A first-half brace from Mika Mandron as well as a goal from debutant Joe Robbins saw Crewe Alexandra defeat Wolverhampton Wanderers Under-21s, managed by former Alex assistant manager James Collins, at the Alexandra Stadium last night. The draw for the second round is this Saturday lunchtime following the Port Vale game on Sky.
Manager David Artell made ten changes from Saturday’s 3-0 home defeat against Swindon Town in the FA Cup with Terell Thomas the only player to retain his place in a side that saw three Academy grads making their debuts in Robbins as well as defenders Nathan Woodthorpe and Zac Williams (a second-year scholar). Former England international John Ruddy, who had a loan spell with the Alex in the 08/09 season, started for the young Wolves side in goal.
The opening chance of the game came in the 5th minute with J’Neil Bennett cutting in from the left, forcing Ruddy into a save before the Spurs loanee would have another effort at the 35-year-old keeper minutes later. The Reds would take the lead in the 12th minute with Mandron playing a 1-2 with Oli Finney before finishing into the bottom corner with Josh Lundstram hitting the post 7 minutes later from a tight angle.
Bennett would hit the post with a header before the lead was doubled 9 minutes before the break with Mandron converting Regan Griffiths’ cross at the second attempt. A triple change was made by Artell with 21 minutes to play, including the fourth debut of the night for second-year scholar Joel Tabiner, with another first coming with 10 to play as Robbins scoring an effort from 20 yards past Ruddy into the top corner.
Our next couple of games see the Alex travel to Bolton Wanderers on Friday night before hosting Gillingham a week on Saturday.
What can we take out of this game?
For me it’s a better use of the EFL Trophy, giving youngsters on the fringes of the first-team picture much-needed time to impress in an environment where it was literally no-lose for the Alex in terms of progress in the competition.
Having seen the 3 youngsters play for the Under-23s, it’s not a surprise that they played well tonight (even if Woodthorpe was out of position as a CB – he’s naturally a left-back).
