Crewe Alexandra secure huge win against Charlton Athletic in controversial circumstances

Two first-half goals from Oli Finney and Mikael Mandron proved to be the difference between Crewe Alexandra and Charlton Athletic in a tight encounter.

It took until the half-hour mark for either goalkeeper to be forced into a save. Tommy Lowery found Luke Offord free on the edge of the box and Crewe’s number six unleashed a superb volleyed effort which forced Stephen Henderson into a sharp save down to his right-hand side.

With half-time approaching, the Alex put the visitors under considerable pressure when Finney went close with his effort going agonisingly wide. However, he was not disappointed for long.

Mandron, who is a recognised striker for David Artell’s side, started the game at right wing-back, a position he had been training in all week due to Kayne Ramsey being recalled to Southampton and loaned out to Ross County.

Playing in an unusual position, the right wing-back on the night still had a hand in both Crewe goals. For the opening goal in the 38th minute, he cut inside off the right before his powerful effort could only be palmed into the path of the onrushing Finney, who slotted the ball into the empty net to give the hosts the lead.

Things got even better for the Railwaymen in first-half injury time as Lowery’s corner saw Mandron rise above everyone to divert his header into the far corner.

With a 2-0 lead at the break, a huge 45 minutes followed for Crewe. If they could hold onto the three points it would put them in amongst a group of seven teams battling it out to avoid the four relegation places.

Johnnie Jackson’s side were not going to make it easy for the South Cheshire side, however. An explosive start to the second half from Charlton saw Dave Richards forced into two quickfire saves in the opening minutes. At the start of the season, the relentless pressure would have seen the hosts concede, but not this Crewe side, who had won three out of their last six games in all competitions going into the game against the Addicks.

The centre-back trio of Luke Offord, Billy Sass-Davies and Zac Williams were able to limit the visitors’ goal-scoring opportunities and cleared the ball away when danger arose.

Having ridden the storm, Crewe went close themselves with the retuning Chris Long hitting the post. With 15 minutes remaining and the scoreline still at 2-0, the fans inside the Mornflake Stadium became more and more nervous for their side.

A Mason Burstow rebound header pulled a goal back for Charlton and it did not help proceedings with 10 minutes remaining, but as it looked like the Alex would hold on for victory, the fourth official announced there would be six minutes of additional time.

In the 95th minute, Conor Washington found himself with a brilliant opportunity but yet again Richards denied him. Crewe then broke forward as Long found himself in a one-on-one with Henderson, but a brilliant last-ditch tackle from Akin Famewo cleared the danger.

As the sixth minute of injury time had passed, the ball fell to Elliot Lee on the edge of the area as his shot deflected up and over Richards and onto the underside of the crossbar. After what seemed an eternity, the ball bounced on the line and back onto the crossbar before going into the back of the empty net.

For football fans, there is nothing better than a last-minute winner which is closely followed by a last-minute equaliser, so you can imagine the scenes in the Charlton away end when they thought they had stolen a point with the last kick of the game. However, as the Charlton fans and players celebrated, a very late flag from the linesman ruled the goal out for offside.

The referee consulted with his linesman for three and half minutes which felt like an eternity for Crewe fans before he finally made the decision that the goal was ruled out for offside. Having experienced every emotion possible in the last seconds of the game, home fans were able to experience joy at the full-time whistle as their side had secured a huge three points.

David Artell’s side will now look to continue their winning run as they welcome Shrewsbury Town to the Mornflake Stadium on Saturday.

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