Alex Move Up To Second As Forward Leaps Into The Crowd

First-half goals from Chris Porter and on-loan Middlesbrough forward Stephen Walker, getting his first senior goal in the process, as Crewe Alexandra defeated Cheshire rivals Macclesfield Town at the Alexandra Stadium yesterday.

Manager David Artell made one change from Tuesday night’s 2-1 home win against Crawley Town as Ollie Finney came into the team for Paul Green, who dropped down to the bench.

The opening goal of the game came in the 10th minute as a move down the right saw Perry Ng brought down in the penalty area with Porter smashing the penalty into the bottom corner. Chances from Walker and Porter were close to going in before the second was added in the 36th minute with Charlie Kirk found Walker in behind wing-back Theo Archibald with his finish beating Jonathan Mitchell into the far corner and Walker was booked for celebrating in the crowd.

Into the second-half with Ng’s long-range strike deflected wide of the goal before Walker would hit the post 20 minutes into the half, cutting inside from the right with curling the ball with his left beating Mitchell but not the upright. Jaaskelainen would make a decent save from Tottenham loanee Shilow Tracey near the end but that was as close as the Silkmen would come to scoring.

Our next two games see trips to Morecambe next Saturday before the long trip to Exeter City the following Tuesday.

What can we learn from this game?

It was an alright performance if we’re honest but enough to get all three points. After an opening period that saw Macc well in the game, the two goals came at the right time before keeping the visitors at arms-distance with a professional second-half.

Walker’s post-match interview (on the club’s Youtube channel) was refreshing to hear from a loanee who is more interested in helping his current club in getting their target of promotion as well as his own personal development in wanting to be part of history while he’s with the Alex.

Crewe Alexandra				Macclesfield Town
Porter, Walker
Jaaskelainen				Mitchell
Ng				Cameron
Nottingham				Kelleher
Offord				Horsfall
Pickering				O'Keeffe
Jones				Whitehead			88
Wintle				Tollitt			56
Finney			76	Kirby
Walker				Archibald
Porter			70	Gnahoua			66
Kirk				Tracey
Substitutes
Richards				McCourt			56
Powell			78	Ironside			66
Ainley			76	Stephens			88
Green				Blyth
Hunt				Wilson
Anene			70	Fitzpatrick
Dale

Game Statistics
13	Goal attempts	13
5	On Target	4
6	Corners	6
6	Fouls	11
1	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
62	%	38