were able to clear the danger. Bradford did get a deserved equaliser though, when Artell fouled Speight in the area and Speight got up to put the resulting penalty away. Bradford put some more pressure on but were then caught on the break when Byron Moore took the ball up the right and put in a deep cross for Miller to notch his second from the edge of the area. Two minutes later Donaldson finally got his name on the score sheet when he got the ball on the edge of the area and turned to slip a shot past the Bradford keeper, who was possibly unsighted. Three one to the Alex and the stuffing was knocked out of Bradford on the stroke of half-time when Shelley hit a shot from distance that appeared to swerve through the Bradford keeper's hands.
Obviously, the last time Crewe were 4-1 up at half-time away from home, they went on to only manage a 5-5 draw with Chesterfield, so there were plenty of jokes about that in the bar during the interval. Clearly though, Bradford were not Chesterfield and were unlikely to pull off that sort of comeback. Indeed, they spent much of the second half  mounting a serious rearguard action as they attempted to keep the score at a respectable level. Crewe had a fair few chances but the fifth goal didn't come till midway through the half. The ball pinged around the area from a corner before coming out to Shelley. His first shot appeared to hit a hand, but the ball came back to him and his second shot flew into the back of the net via a slight deflection. Thereafter, the game slowly subsided to a gentle close. Crewe tried to add to their total and Bradford were still looking to get something, but both sets of players seem to know that that was that. There was still time for Sarcevic to make another appearance and for Harry Davis to get a run out in the centre of defence, but there were few alarms on either side.
So, the away-day hoodoo was well and truly broken and, thanks to Barnet beating them, Crewe managed to finish above Port Vale, which was quite funny, given that a lot of their fans had been giving the big one when they were top of the table in November. Clearly, Agent Jim Gannon's mission there was a success! Not that Crewe have much to boast about. They might have beaten my prediction of mid-table (just!) but they could have done better and in the end that horrendous away run has cost them. Just one more win away and they would have sneaked into the play-offs...
So, the season is over, but the blog won't stop. there'll be a review of the season next week and then a look forward to next season. And then a few more blogs during the pre-season before getting back to the serious business of following the Alex.