Crewe fight back to stun Doncaster in shootout and reach playoff final
Crewe stunned in-form Doncaster when they cancelled out the home side’s two-goal aggregate lead before winning the penalty shootout 4-3 to book a place in the League Two playoff final at Wembley.
The goalkeeper Max Stryjek, who joined Crewe only last month on an emergency loan from Wycombe, was the match winner as he saved penalties from Zain Westbrooke and Hakeeb Adelakun to clinch a 4-3 victory in the shootout.
It capped a remarkable fightback against a Doncaster side who had stormed into the playoff places in the later stages of the season with 10 straight wins, and who were firm favourites going into this second leg after winning 2-0 at Gresty Road on Monday.
Crewe, by contrast, finished the season with one win from nine matches, but the Railwaymen got off to a fine start at the Eco-Power Stadium on Friday night when Mickey Demetriou headed in at the back post from Joel Tabiner’s corner after six minutes.
Ten minutes later they levelled the tie, the unfortunate Doncaster full-back James Maxwell making it 2-0 on the night when he nudged Chris Long’s low cross into his own net. Rovers rallied and looked the stronger side as the game wore on, Richard Wood heading narrowly wide before the hosts somehow failed to convert from a goalmouth scramble at the end of 90 minutes.
In extra-time, Polish stopper Stryjek was alert to keep out Luke Molyneux’s firm shot, pushing it on to a post, but a shootout looked increasingly inevitable as the game progressed towards the 120-minute mark.
Doncaster appeared to have the ascendancy in the shootout when Thimothee Lo-Tutala saved Demetriou’s second penalty for the away side but Stryjek saved Westbrooke’s shot from the next kick and, after all the others were scored, Hakeeb Adelakun was denied by the keeper, sparking delirium among the visiting players and fans.
“It’s so emotional. Nobody believed in us,” said Stryjek, who was released by Wycombe last week. “I didn’t play at Wembley with Wycombe, but hopefully
I can with Crewe! We deserve to be in the final, it’s a great achievement for the club. I’m happy I could give my brick to the wall by saving those penalties.”
Crewe will play either MK Dons and
Crawley in the final at Wembley on 19 May, with the latter 3-0 up from the first leg. The second leg takes place in Milton Keynes on Saturday evening.