Porter puts smile back on faces of plucky Alex

DAVID Artell praised Crewe’s fighting spirit as they ended a seven-game losing run with a battling victory.

Chris Porter scored the winner for the bottom side after setting up the opener for strike partner Chris Long in the first half before Kion Etete’s leveller for Cheltenham early in the second period.

“We thoroughly deserved it,” Artell said. “We’ve had decent performances recently and not got the results.

“Football’s all about putting the ball in the net and both strikers scored, so that’s pleasing.

“The lads are running around and committed. We don’t mean to lose, we’re not trying to lose, so I’m glad our fans are going back up the M6 happy.

“We know where we are and so I’m delighted for the fans today as it would’ve been quite easy to stay at home.”

Crewe took the lead after 19 minutes through Long’s fine finish after Porter nodded a high ball into his path.

Tom Lowery saw an effort deflected wide for a corner and then a well-struck free-kick hit the side-netting for the away side.

At the other end, Callum Wright forced a smart save from goalkeeper

Dave Richards before half-time.

Cheltenham had only lost one of their previous 10 games and they restored parity three minutes into the second half.

Alfie May played in strike partner Etete and he fired a low shot under Richards to register his second goal since joining on loan from Tottenham in January.

But Crewe claimed three vital points in their daunting relegation fight when Dan Agyei’s corner was nodded in by Porter for his fifth of the season and his first goal of 2022.

May had a chance to level at the death, but Richards blocked well at the near post.

It was Cheltenham’s first defeat in seven and manager Michael Duff admitted his team looked lethargic after their midweek away trip to Ipswich, where they battled for a 0-0 draw.

“It looked like the end of a long week because it was flat,” Duff said. “We actually started the game really well and should have been 1-0 up after two minutes.

“But we never really got a foothold in the game and the players didn’t do any of the things we asked them to do.”