Goals like London buses for the Alex
CREWE Alexandra waited 400 minutes for a goal – and then scored twice in 90 seconds as they beat Scunthorpe United at Gresty Road.
Full-back Greg Leigh lit up a dour clash with a roof-raising 25-yard piledriver in the 54th minute to give the home side the edge.
And when Crewe attacked straight from the kick-off Marcus Haber headed home at the far post to leave boss Steve Davis grinning from ear to ear.
“I don’t think it was a classic but it was a hardfought game and one we had to win with the games we’ve got coming up and with where Scunthorpe are in the league,” said Davis.
“It needed something like Greg’s goal to change the game, otherwise it was heading for a 0-0 I think.
“I thought we started off the second half really well, at a higher tempo and Scunthorpe couldn’t live with us during the 20 minutes in which we got the goals.
“Greg’s was a roof-raising strike, but he did it in training on Friday – exactly the same goal. The second was a training ground goal from Thursday.We worked in getting Marcus to the back post and getting crosses into the box.
“We settled on that, then and saw the game out really well.”
In the first half, neither side had been able to get a grip on a scrappy game played on a bobbly pitch, though Alex did squan- der a good opening in stoppage time when Nicky Ajose stabbed wide from a left-wing cross by Leigh.
The only quality of the match came in the 20 minutes after the break, when Crewe stepped up a level and made their control count.
Jamie Jones, who ran the game in the middle of the park, almost broke the deadlock five minutes after the restart, but Leigh ensured Alex did forge ahead, cracking a stunning shot in via the underside of the bar after the ball had come out to him on the left.
Scunthorpe were reeling and, before they had had time to mount a comeback, were dead and buried. A ball hung into the box looked hopeful, but Haber used his strength to rise highest and wrap up three points which moved Crewe seven clear of the bottom four.
Scunthorpe boss Mark Robins said:“There was nothing in it, apart from a wonder strike that 99 times out of 100 goes into the sky.
“It went right on a postage stamp into the corner and put us on the back foot, then they got one straight after which killed the game.
“We got forward into better positions than them, but that was the way it went here.
“We could have played until midnight and I don’t think we’d have scored.”