Lowery on a high as his brace sinks City
DAVE ARTELL says his Crewe players took a half-time lesson to heart as they conquered Salford’s defensive approach and earned an emphatic comeback win.
The high-flying Railwaymen fell behind when Adam Rooney punished Will Jasskelainen’s handling error in a first half in which the Ammies strung five across the back.
But an explosive spell of three goals inside 12 second-half minutes saw Crewe roar back with Chris Porter, Tom Lowery and Harry Pickering on target, before Lowery completed the rout.
Artell revealed: “Kenny Lunt (assistant manager) had a go at the players at half-time and tried to help them understand how Salford were stopping us.
“Last season going behind was often terminal for us and we didn’t have the ability to come from behind.
“But we’ve been able to do that plenty now and it is another string to our bow.”
Crewe’s attacking credentials have steered them to second in the table, but they struggled to break down Salford before the break.
When Jaaskelainen dropped Ibou Touray’s cross it presented Rooney with a simple close-range finish.
But Crewe’s subdued first half was in contrast to the blistering start they made to the second period. Porter levelled when he headed in Ryan Wintle’s cross and then Owen Dale hit a post.
When the visitors were exposed down the middle, Lowery flicked the ball over the last man and clipped past Kyle Letheren.
Pickering then let rip into the top corner from 20 yards and Lowery completed the turnaround when finishing into an empty net after Letheren pushed out Charlie Kirk’s shot.
Disappointed Salford boss Graham Alexander said: “We were in complete control in the first half at 1-0 up and doing what we had planned to do.
“But we conceded a terrible goal early in the second half and, for one reason or another, we let go of everything we had worked on.
“It is a mentality issue for me and we have to find the answer as we can’t play as well as we did in the first half to have a negative action go against us like it did.”