A brace from Lewis Reilly either side of a Billy Sass-Davies header were enough for Crewe Alexandra to beat Barnsley in the U23 Professional Development League 2, despite the Tykes taking the lead with less than 10 minutes to play.
Manager Alex Morris named Dave Richards in goal (as captain) with a back 3 of Sass-Davies, Brad Walker and Josh Lundstram, Travis Johnson started at right wing-back with Rio Adebisi on the other wing with Regan Griffiths, Oliver Finney and Tom Lowery playing in central midfield whilst Reilly was partnered up front by Alex Hurst.
After a first-half that was dominated by the young Railwaymen, it took 33 minutes to break down the young Tykes as Reilly headed home from a Tom Lowery cross. The game quietened down until the final 15 minutes where Barnsley equalised with trialist Mikael Ndjoli scoring a tap-in following a block by Adebisi. They would take the lead a couple of minutes later as fellow trialist Tai-Reece Chisholm curled one in from just inside the area.
After a needless free-kick was given away almost from the kick-off, Sass-Davies headed home from Finney`s out-swinging delivery before substitute Luke Walsh gave Johnson the ball just inside his own half with the wing-back being brought down by one of the centre-backs. Reilly put the penalty into the bottom corner despite goalkeeper Jake Greatorex going the right way.
The next game for the U23 team sees a trip to Burnley’s Turf Moor this Friday.
Crewe: Richards ©; Sass-Davies, Walker, Lundstram; Johnson, Lowery, Griffiths, Finney, Adebisi; Reilly, Hurst (Walsh)
Barnsley: Greatorex; Williams (Willard), Fielding (Gagen), Lund, McAughtrie; Berkovits, Hall (Greenfield), Wardle, Chisholm; Adeboyejo ©, Ndjoli
