Goals from Manchester City loanee Ben Knight and Oli Finney saw Crewe Alexandra into the EFL Trophy 3rd Round after a win against fellow League 1 strugglers Doncaster Rovers at the Alexandra Stadium last night – the draw occurs on Saturday following the Coventry game around 2 pm with the 3rd Round set to take place during the first midweek of the new year.
Manager David Artell made nine changes from Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at Ipswich Town with Luke Offord and Finney the only players to retain their places in the team with Connor O’Riordan making his debut as one of 3 centre-backs and Callum Ainley playing out of position as a right wing-back.
The opening chance of the game came in the 6th minute with Ainley shooting straight at Lee Jones in the visitors’ goal before Finney would fire over a couple of minutes later. Mika Mandron would hit the bar from a Finney cross with a header in the 16th minute before the first chance for the visitors came with Matt Smith missing the target 10 minutes later.
The hosts took the lead in the 33rd minute with Knight scoring a screamer from 30 yards into the top corner following a pass from Terell Thomas before Finney would hit the bar midway through the second half with a deflected effort. The Alex would double the lead with 18 minutes to play with Finney flicking in a corner from Knight just inside the back post.
Our next couple of games see the Alex hosting Lincoln City next Tuesday before another home game against Sheffield Wednesday the following Saturday.
What can we take out of this game?
More prize money in the bag as well as more game time for the fringe players. The strike from Knight is well worth watching again, a wonderful effort from distance that we’ll hopefully see more of before the end of his loan spell.