Crewe comfortably progressed to round three of the FA Youth Cup sponsored by E.On with a 5-1 win over Morecambe at the Alexandra Stadium.
Forwards Junior Brown (2) Nick Farquharson (2) and Ajay Leitch-Smith helping themselves to the goals on a cold night in South Cheshire. Crewe were always in command of the game but didn't open the scoring into the final minute of the first-half thanks to Brown's first of the evening.
To their credit, Morecambe battled into the end and deservedly scored a consolation goal through Paul Jarvis with seven minutes remaining.
Crewe Alexandra emerged from the blocks first and spent most of the first half in and around the Morecambe penalty area. In the first 45 minutes, the Crewe Youth team created numerous chances and probably deserved to go in further ahead at the interval.
The home side's first chance of a cold evening came in the opening four minutes and ended in a rather bizarre scramble and a quite fantastic save from Morecambe keeper Tiernan Kelly. Ajay Leitch-Smith pulled back an inviting cross for midfielder James Bailey and Kelly, who then also denied the same players follow-up effort, saved his firm shot. The rebound then fell at the feet of Junior Brown and he too was denied by a defensive block, before forcing a fantastic one-handed save from the visitors' goalkeeper. It was a superb double save from Kelly. Somehow they had managed to keep it out.
Crewe continued to push forward looking for a deserved breakthrough. Chris Clements had an early shot blocked by Tom Wharf and that was soon followed up by a similar effort from Nick Farquharson. They just kept knocking on the door.
The Crewe youngsters were playing some enterprising football. There was some great one touch stuff and all that was really lacking was that final pass or accurate shot. To their credit, Morecambe defended superbly well and were determined to keep the ball out.
Clements continued to break from midfield and would have been disappointed not to have connected properly with a clever pass from Leitch-Smith and soon after that effort he sliced another one wide of the mark after a promising move down the left involving Farquharson and Bailey.
Just after the half an hour mark, Junior Brown struck the underside of the Morecambe crossbar following a fantastic cross from right-back Ashley Westwood. If it had bounced over the line it wouldn't have counted anyway as the assistant referee had raised his flag for offside.
When still at 0-0 Morecambe were very much in the tie and looked more than capable of forcing the issue at times. Jack Helm curled one over the bar from a free-kick before striker Jamie McKenna wasted his side's best chance of the first half when he fired well wide following a probing run and cross from Jarvis.
Junior Brown so nearly broke the deadlock on 37 minutes, after being put through superbly by the vision of Westwood. His excellent pass allowed Brown to round the Morecambe keeper Kelly, but just as he was going to tap into an empty net, recovering defender Wharf did superbly well to deny him with an expertly timed tackle.
From the resulting corner, Farquharson had yet another powerful shot blocked by a resilient defence. As the first half approached its finish, Crewe pressurised the Morecambe back line even more and they would eventually crack in stoppage time.
Before Brown's decisive opener, he shot just wide of the far post after a clever twist and turn on the edge of the box and then he struck the woodwork for a second time after another accurate cross from Westwood had been headed down into this path by the lively Farquharson.
It looked as though the goal was never going to come in the first 45 minutes, but thankfully it did in stoppage time. Captain Farquharson was again involved heading a Westwood corner goalwards and there was poacher Brown to turn it home at close range.
Crewe stepped up a gear in the second period with the goals beginning to flow more freely. Two minutes after the restart, Farquharson should really have doubled the Alex's lead from close range but uncharacteristically for him, his side-footed volley went the wrong side of the post after he had broken the offside trap. He certainly didn't let that miss affect his play though, and he soon returned to his potent best.
On 54 minutes, another flowing move from the Alex youngsters saw Westwood release the Crewe number nine again and his pass into Leitch-Smith deserved a better finish. The striker drew a save from Kelly but it lacked real power to really test him properly.
Crewe did extend their lead though just two minutes later. Chris Clements found Farquharson inside the Morecambe penalty area, and the powerful striker dummied to shoot to trick Kelly before placing into the empty net. It was a composed finish from the teenager and surely ended any hopes Morecambe had of getting back into the tie as a contest.
Brown then helped himself to his second goal of the night with a stunning shot into the top corner after more approach play from midfielders Bailey and Clements. Brown picked his spot superbly to rifle it into the top corner of the visitors net. It was no wonder he did the acrobatics in celebration.
On the hour mark, Brown nearly completed his hat-trick after the powerful Farquharson bundled his way through the Morecambe back four. Brown had his back to goal, but he still spun superbly to get his shot in - only to watch as it drifted just wide.
A spirited Morecambe were well and truly out of it on 69 minutes. Luke Murphy did well to retain possession on the touchline and he set the confident Brown on his way to goal. The tricky winger dodged one or two tackles before getting his head up and releasing Farquharson inside the Morecambe penalty area with a perfect reverse pass. Having worried about the danger coming from the skills of Brown, they had switched off to leave the Crewe captain completely on his own. Farquharson didn't mess around and drilled home our fourth goal of the evening.
The scoring didn't end there either. Leitch-Smith wanted to get on in the act as well having scoring twice at Oldham in the previous round. He wasted one great effort after a sublime piece of skill inside the Morecambe penalty area. On that occasion, he couldn't keep his shot down.
Morecambe enjoyed their best spell and sub Gary Baker stuck the foot of the post after being sent clear by Jarvis. Crewe also needed keeper Jack Baker to show great reflexes to deny Morecambe's other sub Rico Colulo's diving header from a corner.
Ajay Leitch-Smith finally got his goal on 73 minutes. Farquharson produced a moment of sublime skill by back-healing possession into the path of his strike partner and he made no mistake infront of the Morecambe goal. Both would be replaced by the end, with Marcus Calvert and Ben Marshall given a late run-out by coach Steve Holland.
Morecambe did get a consolation goal with six minutes left and it was a memorable strike too from Jarvis. The wide man curled it beyond the reach of Jack Baker to give the travelling the Morecambe fans something to cheer about. It was a wonderful finish.
Crewe nearly added to their tally late on with Calvert just failing to reach Marshall's deep cross.
With time running out, Clements went on a mazy run down the touchline in stoppage time, which left three players trailing in his wake. It was a wonder run which suggested that the Alex youngsters enjoyed their evening. They now await an away trip to either Cambridge or Tranmere in Round Three. Those two sides meet on Thursday night.
Crewe: Jack Baker; Ashley Westwood, Thomas Lappin (sub Dexter Ravenhill 90), Ben McHugh, Luke Danville; Chris Clements, James Bailey, Luke Murphy; Ajay Leitch-Smith (sub Ben Marshall 81), Nick Farquharson (sub Marcus Calvert 75), Junior Brown
Subs (Not Used): Marcus Cooper (Gk), Charlie Ager
Morecambe: Tiernan Kelly; Andy Leigh, Phil McCluckie, Danny McGan, Danny Wisdom; Jack Helm, Tom Wharf, Gary Ball, Paul Jarvis; Jamie McKenna, Chris Anderson
Subs: Curtis Wood, James Davies, Rico Colulo, Louis Wilkes, Gary Baker
Referee: Mr B Tatton
