Crewe 0-3 Swindon: Railwaymen stopped in their tracks
Credit: Thomas McAtee / Shutterstock.com
It was an afternoon to forget for Lee Bell’s side. Crewe entered the weekend top of the league, scoring goals for fun and staying pretty tidy at the back, but they suffered a heavy defeat at home to The Robins.
Crewe began the game in typically bright fashion, Josh March getting on the end of a great chance that was well saved by Connor Ripley in the Swindon goal. The home side were pegged back early on after some great high pressing from Swindon led to Will Wright winning the ball back on halfway and finding midfielder Gavin Kilkenny, who strode into empty space unchallenged. The away fans urged him to shoot and shoot he did, his effort taking a wicked deflection off of the Crewe skipper Demetriou and flying into the net just inside the far post. 1-0 after 8 minutes.
Errors prove costly
Crewe nearly got back level as summer signing Reece Hutchinson’s cross-come-shot tested Ripley’s reflexes, but the keeper was equal to it and the ball was palmed over for a corner. An uncharacteristically sloppy second goal followed in the 35th minute, Crewe centre half James Connolly dealing terribly with a bouncing ball over the top and firing a backpass into the chest of ‘keeper Tom Booth. The 21 year old stopper did well to bring it down but couldn’t clear his lines in time to stop an onrushing Paul Glatzel from stealing the ball off of his toes and poking it into the empty net for his first of the season. 2-0 to the visitors.
And things went from bad to worse for the home side just six minutes later. The third Swindon goal was a beauty, some neat interplay and darting runs saw the ball move all the way from the goalkeeper to centre forward Aaron Drinan, who bent the ball superbly beyond Booth’s reach into the top right corner. This goal marked Drinan’s third of the campaign, equalling his tally from last season in just 6 games. While the goal was fantastic, those of a Crewe persuasion will feel it was far too easy to walk through the middle of the team, the Swindon players couldn’t quite believe the space they found themselves in and they took full advantage of the home side’s hospitality.
The game nearly devolved into an all-time horror result for Crewe. Whatever the cause of the lacklustre defending was, it seemed contagious as usually reliable capitan Demetriou played a lazy backpass that Glatzel once again pounced on. His shot trickled harmlessly wide and he should have done much better, a huge let off for Crewe and Demetriou. Some more Barcelona ‘08-esque football from Swindon followed as the visitors played fizzing passes across the park, dragging Crewe all over the place, this culminated in another chance for Drinan and his shot clipped the woodwork and went wide. Another fantastic move by Swindon and the home side gratefully limped in at the interval only three goals down.
Damage control
The second half played out exactly as you’d expect it to with a visiting side managed Ian Holloway holding a commanding lead. Crewe made two changes at the break, notably bringing on Stoke City loanee Emre Tezgel for more firepower up top. These were met by stoic resilience from Holloway’s side, who continued to threaten the Crewe goal on the counter as they tried desperately, and in vain, to claw a way back into the game.
The better chances of the half fell Swindon’s way, midfielder Darren Oldaker thought he had a penalty early on as he was brought down in the area by substitute James Golding, but the referee deemed that he had gone down too easily and waved play on. It was one of those - fuming if it isn’t given for your team, equally fuming if it’s given against you - ultimately inconsequential amidst the Swindon rout and Goldaker didn’t protest too strongly. Swindon confirmed the signing of reality TV star and EFL veteran Ollie Palmer this week, and the striker made an appearance off the bench. He fashioned himself half a chance but couldn’t quite tuck it away and stayed busy throughout - a solid debut from the former Wrexham man. Crewe’s best chance of the half was a speculative effort that didn’t cause Connor Ripley too much trouble and the full time whistle came, condemning Crewe to a second successive defeat and leaving the two sides level on twelve points in 4th and 5th place after six games.
The verdict
Fans of The Alex will be hoping the last two games are just a blip after a fantastic start to the season, the ever-changing nature of Crewe’s team combined with the vast inexperience in their ranks can cause inconsistencies - but they have some fantastic young players and a manager in Lee Bell who has already taken them to one Play-Off final and will be hoping to go one further this year. The travelling Swindon faithful, however, will be buoyed by a fantastic away performance and dreaming of a promotion push, and if they can play like that every week it’s hard to see many teams finishing above them this season.
Bell conceded that Swindon were “Better in every department” and knows his side must do better if they’re to steady themselves near the top of the table and compete with some of the division’s financial heavyweights. Holloway was a “very pleased” man and felt his team put in a “complete performance” at The Mornflake Stadium. Few sights the EFL can strike fear into the heart of opposition fans quite like an Ian Holloway side in full flow and he will be hoping to make this season promotion number four to cap off an historic managerial career.
Overall, a day to truly build on as far as Swindon are concerned, and one the Crewe players will be quick to put behind them as both push toward promotion from the fourth tier.
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