JUDGE AT DOUBLE TO SINK ALEX
BRENTFORD boss Mark Warburton says his Bees side have no reason to fear anyone after they scored three stunning goals courtesy of an Alan Judge double and one from Adam Forshaw to down struggling Crewe.
Judge fired in his 20-yard opener to get the league leaders buzzing and added another from distance after the interval before Forshaw upstaged him with his own long-range effort as the Alex failed to contend with Brentford's sniper-like marksmen.
Chuks Aneke reduced the deficit from the penalty spot to give Crewe something to fight for but disappointed manager Steve Davis admitted his side just weren’t good enough to compete with Warburton’s men.
“We were tremendous, ”Warburton said. “We should have been out of sight. We showed great movement and awareness. The players have to make sure they get their rewards and we played some very good football.
“The team worked tirelessly and we are in good shape. If we do what we do well then we have no reason to fear anyone. The lads were chomping at the bit to play and you could see that from the first whistle.
“Their attitude on and off the pitch has been spot on and I couldn't be much happier with the result.”
Judge opened the scoring nine minutes in when he caught Crewe cold to rifle a strike into the top corner from the edge of the box.
Clayton Donaldson should have scored against his former club when the Brentford striker blazed the ball over from just eight-yards.
Ben Garratt then made a good save from Judge a minute before half-time but Judge scored another screamer when he unleashed a 30-yard thunderbolt into the roof of the net on 52 minutes.
Whatever Judge could do Forshaw proved he could do better just after the hour, smashing an unstoppable strike into the top corner from all of 35-yards.
Button saved at the feet of Harry Davis as Crewe threatened to pull one back from a corner.
And Aneke did just that when he dispatched a 70th minute penalty after referee Tim Robinson spotted a handball before Garratt made a good double save from Forshaw and Donaldson late on.
Crewe boss Davis said:“We stayed in the game but we got done with three great goals.
“We came up against one of the best teams in the league and we tried to pack the midfield but they didn't do their jobs.
“We were timid and nervous when we had the ball but we definitely-played a lot better in the second-half of the game.
“We lost concentration at times but Brentford had to score from distance because they didn't really get in behind us. “We thought we could contain them but we failed to make good enough use of the ball when we had it.”
CREWE: (4-5-1) Garratt 7, Guthrie 7, Davis 7, Ellis 6, Tootle 8, Inman 6 (Waters 87 N/A), Grant 5, Osman 6 (Moore 77 6), Evans 6, Pogba 7, Aneke 6 Subs not used: Phillips, Mellor, Dugdale, Nolan, Oliver
BRENTFORD: (4-5-1) Button 7, Bidwell 7, Craig 8, Dean 7, McCormack 7, Judge 9 (Dallas 90 N/A), Saville 7, Forshaw 8 (Reeves 83 6), Douglas 7, Donaldson 7, Trotta 7 (Grigg 74 6) Subs not used: Lee, O'Connor, Tarkowski, Yennaris