Morecambe staged one of the finest comebacks in their history to keep their play-off hopes alive and kill ours stone dead in a dramatic finish that left many scratching their heads here at Christie Park.
After a hour of play, Crewe were 3-1 ahead and cruising to what would have been our 9th away victory of the season. It should have been four after we awarded a 73rd minute penalty but Shaun Miller had his penalty saved and that spurred a remarkable revival.
Crewe failed to get a grip with set-plays and 3-1 shockingly turned to 4-3 in the space of the last five minutes. Morecambe were always a threat from set plays and Morecambe queued up three times to head into our net to leave everyone connected with the club completely shell-shocked.
Dario Gradi had the luxury of naming an unchanged side for the first of our Easter fixtures at Morecambe. On our first and last trip to Christie Park, Crewe could call upon regular left-back Matt Tootle after he shook off a slight ankle injury in last weekend's 1-0 win at Port Vale.
The Alex squad was also boosted by the return to fitness of leading striker Calvin Zola, Simon Walton and the eligible again Carl Martin. Martin had served his three-match ban following his red card against Grimsby Town.
Morecambe made a strong start to the proceedings and drew two excellent saves from Steve Phillips in the opening ten minutes. The Crewe goalkeeper was called into action as early as the 3rd minute to push out a long range effort from Simon Hackney and Mat Mitchel-King did superbly to deny Phil Jevons from tapping home the loose ball. It was an expertly timed tackle from the Alex centre back.
Phillips then stood tall to get a strong hand on a shot from Phil Jevons after Morecambe had been allowed to travel an awful long way into our half. Jevons collected an accurate pass from Paul Mullin, nipped it past Mitchel-King but was denied by the alertness of Crewe's on-loan goalkeeper.
Up to that point, Crewe had found it difficult to make too many positive inroads into the Morecambe half but the pace of Shaun Miller and Clayton Donaldson always caused them concern when we attempted to break forward.
Crewe's first real meaningful attack ended with Joel Grant drilling home a 17th minute opener. James Bailey found the lively Miller and after Will Haining had stuck out a foot to stop him in his tracks, the ball fell invitingly for Grant on the edge of the penalty area and his powerful drive gave Barry Roche in the Morecambe goal little hope.
The winger's goal lifted Crewe's early performance and we soon got into our stride and started passing the ball with real confidence. From a corner, taken by Luke Murphy, Crewe were a touch unlucky not to go 2-0 up. Mitchel-King applied a header for Miller to latch onto and on the turn, his fierce shot was blocked just in front of Roche.
Crewe were certainly in-and-around Morecambe's box more than they had been, especially when we avoided hitting the foreheads of their centre-halves Haining and Bentley.
On the next occasion we pressurised Haining into a mistake, we took full advantage on 29 minutes. The Morecambe defender got himself into a right mess trying to deal with a long ball up the pitch and with Donaldson breathing menacingly down his neck, Haining's header towards his own goalkeeper was weak. Donaldson's pace got him behind, to nick it over the goalkeeper's header and as the ball bounced towards the goal, Miller nodded home his 7th of the season. Crewe were well and truly in the driving seat.
Crewe were playing some of the best football of the season, zipping the ball around one touch at times. Bailey was influential again with his sublime range of passing and one his forward thinking passes found Miller but his final shot just lacked that real conviction to test Roche.
Five minutes before the interval, Donaldson had the chance to kill the game as a contest. Miller provided him with a simple touch into space and Donaldson's electric pace saw him leave Haining trailing desperately in his wake. One-on-One with Roche, he dragged his shot wide of his left hand post. The move and run deserved the finish.
Before the break, Morecambe's lively winger Mark Duffy was still trying to create something and a purposeful run in injury time did create half a chance for Laurence Wilson but he shot a couple of yards wide of Phillips' goal.
Haining who had struggled throughout the first half to contain the pace and directness of Donaldson didn't reappear for the second half. The former Oldham Athletic defender could have aggravated his groin towards the end of the first half and it was no surprise to see him replaced by David Artell.
The newly introduced centre-half quickly forced Phillips into an early save after he got his head to a cross from Wilson. Striker Jevons then went even closer when his firm header clipped the top of the Crewe crossbar with Phillips looking beaten.
It was evident that Morecambe had stepped up a gear from the interval and were searching for that decisive next goal that would provide them with a passage back into the game.
Saying that if Miller had been able to sort out his footing after a terrific run, he could have provided Grant with a killer third goal. The ball never reached the Alex winger, who had picked up a great position and Crewe quickly retreated onto the back foot once again.
Morecambe were certainly forcing the Alex backwards and had a succession of corners and free-kicks that allowed them to apply pressure on Phillips and his back four. They finally got the goal their early pressure deserved on 52 minutes. Simon Hackney's forceful run to the by-line exposed the Crewe defence and after his cross had missed out Phillips, there was the experienced Jevons to volley home from close range. From a comfortable position, Crewe began to look vulnerable for the first time in the game.
Phillips was forced to push a bobbling shot from Simon Hackney behind for a corner after Steven Schumacher had unfortunately slipped in the build-up. Artell, who was providing a fresh threat at set-pieces', then flicked a delivery from Craig Stanley against Phillips' chest before it was hastily smuggled behind for yet another corner.
Crewe came out of their lull to see Miller head a Brayford cross into the hands of Roche. Then just after the hour mark, Crewe restored their two-goal advantage after the Alex back line had forced Duffy to surrender possession. Bailey carried the ball into the Morecambe half before releasing Donaldson up against Artell, who couldn't match his pace. Donaldson cut in from the right wing to guide a shot beyond the dive of Roche for his 11th goal of the season. Morecambe thought Donaldson had been offside in the build-up but the assistant's flag remained down.
The assistant was then called upon to make a big decision in the game when Miller raced clear only to be shoved over on the edge of the Morecambe penalty area by full-back Andrew Parrish. The assistant flagged for the foul and referee Foster brandished a red card to the young defender. It was a professional foul because Miller was through on goal.
Amazingly, from the resultant free-kick, struck powerfully by Schumacher, the referee then quite correctly awarded Crewe a penalty for a handball by Artell as the Morecambe wall jumped as one. The defender was cautioned and Crewe had the opportunity to seal the points.
Miller, who scored the winner from the spot at Vale Park last week stepped up but rather tamely rolled it too close to Roche. The penalty save meant that despite being reduced to ten men, the home side were not totally out of it.
In fact, they made a remarkable fight of it in the closing stages when substitute Wayne Curtis ghosted in almost unnoticed to head home a cross from Wilson. That goal sparked a remarkable comeback from the home side that has to rival one of the finest, if not the finest in their history.
Crewe were at six-and-sevens and we needed someone to put their foot on it. Dario introduced Simon Walton for Murphy to try and halt the flow heading towards our goalmouth.
Amazingly the home side then drew level on 90 minutes when Paul Mullin rose highest in a crowded penalty area to make it 3-3. Crewe had dealt relatively well with his aerial threat throughout the game, but crumbled in the final minutes.
As the match entered stoppage time, Morecambe were not finished there either when many other clubs would have settled for a draw after getting themselves back into the game from what looked like an impossible position. Phillips did brilliantly to tip a shot from Bentley over the bar, but from the resultant corner sub Artell headed in from close range ahead of the Alex keeper. It was unbelievable stuff at Christie Park and Crewe's slim play-off hopes died in quite extraordinary circumstances.
