Boss pleased with first half display but says finish to second half needed improvement

Well taken finishes from Academy graduates Oliver Turton and Billy Waters provided Crewe with a hard fought 2-1 win over a spirited Southport side. Crewe controlled much of the 90 minutes and raced into a 2-0 lead within the first 22 minutes thanks to goals from two of their youngsters. A recalled Lee Molyneux was also involved in both Crewe goals, releasing Turton for the first goal after just two minutes and then seeing his powerful shot turned in on the rebound by Waters.

After another good run out against Southport, Alex boss Steve Davis told crewealex.net: “I thought it was a good game and I was pleased with the way we played, especially in the first half.

“Some of our play was really bright and inventive and we got in behind on a number of occasions due to our passing and movement. We created chances and scored two good goals. Perhaps getting those two relatively early goals changed the mind-set a bit for the second half because we were not to sustain our performance as much.

“Maybe it appeared too easy because those two goals enabled us to control the game and we were comfortable. Perhaps it was too comfortable and I told the players that we had to carry that level of performance into the second half, but we didn’t manage to do that.

 “Credit to Southport because they threw everything at us and we tired a bit towards the end because the players have been asked to work hard in the training sessions.

good test coming here and although I would preferred to have kept a clean-sheet, I was generally pleased with the way we played, especially in that first half.” The boss added: “Southport kept going and put the ball into our box so it was a really good test from that perspective but they also played some good football and had good passages of play as well. It is always