The Shoemakers 1-4 Motley Crewe

The Shoemakers were delighted to welcome Motley Crewe to the Racecourse for the second meeting between the two sides. The previous fixture at Crewe had seen a 4-1 win for the home side who actually proved to be a very amicable bunch despite their name!

Like the away game, conditions were tough at the Racecourse with strong winds blowing across the park, suiting the kite surfers more than footballers.

The home side started on the front foot and created a good few openings, Chris Marriott curled a delightful free kick just wide from 30 yards and Luis Pereira had a volley blocked en-route to goal. With the wind on their backs, a goal looked certain to arrive for the home side, but last gasp defending from a resilient Crewe side denied them the opening.

Ironically Crewe took the lead on the half hour, a clumsy challenge by Matt Cockerill gave the referee no option but to award a penalty which was scored by Paul Kerby.

The home side continued to battle and forced a quick equaliser through Martin Holmes who finished well into the top corner for his fourth goal of the season.

The half looked to be ending all square when a sucker punch from Crewe's Chris Grant made it 2-1 to the visitors just before the interval, Matt Cockerill parried an initial long range effort but Grant was on hand to finish from close range.

The second half was a messy affair as the wind appeared to get stronger, both sides were limited to chances. The Shoemakers came close through Sean Bellham, Rob Ellam and Martin Holmes, but couldn't find the equaliser. Crewe had chances of their own, Mark Kennedy cleared a corner off the line and Matt Cockerill pulled off a good late save.

With four minutes to go the Shoemakers mounted a late attack for the elusive equaliser but the ball was hammered clear. Steve Marley did exceptionally well to put the ball out for a corner with a lone Crewe attacker bearing down on goal, but from that corner, Craig Fisher nipped in at the near post to make it 3-1 to the visitors to effectively sealing the win.

With absolutely nothing to lose, the Shoemakers threw everyone forward and lightening struck twice. Another long clearance was collected by Crewe's Andy Morris, but a brilliant tackle from James Averill looked to have averted the danger. The ball broke back to Morris who finished well beyond Matt Cockerill for an emphatic scoreline.

Paul King from Crewe said
"A close game until the last five minutes where we caught Northampton on the counter attack twice to give the scoreline a flattering result in our favour. Thanks to Mark and his team for hosting us and all the best for the rest of the season."

Footnote
I said before the game that I was hoping for a closer encounter than the 4-1 defeat at Crewe, but we ended up on the wrong end of the same scoreline, although it was closer than it suggested. Fair play to Crewe, they battled well throughout and played the game in excellent spirit, which is what fans team football is about.

Mark Kennedy

Squad - Matt Cockerill, James Averill, Ant Collett, Steve Marley, Mark Kennedy, Chris Marriott, James Boddington, Sean Bellham, Luis Pereira, Ian Errington, Martin Holmes - Rob Ellam, Bob Payne, Russ Rainbow