MILL ENDS LONG GOAL DROUGHT
SHAUN Miller sealed Crewe’s win over Grimsby with his first goal since his summer move back to the club.
But his manager Dave Artell admitted he was not concerned about the striker’s drought since the 31-year-old made a permanent return for his third stint at Gresty Road.
Miller was a prolific scorer in his first spell with the club after coming through the ranks and he finished off a successful loan last term with a double against Cheltenham on the final day.
He has been troubled by injuries since his summer move from Carlisle, but Artell wasn’t surprised at his predatory finish for Crewe’s second. Miller glanced a header past Grimsby keeper James McKeown from Ryan Wintle’s cross after on-loan Liverpool youngster Corey Whelan opened the scoring.
“I knew it was only a matter of time before Shaun started scoring,” said Artell. “He’s come through the injury and we know what he can do. I knew one was going to go in sooner or later.”
Before Crewe’s two late goals it had been a day for keepers as both Grimsby’s McKeown and Crewe counterpart Ben Garratt kept warm on a chilly day with a string of fine stops.
McKeown’s speed off his line thwarted Jordan Bowery who was put in the clear. Garratt was impressive, too and his quick reactions denied Mariners frontman JJ Hooper from close range on the stroke of half-time.
But Crewe made the breakthrough when Whelan latched on to Charlie Kirk’s ball and drove into the far corner.
The win was Crewe’s second in three games.
The Railwaymen are also unbeaten in the last four and the result maintained an impressive home record with just one defeat in seven in front of their own fans.
Grimsby weren’t short of a threat, but their finishing failed to match their approach play. As well as keeping Hooper and Thomas at bay, Garratt also pushed around Charles Vernam’s angled shot after the break.
McKeown excelled again thwarting Jordan Bowery, but he was finally beaten by Whelan and Miller, before he tipped Callum Ainley’s late effort onto the bar.
The defeat was Grimsby’s first in five games and boss Michael Jolley said: “For most of the game we were the team in the ascendancy. We created a number of chances. “Wes Thomas went through in the first half and got tugged back, so the chance he got was of one lower quality than it could have been. “It was frustrating as we didn’t take the chances we created and we concede two goals in the last part of the game.”