Crewe Alexandra 2  Leeds United 3

At half-time this looked like a comfortable win, but we had to withstand a determined fightback from Crewe Alexandra. Crewe will feel that they would have something out of the game if hadn’t been for the early sending off of Billy Jones.

The only change to the starting line-up saw Liam Dickinson making his debut instead of the suspended Jermaine Beckford. There was a lively start to the game, and it looked fairly even as Brayford sent a volley over the bar and Kilkenny going close at the other end. But the game’s decisive incident came as early as the 17^th. minute, with the sending off of Crewe’s Billy Jones.

As the ball was played down the Leeds right, Snodgrass pulled Jones back as they raced down the touchline, with Jones retaliating by kicking the Scotsman to the floor. The lineswoman flagged for a Leeds free-kick and Jones was incenced that the decision hadn’t gone his way. He was booked for the foul, and then let his feelings be known in rather industrial language.

I’ve been told exactly what he said by some Leeds fans who were in that corner, so it’s no surprise that he got sent off, though I’m also told that it wasn’t a straight red, as the ref just forgot to show him the second yellow first. The Crewe fans I met in the pub after the game thought that the lady assistant had been intimidated by the Leeds fans in the stand behind her, and that might have been why she was swapped to the main stand side for the second half.

Crewe fell back on defence after going down to ten men, but now it seemed like only a matter of time before Leeds would force a breakthrough. And the goal arrived in the 27^th. minute, as Becchio pulled the ball back for Kilkenny just outside the area, who sent a left-footed shot past Ruddy into the corner of the net. That was the cue for several celebrating Leeds fans to get thrown out of the main stand, though one of them managed to hold off the stewards for so long that he was still in the ground to witness our second goal.

That came on the half hour mark Snodgrass got the touchline and sent a looping cross towards the far post, where Becchio out-jumped the defence to head home. And with Crewe visibly running out of confidence, it was three nil after 33 minutes. Snodgrass was played through down the left, and just when I thought he ought to square it for the unmarked Dickinson, he ran on to fire the ball past Ruddy from outside the area.

At that stage it looked like we would go on to give them a right tonking, and it should have been four just before half time, but Douglas shot well over the bar from only twelve yards out. At the break we had to make a change, as Rui was replaced by Lubo in central defence, presumably through injury. And we soon discovered that Crewe are made of strong stuff these days under manager Gudjon Thordarson, as they began a determined fightback as soon as the second half began. 

They were strong appeals from the home fans for Naylor to be shown a second yellow and reduce the game to ten aside after a foul just outside the area, but that would have been harsh as he’d tried to pull out of the challenge once he’d seen he couldn’t take the ball cleanly. And Crewe had an outstanding chance with a firm headed from the  unmarked Brayford, which bounced up and cleared the crossbar.

That was a warning of things to come, and Crewe got themselves back into the game with a goal on the hour mark. It was our old failing once again, a goal direct from a corner, and although Baudet didn’t have much space between Naylor and Lubo, the ball dropped right onto his head and he placed it past Casper into the corner of the net.

Leeds we still looking dangerous on the break, and with 20 minutes left Grella came on for Dickinson, after a fairly ineffective debut, which showed that he needs more time to develop an understanding with his new colleagues. Grella was as enthusiastic as ever and showed some good touches, but his first contribution was to be unfairly penalised for handball, as the referee decided to be generous to Crewe for once.

The ball hit Grella on the chest and the lineswoman didn’t flag, as she had an excellent view, wheras the ref gave the free kick despite being in no position to see whether the American had handled or not. This led to Crewe’s second goal, as the free kick was knocked out for a corner, which was never properly cleared. As the ball was played into the area, Naylor’s attemped clearance dropped kindly for Pope, who managed to scramble the ball past Casper into the net.

Now it was certainly game on, and I was thinking what a disaster it would be if we’d dropped points after being in such a commanding position in the first half. We had our chances to make the game safe, but Ruddy pulled off excellent saves from Snodgrass and Grella. But my nerves were getting shredded as we went into four minutes of injury time, bearing in mind Bristol Rovers’ 94^th. minute equaliser in our last away game.

And it nearly did happen again, but Casper pulled off a brilliant save from a Sigurdsson free kick, and after we managed to get the ball back into the Crewe half to relieve the pressure, we could breathe a big sigh of relief as the ref blew the final whistle. We might not have heard the last about his performance, as during the second half there was an announcement asking the referee’s assessor to go down to the office, and a Crewe fan later told me their manager is to make a formal complaint.

Leeds certainly like to make things hard for ourselves, and we needed this win, with Tranmere winning at Oldham to ensure that we remain only three points above the dreaded seventh place. Crewe fans may think they had the moral victory in this game, but Leeds go back to Yorkshire with three vital points.

Photo: Action Images

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