Two weeks ago, Shaun Miller missed a decisive penalty as Crewe tried to get back into the game at Torquay. A few minutes after striking his effort wastefully over the bar, he embarked on a run that would create a wonderful equaliser for Clayton Donaldson.

Miller went one better today because after Crewe were awarded a hotly-disputed penalty just before the hour mark, Miller didn't hesitate to grab the ball and slot home his sixth goal of the season to give the Alex faithful the bragging rights and put a huge dent in Port Vale's play-off hopes.

Vale will feel aggrieved because understandably they felt Gareth Owen had played the ball when he had tried to halt the run of Clayton Donaldson. Many remained behind after the game to vent their anger at the referee as he left the pitch.

Crewe didn't care too much for all that because some solid defending and threatening play on the counter-attack had seen them pick up three points.

Crewe Alexandra were forced into two changes for the short trip to Vale Park. Midfielder Ashley Westwood was serving the first of his three-match suspension following his red card against Notts County last weekend. His place in central midfield went to Steven Schumacher.

On loan defender Chris Stokes was ruled out with a hamstring strain, so as expected Matt Tootle returned to the starting line-up at left back.

The derby kicked off in a buzz of noise and anticipation around Vale Park and it wasn't long before the first untimed tackle went in. Schumacher was spoken to within the first two minutes for a lunge at Anthony Griffith. It set the tone for an entertaining opening.

Clayton Donaldson threatened to unlock the Vale defence after just four minutes, but after he had glided past a couple of challenges, his pass into the advanced Shaun Miller was cut out superbly by the covering Kris Taylor from within the confines of his own 6-yard box.

A couple of minutes later, Brayford was rather unfortunate to see his shot on the turn blocked after the Vale defence failed to deal with a Schumacher free-kick placed into a crowded penalty area.

It was a real competitive start to the game and Crewe had to rely on the agility of Steve Phillips to deal with a firm shot driven in by Craig Davies after he had been sent clear by Marc Richards. Mat Mitchel-King had been tracking the Port Vale striker and perhaps forced him to shoot earlier than he would have wanted. Moments later, Davies was unlucky not to apply a definite touch to a superb looking cross from Vale's full-back Kris Taylor.

It was promising stuff from both sides with both eager to break forward and create chances. After cutting in from the left hand side, Donaldson dragged a shot into Chris Martin's side-netting. Miller then had a shot deflected behind for a corner after Crewe broke with numbers.

After a busy opening 20 minutes, the tempo did drop a little. It was defences on top with both set of defenders protecting their own penalty areas with great determination and tenacity.

Richards, a former loanee at Gresty Road looped an effort over Phillips' crossbar after being set-up by Davies. For a player of his prolific standing, it was a decent chance from the edge of the Crewe penalty area.

Likewise, Joel Grant should have hit the target on the half an hour mark after Miller had found him on the left. Grant's trademark footwork was neat enough but after creating a yard of space, he lashed his shot wastefully over the bar.

Almost immediately, Schumacher did well to get his head to a cross shot from Richards after he had taken on full-back Matt Tootle. That took the home side's corner count to four.

Davies went close to giving Vale the lead on 34 minutes after he had brushed off Mat Mitchel-King in the original build-up. Davies managed to keep his low drive under control and it was only a yard or so wide of Phillips' left hand post. That effort began to mount some pressure on the Crewe goal, but Mitchel-King and Danny O'Donnell continued to get their head onto most things. Both defences continued to get their bodies in the way of shots and crosses.

The Crewe centre-halves didn't deal too well with a long punt up field by Martin and Davies used his powerful frame to bounce away from Mitchel-King but he couldn't keep his half volley down enough to trouble Phillips.

With the minutes ticking towards the first half interval, a well advanced Tootle was unfortunate to see his shot blocked on the edge of the Port Vale box after Grant had down well to retain possession.

The second half kicked off with a superb piece of defending by O'Donnell. Haldane took on Tootle and his cross looked destined to find Richards, but the Alex centre-half did brilliantly to stretch out his long leg and hook it away from Vale's leading goalscorer. Minutes in, and Vale's captain Tommy Fraser couldn't keep his shot down to test Phillips. Haldane then had a shot blocked by the impressive Bailey.

Vale were certainly more in Crewe half's than the Railwaymen were in the home side's - but then on the counter attack, Crewe broke forward at pace and were awarded a dubious penalty on 58 minutes. It became a foot race between Donaldson and Gareth Owen and to be fair it looked as though the Vale defender had got a large chunk of the ball to put it out for a corner.

Much to Vale's astonishment, the referee pointed to the penalty spot. After the Vale protests had died down, Miller stepped up to confidently put Martin the wrong way to give Crewe the lead in the derby. Just like the reverse fixture at Gresty Road, Miller had given us the lead in the local derby.

Because of the debatable penalty award and Port Vale's play-off hopes suffering a knock, it raised the temperature inside Vale Park up another notch.

Miller nearly made it extra hard for the Valiants after a terrific solo run. He twisted and turned McCombe before shooting just wide of the far post. It would have been some goal. Grant then hada chance at the far post after more great work by a determined Miller but he couldn't quite get the cross under control and the chance was lost.

Port Vale made a substitute with McCombe making way for former Alex youngster Adam Yates. The home side had Rob Taylor and Anthony Griffith booked. Taylor was soon replaced for Sean Rigg and Haldine was taken off for Doug Loft.

Schumacher joined the Vale players in the book but it may have been as a result of mistaken identity because it looked as though his close pal O'Donnell had shoved Marc Richards.

Dario also took the opportunity to make a change with debutant Danny Gardner replacing Miller with just over 15 minutes remaining.

Vale upped the pressure and loaded our box with high balls and their weapon of the long throw. There were a few frantic moments in front of Phillips but the Alex centre-halves were dealing with it fairly comfortably. The corner count was going up in Vale's favour and Crewe were struggling to get out of their box never mind half. To try and secure things up, Grant made way for Danny Shelley.

With three minutes remaining, Tootle went over on his ankle and limped off to be replaced by Patrick Ada. Donaldson was then caught late, high and appallingly by Lee Collins. He was lucky to escape a yellow card.

With time running out, Richards clipped a free-kick over the top of Phillips' crossbar and Crewe kept possession well to see out 5 minutes of stoppage time.