It was a much better performance from Crewe Alexandra this afternoon but those same old mistakes came back to the hunt the Railwaymen against an in-form Rotherham side. Ronnie Moore's spirited side came back twice to seal a 3-2 win - but once again Crewe were their own worst enemy with us conceding direct from a corner, via a penalty and then from a long-range free-kick that was hooked over David Button by Rotherham United's sub Drewe Broughton. Those mistakes are costing us dearly.
Crewe had twice led this afternoon with a recalled Steven Schumacher netting his first of the season after just six minutes of play, and then through our leading scorer Calvin Zola. In difficult conditions, Crewe did play some better football on the floor and were rather unlucky not to pick up a point for our efforts.
Dario Gradi returned to the helm for a third time after replacing the outgoing manager Gudjon Thordarson yesterday, and made three changes to the side that lost 3-2 to Bury on Tuesday evening. On loan goalkeeper David Button replaced Adam Bogdan after shaking off a back strain. Bogdan, who marked his debut against the Shakers, dropped to the substitutes bench. Without the suspended defenders Patrick Ada and Billy Jones, Gradi had to reshape his formation, electing to operate with a 4-4-2 rather than the 3-5-2.
The versatile Ashley Westwood moved to left-back to replace the captain. Midfielders James Bailey and Steven Schumacher returned to the starting line-up as well and Shaun Miller was pushed forward to join Calvin Zola up front.
Rotherham's relatively 'new' Ronnie Moore named former Crewe Alexandra striker Tom Pope in his starting line-up. Pope shook off a sore back injury to face his former team-mates.
Crewe Alexandra made a dream start under Gradi taking just six minutes to open the scoring on a blustery afternoon in South Cheshire. It was a well-crafted goal with Luke Murphy picking out the run of Joel Grant with a sublime pass and Schumacher guided his instant volley across the penalty area home for his first goal of the season. It was the perfect start and helped us confidently settle down.
Shortly after the early goal, Joel Grant had a firm shot blocked at a corner before Rotherham scored with one of their first real attacks into the Crewe half. A 14th minute corner From Kevin Ellison sailed over the Crewe number one, David Button, and dropped in at the far post. The wind may have played a part but any goalkeeper would be disappointed to conced directly from a corner.
That equalising goal lifted the visitors, with the in-form Adam Le Fondre shooting over and the involved Ellison curling a free kick from 30 yards out over the top of the crossbar.
Crewe grew in confidence though and football began to flow. Passes were crisp and accurate with both full-back's eager to get forward and James Bailey usually collecting possession from the centre-half's. One flowing move ended with Zola shooting just over Andy Warrington's crossbar on 22 minutes.
A couple of minutes later, the advanced Murphy dragged a shot just wide of the mark after winger Grant had found him intelligently.
It was the visitors nearly going in at the interval ahead though, with the lively Le Fondre turning Worley and firing just wide of the far post. His threat throughout was always obvious and Pope worked tirelessly alongside him.
Crewe started the second half just as vibrantly as they did the first with Murphy shooting just wide of the mark after a promising run from the young Alex midfielder.
It took Crewe just 6 minutes of the second half to go ahead for a second time. Miller pressurised Nick Fenton into a mistake and the ball ran through to Zola. The Congolese hitman kept his cool again to slot it past the helpless Warrington for his second goal in a week and his 8th for the season in all competitions.
The wind began to play havoc with the game as a spectacle but Rotherham almost hit back instantly with Nicky Law firing straight at Button.
At the other end, a recovering Ian Sharps did well to halt Zola in his tracks in the six-yard box and Worley couldn't keep his header down after a shot from Brayford had looped into the air. The Crewe centre-half couldn't get his header on target and just 60 seconds later he was giving away the crucial penalty on 57 minutes.
Worley was caught out behind by the pace of Le Fondre and tripped the Rotherham striker just as he was about to pull the trigger. Le Fondre picked himself up to dispatch the spot kick to the left of Button. Crewe had shot themselves in the foot again.
The response was good though from the home side and on 64 minutes, Warrington was forced into a smart save after Zola had laid possession back to Bailey. The Rotherham keeper did well to push away the shot from Bailey away from the danger zone.
The match could have gone either way and Brayford did exceedingly well to block a shot by Ellison after Rotherham had caught us on the break. Brayford, who was impressive throughout also headed a corner just wide of the mark.
The right-back also produced a superb cross that only needed a tough from the onrushing Miller and Zola.
Rotherham made the switch with just over 10 minutes remaining with Pope coming off to warm applause for the match winner Broughton.
Schumacher's last contribution saw him fire over before he was replaced by Simon Walton. Murphy also made way for the fit-again Danny Shelley.
The match looked like ending in a deserved draw - but Crewe conceded another soft goal, which would prove to be the winner. Worley conceded a needless free-kick close to the half-way line and after the ball was pumped into the box, the fresh Broughton looped his shot over a stranded Button. It was hard to take - but the Crewe fans can take some encouragement from the performance if not the result.
