Alex substitute Clayton Donaldson probably scored the simplest goal of his career to give Crewe Alexandra a 2-1 victory on their first ever visit to the Pirelli Stadium this Friday night. Donaldson was in the right place at the right time to tap home a shot-come-cross from Byron Moore after his pace and strength had seen him escape the clutches of last man Tony James. Donaldson may have got his name on the scoresheet with just six minutes left on the clock, but Moore deserved the credit for creating the goal.

Crewe had originally taken the lead on 26 minutes after a wonderful run and finish from Shaun Miller. He raced through onto a pass from Luke Murphy before tricking his way past his marker before guiding home his second goal in three games following his late equaliser against Torquay.

Burton hit back almost immediately through the impressive Shaun Harrad. His turn and shot beat Phillips just 90 seconds after taking the lead.

The home side also enjoyed large periods of sustained possession and through their goalscorer on the night, Shaun Harrad, they also had a dangerous striker who also hit the foot of the Crewe post in the second half.

With Dario Gradi electing to rest young full-back Matt Tootle, there was a change of position for utility man Ashley Westwood. The Crewe-born Westwood moved back to left-back with winger Joel Grant also recalled ahead of him. Byron Moore was also handed a start up-front after replacing the injured Calvin Zola early on in our clash with Rochdale last Saturday.

Fellow striker Clayton Donaldson overcame a slight knock on his ankle to be named on the substitutes bench and produce the winner- but previous captain Steven Schumacher didn't make it after aggravating his back in training.

On his first return to the Pirelli Stadium in a competitive capacity, John Brayford was named Crewe Alexandra captain for the evening, which was a nice gesture for the popular right-back.

Due to a bout of illness to a couple of match officials, this evening's match was delayed for 15 minutes with the fourth official Darren Drysdale taking over from the original referee Steven Bratt. The match kicked off at 8pm and it was even-stevens for the first 15 minutes or so. Both sides were struggling to settle down and although the football was good up to the final third, that final pass or cross of real quality was lacking.

The lively Burton Albion forward Shaun Harrad shot a yard or so wide on the quarter of an hour mark before Miller forced the home keeper Artur Krysiak into his first meaningful save after his long range shot had to be pushed over the bar for the first corner of the evening. From the resultant set-play, Westwood's drilled cross found Brayford in space but he couldn't get his header on target.

Crewe conjured up the first real opportunity of the night on 21 minutes when a splendid pass from Luke Murphy put Moore through on goal but Krysiak stood up well to push the shot away. It was a good chance for the Alex striker, who had started his evening on a promising note.

Moore showed his pace again a couple of minutes later but after his pull-back across the six-yard box had found Grant, the Burton Albion keeper reacted quickly to smother possession at his feet.

The match was beginning to warm up nicely with both sets of players eager to get the ball down and play some enterprising football. Bailey looked as though he had never been away from the action. His passing was crisp and accurate and his vision was the finest on the pitch. Alongside him Simon Walton put his usual shift in, breaking things up ahead of the two centre-halves. He had an injury scare when he thumped an advertising hoarding close to Steve Phillips' goal, but after some brief treatment he was fine to continue.

The deadlock was finally broken on 26 minutes and it was a wonderful move from the Alex. Miller won his initial header in the centre circle to give Murphy the necessary space to find Miller again down the right hand side of the penalty area. The striker took his fourth goal of the season with aplomb, calmly turning his man before dispatching it past Krysiak. A confident Miller can score goals like that.

After taking the lead, it was rather disappointing that the advantage lasted merely 90 seconds before the home side hit back through their danger man Harrad. He turned sharply up against Worley before dispatching his shot past Phillips from the edge of the penalty area.

The equalising goal for the Brewers seemed to lift them to another level and they enjoyed their best spell of the game. Phillips produced a fine save to deny Harrad his second goal of the night after Steve Kabba had released him inside the box. The Alex keeper was out quickly to get a strong hand on his shot and the handily placed Worley was able to complete the clearance.

Kabba and Harrad were combining well as a partnership and after the former Sheffield United man had turned inside the centre circle, another through ball found the Burton number 9 but from a tight angle he couldn't quite test Phillips.

Burton were certainly finishing the first half strongly, with left winger Jacques Maghoma shooting into the mid-drift of Phillips and Penn shooting wide.

Crewe's best chance to go in at the break ahead saw a deep cross from the overlapping Brayford just evaded Moore at the far post.

Burton were forced into an early change in the second half when Penn was unable to continue. Jimmy Phillips replaced him. The half time interval or the substitution had made no change to the way Burton's front two were troubling our back four.

After we surrendered a cheap corner and then failed to make a suitable clearance, Harrad struck the foot of the post after turning and getting his shot off inside a crowded penalty area. It was certainly a let off for the Railwaymen.

Harrad then forced Phillips into an outstanding save after he had tried to disguise his curling shot by using the frame of O'Donnell ahead of him. The experienced Phillips watched the striker's execution well to push it away.

The Alex keeper was certainly being kept busy and he was called into action again to deny an ambitious effort from Cleveland Taylor. The former Scunthorpe United winger had tried to catch out Phillips from 30 yards out with a dipping shot, but the on-loan Bristol Rovers stopper tipped it over his bar.

A goal was really looking imminent for Burton at this stage and Crewe were having to weather the storm a little. Greg Pearson then replaced Kabba and he was quick to test the concentration levels of Phillips with an early shot.

Just before the hour mark, Harrad's low delivery across the Crewe 6-yard box was certainly tempting towards Pearson but he couldn't quite stretch and reach it at the far post. The Crewe goal was leading a charmed life.

In what was becoming a rare occurrence, Miller fired into the side netting from a tight angle after being found by his strike partner Moore.

After a slow start to the half, Crewe began to get themselves back into the game and Moore really should have given us the lead on 66 minutes. Miller and Moore skilfully combined on the edge of the Burton penalty area, to put Moore through on goal again but his final shot lacked real conviction and was too easy for Krysiak. Either side of him would have seen the Railwaymen ahead.

Moore's pace then nearly saw him through again after another fantastic through ball from Murphy but a last ditch challenge from Tony James just put him out of his stride and the ball ran through to Krysiak.

With just over 15 minutes remaining, Miller, who had been struggling with a back injury, was replaced by Donaldson. The next goal was looking good enough to win it, with both sides pushing forward to find it. It was an intriguing match that really could have gone either way.

Burton nearly grabbed the decisive goal though after a quick throw-in released full-back Aaron Webster inside the Crewe penalty area. He did everything right to cut across the box and fortunately for the Alex, his curling shot just missed Phillips' far post. Phillips hadn't moved.

With six minutes remaining, Moore finally produced the skill and composure to create a goal for the sub Donaldson. Moore wrestled for possession with centre-half James, and after escaping his clutches he headed for goal. Moore coolly rounded Krysiak and shot towards an empty net. Perhaps his shot wouldn't have crossed the line but it mattered not as Donaldson was there to tap home on the line. It was his 6th of the season.

Crewe had to see out the remaining minutes and credit to our back four who threw themselves infront of shots and crosses all night long.