Following the high of winning at our local rivals Port Vale the Easter programme has seen Crewe Alexandra plummet to earth with an almighty bump. Following the unbelievable finish on Good Friday at Morecambe, Crewe again failed to raise themselves against a spirited Cheltenham Town side and ended up losoing 2-1. They came fighting for their lives and two goals from striker Justin Richards means they have taken a giant stride towards safeguarding their Football League status.
Crewe huffed and puffed without forcing Cheltenham's goalkeeper Scott Brown into too many saves and at home it hasn't been good enough. This 2-1 reverse was our 10th defeat at Gresty Road this season and that has to dramatically improve if we are going to do anything next season.
One plus point was the return of defender Carl Martin, who replaced Danny O'Donnell after he had conceded a penalty for pulling back Michael Townsend at a corner. Martin slipped into the centre of defence, looked assured and scored his first goal of his senior career from a late Steven Schumacher free-kick.
Despite the late defeat at Morecambe just 3 days ago, Dario Gradi didn't make a change to his starting XI and continued with Calvin Zola on the substitutes bench. He wanted a reaction and a performance from his wounded team but Crewe failed to really produce the football that had graced Christie Park in the first half on Good Friday. The tempo and urgency wasn't there and we couldn't get going.
Mark Yates' Cheltenham side are trying to escape the bottom two and made a promising start to the proceeding without really threatening Steve Phillips' goal. Michael Pook, a trialist with us in the summer shot straight at the on-loan Crewe goalkeeper early on.
A free-kick from Luke Murphy nearly picked out Clayton Donaldson with a wonderful long-ball but the Alex striker couldn't quite reach it in front of Brown. James Bailey nearly did likewise with a lofted pass aimed for Shaun Miller but it just ran through to the keeper.
After a fairly uneventful opening, Cheltenham punished Crewe with a swift counter-attack on 24 minutes. It came via a Crewe free-kick being cleared and after Murphy had lost his 50/50 in the centre of the pitch, the ball was swept out to Michael Pook. The midfield collected himself before placing an accurate cross into the chest of Richards, who controlled it superbly before dispatching his shot past Phillips. It was a complete sucker punch.
Crewe continued to have good possession but couldn't get in behind an organised Cheltenham defence. Both Miller and Murphy didn't get their shots off when they had a chance and when we elected to shoot, Joel Grant's shot was blocked by a brave Townsend on the edge of the penalty area.
In an attempt to draw level before the break, Miller lashed a volley well over from a very acute angle.
Things could have got worse for the Alex heading into the break though because the impressive Josh Lowe shot over after they broke on us again from a free-kick. Full-back Danny Andrew was just wide with a well struck effort from 25 yards.
Crewe started the second half with more zest with Donaldson and Grant combining well but a well-placed Andy Gallinagh did superbly to clear Grant's low cross away from danger.
With the home side not looking as threatening as we should have been, Dario introduced Calvin Zola for Murphy and went with three upfront.
Cheltenham still offered a threat on the break with Matty Thornhill curling a shot wide.
The introduction of Zola added some initial threat mainly due to his aerial presence. He headed a Schumacher corner over the bar and forced Brown into a punch after he applied pressure from a free-kick.
Donaldson's pace got him to the by-line but after Crewe had loaded the penalty area with bodies, his cross drifted into the arms of Brown.
Then with just over 20 minutes remaining, Crewe inflicted their own damage. Tootle headed a Low cross behind for a needless corner and from the resultant delivery, O'Donnell allowed his man to escape him and inexcusably pulled him back at the far post.
The referee was well placed and did not hesitate to point to the spot. Phillips went the right way, got his fingers to it but couldn't keep out Richards' well-placed shot. From introducing Zola and looking like we might stage some sort of comeback, we found ourselves 2-0 down at home.
Conceding the penalty was one of O'Donnell's last involvements in the game as he was withdrawn for Martin.
With 10 minutes remaining on the clock, John Brayford drew a cheer from the crowd when he shot at Brown from distance. Before that ambitious effort from the right-back, the Cheltenham keeper had been pretty much redundant. Crewe had struggled top break Cheltenham down enough.
Soon after Schumacher tested Brown with a well struck effort that had to be pushed away. Crewe needed a goal and quickly, but to be fair to Cheltenham they continued to keep possession well.
After Barry Hayles was booked for a foul on Matt Tootle in the 89th minute, Schumacher's fine delivery into a crowded penalty was tucked away by substitute Martin to give us a slight hope of saving a point from a below-standard performance. Martin acted quickest to dispatch his shot past Brown.
Crewe tried to salvage a point but Brayford's long ball towards Zola couldn't quite be collected by the big Congolese striker.
In fairness, Cheltenham had the best chance to score again when Low's fine curling effort struck the bar and bounced out in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
