A frantic four minutes sees Crewe Alexandra seal a vital victory

On a baltic Tuesday night, Crewe Alexandra welcomed fellow strugglers Lincoln City to the Mornflake Stadium with both sides in desperate need of the three points.

A lacklustre opening 45 minutes saw the two sides presented with one goalscoring opportunity each. Chris Maguire put Hakeeb Adelakun through on goal but a big save from Dave Richards denied the visitors from taking the lead.

It took until the final five minutes of the half before the hosts could create their first chance of the game. Intricate play between Oli Finney and Tom Lowery saw the latter find Mikael Mandron on the left-hand side of the box, however, the striker failed to keep his effort down as it went over the crossbar.

After a first half that lacked quality in the final third, a frantic four minutes at the start of the second half followed. With David Artell’s half-time team talk ringing in their ears, the Alex didn’t waste any time.

Just three minutes after the restart, the Railwaymen were awarded a penalty. Billy Sass-Davies rose highest in the box to win the header before getting nudged in the back. Referee Declan Bourne pointed to the spot for what looked like a soft penalty decision, but one Crewe fans will not complain about.

With the pressure on his back, Mandron stepped up and dispatched the penalty into the top corner giving the hosts the lead. Just minutes later, Crewe were awarded another penalty and this time there was no doubt about the decision.

Ben Knight got goal-side of substitute TJ Eyoma who hauled his man down inside the area which saw the Lincoln defender sent off. Mandron made no mistake again from the spot to give his side their second win in four games and their third successive home win in all competitions.

In his post-match press conference, Crewe manager David Artell was pleased with the performance and how his side’s home form can get them out of trouble.

“Three 2-0 wins in our last three home games, if you look after your home form anything you get on the road is a bonus. We have a tough game on Saturday against one of the big guns, but I think we have turned a corner, you don’t win 2-0 on three separate occasions if you haven’t”.

“We said at the start of the season it would take time, it has taken longer than we wanted but I think we are getting there. The hard work is beginning to pay off but there is still plenty of hard work ahead of us”.

Crewe will now look to maintain that winning home form on Saturday as they welcome Darren Moore’s Sheffield Wednesday side.

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