Nicky Maynard scored a first half brace to give Crewe a comfortable looking cushion going into the second half. Although Crewe conceded a sloppy goal with eight minutes to go, Tom Pope's powerful header from a corner four minutes later sealed the points. A 3-1 win was no more than Crewe deserved with the visitors hardly testing the Alex keeper Ben Williams during the 90 minutes. In truth, Crewe had the better of the chances throughout with both Pope and the impressive Man-of-the-Match Michael O'Connor going close to adding more.
As expected Julien Baudet returned to the Crewe Alexandra starting line-up after overcoming a thigh strain. The Frenchman took the place of the unfortunate Daniel O'Donnell who was ruled out with a tight hamstring. Danny Woodards continued to deputise in the centre of the Crewe back four with George Abbey at right full-back.
With Mat Bailey joining Weymouth on loan for a month, his namesake James was named on the substitutes bench.
In blistery conditions, it was the Alex who conjured up the first half chance of the afternoon. A clever dummy from Nicky Maynard in the centre of the pitch created the space and after the ball was worked back to him, he was a full stretch when he shot just wide of Aaran Lee-Barratt's goal.
From an early corner, the returning skipper Baudet headed just wide after Kenny Lunt had provided the perfect cross.
Although Hartlepool continued to play some good football, the Railwaymen took a deserved lead on 20 minutes. A flowing passing move involving O'Connor saw the ball moved out to the overlapping full-back George Abbey. The Nigerian defender swung over a low cross, and Maynard' s movement saw him reach it ahead of his marker Michael Nelson and his touch took it past the grounded Lee-Barratt.
The goal settled us down pretty quickly and we began to play some sparkling football. Despite the conditions, it made for a very watchful game of football. Maynard drilled a shot off of Nelson for another corner.
Just before the half an hour mark, Crewe doubled their lead with Abbey again the creator supreme. Again, O'Connor was involved in the build up. His sweeping pass out to Patrick Boyle opened up the play, and Abbey's eventual cross into a crowded penalty area picked out Pope. His header struck the post and looked to be crossing the line, but the on-hand Maynard made sure by tapping it over the line for the 7th goal of the campaign.
With the comfort of a second goal, Crewe seemed to be enjoying themselves. Three minutes after Maynard's second goal, O'Connor should have scored the goal his hard work deserved but he sliced his shot from close range. The Irishman, who is set to join up with the Northern Ireland senior squad, knows he should have at least hit the target from there.
Hartlepool played some tidy football and kept possession but rarely threatened the goal. The former Port Vale defender Sam Collins did have the ball in the net but the goal was chalked off after the initial corner had swung out of play first. The referee was spot on to make the decision.
Crewe were finishing the half strongly with Maynard a little unlucky not to have had a first half hat-trick after a short free kick from Lunt gave the in-form striker a clean shot at goal. The chance eventually looped into the air and was smuggled out for a corner.
There was still enough time for Hartlepool to ask a question of the match officials when Porter went down under a robust challenge from Boyle. The referee was well placed to wave away the appeals. Michael MacKay also had a late header from close range but his effort was rather tame and easily gathered up by Ben Williams.
Just four minutes into the second half, Maynard had an opportunity to grab that treble goal after being sent clear by Morgan. The youngster just unfortunately lost his balance inside the box and the chance was lost.
Danny Wilson, the Pools boss had seen enough and injected some fresh impetus with the introduction of Davie Foley and James Brown for Willie Boland and Mackay. Those two did make a difference to the visitors as an attacking force. Foley was most impressive and was always prepared to carry the ball into the last third.
Another flowing move from Crewe though saw a looping head from Tom Pope cause Lee-Barratt into a save from underneath his crossbar. The Alex defender Julien Baudet and Nicky Maynard were cautioned as a few tackles began to go in. Brown was also in the referee's book for a lunging tackle on Roberts.
With nothing to lose, the visitors continued to push forward looking for a lifeline. A wicked free kick from their captain Ritchie Humphries evaded everyone inside the box, before Andy Monkhouse forced Ben Williams into an awkward save after his long-range shot took an uneven bounce in front of him.
Maynard was still on the hunt for his first senior hat-trick and he was unlucky again not to connect with a clever nod down from Morgan. The on loan attacker from Luton also tried to bustle his way through the middle just before he was substituted for Joe Anyinsah. Match winner Maynard was also rested for Monday with Byron Moore coming on.
Crewe were trying to see the final 10 minutes out but were caught out with 8 minutes left with porter racing clear of the Alex back four. Somehow, the Pools striker was able to go one-on-one with Williams and he kept his composure to dispatch it confidently past the Alex number one. It was game on.
A minute later, the excellent O'Connor whistled a shot just wide of the post. He did exceeding well to come onto the chance and to keep his effort down. Moore also made a nuisance of himself when combining well with Pope and that resulted in the decisive corner.
With just four minutes left, Lunt's superb delivery found the head of Pope and he powered it past Lee-Barratt and into the roof of the net. It was a wonderful header and gave Crewe the extra breathing space we needed to see out the remaining five minutes.
Crewe played keep ball in the closing stages and the Alex supporters were thoroughly enjoying their afternoon. There was still enough time for Pope steer a late chance wide after a probing run from the fresh legs of Moore. It would have rounded off a perfect afternoon for the Railwaymen expect that consolation goal for the visitors.
