Crewe threw away a 2-goal lead late-on on Saturday afternoon against a lacklustre Wimbledon side. Late goals from Sammy Moore and Christian Jolley gave the Dons a share of the spoils as Alex looked set on destroying their playoff ambitions.
Wimbledon started well and took the lead in the 7th minute, veteran striker Jason Euell neatly laying the ball off for Billy Knott to strike home from twenty yards.
But the visitors’ lead lasted barely 3 minutes as Byron Moore fired goalwards from 35 yards. Dons keeper Seb Brown struggled to deal with the pace and movement on the shot and let the ball through his hands for a Crewe equaliser.
And one minute later the home side took the lead, a fantastic through ball over the top from Luke Murphy finding Nick Powell, who brought the ball down superbly before slotting past Brown in the Wimbledon goal.
From thereonin there appeared to be only one side in it with Crewe looking like scoring every time they went forward. Byron Moore should have done better from Danny Shelley’s dangerous cross from the left-hand side, blasting wide from close range. And loanee Greg Pearson made it 3-1 to the Railwaymen in the 31st minute, placing a lovely overhead kick into the corner of the goal after Murphy’s cross was deflected.
Crewe had their chances in the second half too, Shelley coming close with a couple of free kicks. The game should have been over on the hour mark after Powell was tripped in the opposition box. Ashley Westwood stepped up to take the penalty but rolled it straight into Brown’s hands. In fact, the Dons keeper didn’t even spill the ball, holding on comfortably to a weak shot.
Manager Steve Davis decided to go ultra-defensive for the last ten minutes of the game despite Crewe’s attacking dominance, bringing Lee Bell on for Shelley and Carl Martin for Powell. This resulted in Crewe sitting too deep and Sammy Moore gave the away side a lifeline in the 81st minute with a wonder goal from 30 yards out.
And the comeback was complete in the 90th minute after Westwood failed to win the ball on the half-way line and substitute Jolley headed home from the resulting cross. There were certainly question marks over keeper Steve Phillips’ positioning for the equalising goal as he was lobbed easily whilst stood in no-man’s land.
The Alex had shot themselves in the foot as a win would have put them three points behind 7th-placed Oxford. Crewe did, however, move up to 9th place, 5 points off the playoffs and two points off local rivals Port Vale going into the derby game on Tuesday night.
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