A brace from Shilow Tracey and a late goal from Joel Tabiner saw Crewe Alexandra defeat Tranmere Rovers at the Alexandra Stadium yesterday.
Manager Lee Bell made 2 changes from Tuesday’s 1-0 win at Fleetwood Town as captain Mickey Demetriou and Owen Lunt (for his first start in the Football League) replaced James Connolly, who dropped down to the bench, and Matus Holicek, who missed out due to a knock. Former Alex midfielder Brad Walker started as part of the Tranmere back three.
The opening chance came in the 4th minute as Zac Williams headed wide from a corner before the visitors took the lead 4 minutes later as Harvey Saunders would barge Ryan Cooney in the back with his shoulder with his pull-back converted by striker-partner Connor Jennings from just inside the 6-yard box.
The score would be level 6 minutes before the break as Tracey would finish a right-sided cross from Cooney on the slide from 12 yards out before the Alex took the lead 9 minutes after the break with another cross from Cooney was smashed into the net by Tracey. Williams would have a long-range strike turned away by Luke McGee on 65 minutes before the lead was extended 6 minutes from time as Tabiner headed in a cross from substitute Omar Bogle.
The next games for the Alex see them host Dagenham & Redbridge next Saturday in the FA Cup 1st Round before they return to league action with a trip to Walsall the following Saturday.
Final Thoughts:
That was a game that it felt we were in control of, even when a goal down in the first half.
Tracey is definitely a confidence player (and a far better player than he was showing himself to be 12 months ago) and he looks to be growing into playing as a central striker, no matter who he is partnered with up front.
Alexandra Stadium
League 2
26/10/2024 3:00 pm
Attendance: 5957
Referee: James Durkin
| Crewe Alexandra | Tranmere Rovers | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tracey (2), Tabiner | Jennings | ||||||
| Marschall | McGee | ||||||
| Knight-Lebel | Walker | ||||||
| Demetriou (c) | Davies | ||||||
| Williams | Turnbull | ||||||
| Cooney | Norman | ||||||
| Sanders | 79 | O'Connor | 69 | ||||
| Tabiner | Merrie | 69 | |||||
| Conway | 89 | Bradshaw | 79 | ||||
| Lunt | 66 | Saunders | 86 | ||||
| Tracey | Jennings | 86 | |||||
| Thibaut | 66 | Patrick | |||||
Substitutes |
|||||||
| Booth | Murphy | ||||||
| Thomas | 66 | Morris | 69 | ||||
| Bogle | 66 | Hendry | 69 | ||||
| Connolly | 79 | Norris | 79 | ||||
| Finney | Davison | 86 | |||||
| Breckin | 89 | Taylor | 86 | ||||
| Billington | Wood | ||||||
Game Statistics |
||
| 13 | Goal attempts | 12 |
| 6 | On Target | 3 |
| 6 | Corners | 3 |
| 7 | Fouls | 10 |
| 3 | Yellow Cards | 3 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 59 | % | 41 |