17-year-old Zac Williams a shining light in Crewe Alexandra’s defeat to Bolton Wanderers

On another cold and dark night, Crewe fans were left disappointed by their side’s display as they fell to another defeat at the University of Bolton Stadium.

After a very good defensive performance in the opening 45 minutes, conceding two goals in four minutes at the start of the second half ultimately cost the Alex.

“A crazy 10 minutes has cost us” – David Artell

This defeat sees the Railwaymen remain at the bottom of the League One table with just nine points from 17 games and just the singular win to their name.

Amongst the disappointment from the Alex fans, there was a big positive for their side after a fantastic performance from Zac Williams.

The 17-year-old defender made his league debut filling in at centre-back alongside Luke Offord and Terell Thomas and he didn’t look out of place.

It was his brilliant last-ditch block that denied Elias Kachunga from close range to send the teams in at half-time goalless. Following a superb individual performance, he received high praise from his manager.

“The obvious positive to take away was Zac Williams. I thought he was outstanding, a 17-year-old kid making his debut I thought he was mistake-free. He should have scored with the header from the free-kick- but he was outstanding.”

Williams, who is a Crewe Alexandra academy graduate, has represented Wales at youth level captaining their under-16 side as well as playing for their under-18 and under-19 sides.

He made his first-team debut in midweek against Wolverhampton Wanderers’ under-21s in the Papa John’s Trophy, and if his performance against Bolton is anything to go by, he has a big future ahead of him.

However, it was defensive mistakes that cost Crewe against a Bolton side who themselves had not won in the league since October 2nd. Their 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Josh Sheehan and Amadou Bakayoko sees the Whites rise to 10th.

In recent weeks, David Artell has repeatedly changed his starting lineup in the attempt of finding a side that can click together. The Crewe manager reiterated that he will continue to do so until he finds a side that performs to the standards he and the fans expect.

“We have a lot of hard work to do still, we have known that for a while and that’s not going to change. You have to believe we will eventually get the team right”.

Next weekend’s game is a crucial one for Crewe and is a game the Alex must get something from. If they are to give themselves a chance of getting out of the relegation zone, their home form is going to be vital.

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