In-form Chesterfield grabbed revenge for our win at Saltergate back in early December with a 1-0 win at Gresty Road this evening. Drew Talbot grabbed the only goal of the game on 27 minutes after Barry Conlon's shot had fallen perfectly into his path.
Crewe didn't test the Chesterfield keeper Tommy Lee enough over 90 minutes, but were a little unlucky to see Byron Moore's early effort hit the underside of the crossbar and bounce clear.
The Railwaymen who continued to press forward looking for an equaliser nearly nicked one right at the death as well but Matt Tootle's shot was kept out by Lee.
After coming on as a second half substitute on Saturday, Matt Tootle, returned to the starting line-up for the visit of Chesterfield. Tootle had originally been rested for the recent fixture at Burton Albion, but his introduction against Northampton saw Ashley Westwood move back into midfield and transform the game into our favour.
Crewe-born Westwood started against Northampton on the right hand side of midfield with Luke Murphy dropping back down to the substitutes bench.
It was in-form Chesterfield who started the better with the former Grimsby striker Barry Conlon hitting two early shots into the legs of Matt Tootle.
A few minutes later, new on-loan winger Simon Whaley forced Steve Phillips into his first meaningful save of the evening and a hat-trick of early chances for the visitors saw Mark Allot force Phillips into another save. Defender Harry Worley was on hand to assist in the clearance with Conlon again lurking.
On 12 minutes though, Crewe went awfully close to taking the lead. Byron Moore's wonderful shot from 20 yards out had beaten the Chesterfield goalkeeper Tommy Lee and he was rather unfortunate to see his effort hit the underside of the crossbar. Lee gleefully collected it.
Both sides continued to play football the right way and enjoyed spells of good possession up until the penalty area where defences were on top.
The deadlock was broken on 27 minutes and that proved to be the winning goal on the night. There was an element of good fortune to it with Conlon's initial shot being blocked by Worley, only for the loose ball to fall kindly to Drew Talbot. Steve Phillips still managed to get his hand to his close range shot but was powerless to keep it drifting over the line.
Two minutes later, Chesterfield nearly doubled their advantage via a corner. Conlon won a header at the far post for his strike partner Talbot and his header was frantically cleared by Westwood from the goal line. With the ball returned into the penalty area, Chesterfield's skipper Ian Breckin should have found the back of the net but he failed to hit the target. It was a wasted opportunity.
Crewe kept probing though and Westwood's fine ball out to the left gave Tootle enough time and space to find the head of Moore with a cross. It forced Lee into his first real save.
Then a fantastic run from Dominic Green was only halted by Ashley Westwood inside our own six-yard box. He had picked possession up deep inside his own half.
The second half was much of the same from both sides. Each had good periods of the ball but that extra bit of quality in the final third was lacking. When Crewe elected to launch it forward it was pointless without Calvin Zola there and to be fair, Conlon did a better job at holding the ball up for the visitors.
Crewe had an early shout for a penalty after Miller had raced through only to be clipped by Dan Gray. Referee Steve Tanner was on hand to waved away the muted appeals from the Crewe players. They were not overly convinced either.
Gray was then cautioned for a clumsy trip on Grant but Westwood couldn't make him pay with the direct free-kick. Crewe continued to get to the Chesterfield box but couldn't find that accuracy with the final cross or pass.
In an attempt to find a solution to the problem, Dario introduced Donaldson and Murphy for Bailey and Miller with 20 minutes to go.
Chesterfield's Green forced Phillips into another smart save though after his long range effort took a deflection en route. Phillips had to be alert to push it clear. Whaley then shot into the side netting. Many of the Chesterfield supporters on the other side of the Stadium thought it was in.
With time running out for the Railwaymen, we did conjure up two decent chances in the last few minutes. Westwood shot over from the edge of the box after collecting a pass from Moore. The Alex players also had a strong shout for an apparent handball inside the box following a late corner. The ball certainly looked to have struck a raised hand.
In injury time, Crewe created arguably their best opening of the game. Grant came off his wing to orchestrate the move and his brilliant through ball found Tootle inside the 6-yard. The left hand had done extremely well to get there in the 92nd but his shot was superbly kept out by Lee, who must be applauded for his concentration levels. Crewe had been denied a point right at the death.
