Crewe pay for bold switch to offensive
LAPSES of concentration proved rock-bottom Crewe’s undoing once again as two goals in three minutes gave Bradford victory.
Having conceded 12 in their past three matches, Crewe defended superbly for much of the game, but a lax three minutes in the second half undid all the hard work.
After going in goalless at the break, Alex boss Steve Davis switched from a tight 3-5-2 to a more attacking 4-4-2.
The Railwaymen looked more positive in this formation, but it reopened those defensive frailties, and Bradford exploited them.
Davis said: “We were much better than we have been, and I thought for 70odd minutes we performed well defensively.
“We had to make a couple of goal-line clearances, but I thought we defended pretty well, on the whole, without creating too much.
“I thought we had to give ourselves a chance second half, so I made the change because I wanted to do better on the ball.
“We weren’t doing enough going forward and I still felt capable of keeping them out.
“Then, it was two quickfire goals, which we’ve seen before.”
Two last-ditch clearances kept the game level at half-time, both from corners.
First, Anthony Grant kept out Aaron McLean’s low drive on 20 minutes, then Greg Leigh replicated it to deny Billy Clarke.
Crewe keeper Ben Garratt also came off his line to smother a goalbound Jason Kennedy just before half time.
Davis’ tactical switch looked positive as Chris Atkinson and George Cooper forced saves out of Jordan Pickford.
But Crewe’s attention faltered. Mark Yeates’ simple cross from the left had Garratt rooted to his goal-line, allowing Mclean to bundle in at the near post.
Gary Liddle added a quick second for the Bantams, curling in from 20 yards from Filipe Morais’ pull-back.
Bradford boss Phil Parkinson was delighted to see his side win at home for the first time since the opening day.
He said:“It’s been a long time coming, but we deserved it.We had numerous chances in the first half and just couldn’t quite get the first goal, but I thought the lads were excellent.
“They kept calm, kept playing, and we wore them down in the end.
“After we got the first goal, you felt there would be another coming and Liddle’s strike killed the game.
“These games are never easy because, with Crewe’s recent results, everyone expected us probably to win, despite our recent form.
“Those are the hardest games to play in, but I thought the lads handled it really, really well.”