No solace for Davis after Alex comeback
BRAD INMAN’S late strike was the last word in a sixgoal thriller but it failed to make Crewe boss Steve Davis jump for joy after he admitted his side should have wrapped up all three points.
Danny Mayor cancelled out David Fox’s early opener, but Ryan Colclough struck to give Crewe back the lead before Tom Soares equalised in first-half stoppage time.
Danny Rose looked to have given Bury all the spoils and though Inman’s solo effort salvaged a point for the Railwaymen, the result was bittersweet for Davis.
“I have mixed feelings a little bit because it’s a point gained in the end but it should have been a comfortable win,” said Davis.
“If we had defended better, had people out there who could make better decisions, then we’d have won comfortably.
“I’m not going to pick out anybody, it’s just collectively in defending we backed off a lot.
“We didn’t engage the opposition enough to stop them playing and we’ve got to stop teams playing.”
Crewe took the lead when Inman beat Joe Riley on the left to square for Marcus Haber and Chris Hussey’s failed thirdminute clearence fell to King, who finished.
The home side had Ben Garratt to thank after a 16th-minute defensive mix-up led to him denying both a one-on-one Tom Pope and Rose with the rebound.
Mayor drew the Shakers level after getting the better of Oliver Turton and driving into the box before nutmegging Garratt with a cool 23rd-minute finish.
The Alex regained their advantage when Billy Bingham’s free-kick was headed on by Ben Nugent and Colclough got ahead of Riley to apply the finishing touch.
Soares sparked into life in first-half stoppage time to equalise for Bury after turning and firing past a diving Garratt.
But in the 58th minute the Shakers went ahead after Hussey ran into acres of space and cut back for an unmarked Rose.
Inman then came to Crewe’s rescue after a jinking run ten minutes before time ended with him smashing home a low effort past Christian Walton. Bury boss David Flitcroft waxed lyrical over an outof-this-world performance from Mayor – but his defence brought him crashing back to earth.
“I thought his football at times was from a different planet, it really was, and he looked threatening every time he went forward and I was delighted with him,” Flitcroft said.
“To concede three goals, it’s not acceptable but we’ll get it right.
“It’s something that we were outstanding at last season and I don’t think it’s just the step up of levels.
“Individually and collectively we’ve got to tighten up on that.”