A Joe White goal inside the opening ninety seconds saw Crewe Alexandra defeat Mansfield Town, giving the hosts their first home league defeat of the season, at Field Mill yesterday.
Manager Lee Bell made 1 change from New Year’s Day’s 1-0 home win against Bradford City as Conor Thomas came in for Shilow Tracey, who dropped to the bench, while former Alex striker Jordan Bowery started for the hosts.
The game’s opening chance and goal came in the 2nd minute with Courtney Baker-Richardson’s lay-off allowing White to curl in from just inside the area before Chris Long missed the target from a free-kick from just outside the area 11 minutes later. Tom Booth would deny George Maris with a great save on 34 minutes before Connor O’Riordan, despite plenty of interest from Championship clubs, made a block to stop Lucas Akins from getting a clean shot away.
CBR almost had a second assist of the afternoon just after the break, his pass saw Aaron Rowe hit the post from close range before Keillor-Dunn would be the latest player to have an effort saved by Booth. Moments after coming on for Thomas, Ryan Cooney would have a cross that Baker-Richardson couldn’t get on the end of before White would play in the substitute with his effort saved by Christy Pym.
The next couple of games see the Alex hosting Swindon Town next Saturday before travelling to Barrow the following Saturday.
Final Thoughts:
Good win for the Alex here against a team that had only lost once in the league all season.
White ran the game and having him for the rest of the season will really benefit the club, his loan deal currently finishes next Sunday, especially if we can also add some midfield depth in this transfer window.