- Railwaymen edged in Yorkshire
- Tracey shines and nets late on
- Another good pre-season workout
Crewe Alexandra were edged 2-1 at Barnsley in their final pre-season of the summer.
James Norwood and Kacper Lopata scored for the home side early on in each half, but Shilow Tracey pulled one back towards the end for The Railwaymen.
It was a good workout for Lee Bell’s side, who showed positive signs against high-calibre opposition from League One.
Now all eyes will be focused on the 2023-24 opener next weekend, when Mansfield Town visit Mornflake Stadium.
Bell named a strong side at Oakwell, with Matus Holicek the most inexperienced starter. He came into the attack for the injured Christopher Long.
Crewe got on the front foot from the start and Rio Adebisi brought a good save from keeper Liam Roberts after a good exchange with Tracey in the second minute.
But on four minutes Norwood was given too much space on the edge of the box and he found the opener with a clinical side footed finish.
Harvey Davies made a good point-blank save from Nicky Cadden after the number seven had weaved his way into the box.
Corey O’Keefe blazed over from a good position, and Devante Cole was denied by Davies as the home side looked for more.
The Alex had looked threatening in attacking areas but just lacked the final ball, and the game was still 1-0 at the break.
Lopata doubled the Tykes’ lead a couple of minutes after the restart when he got on the end of a free kick from the left and found the back of the net.
Just after the hour mark the Alex switched to a back three, and it wasn’t long before they halved the deficit.
Joel Tabiner won the ball back high up the pitch and he floated a cross to Tracey who collected nicely and passed the ball between Roberts’ legs.
Tracey went close to getting an equaliser but fired over the bar from a good position.
The substitutions came thick and fast and changed the nature of the game, but Crewe kept pushing.
In the final minute Max Woodcock earned a free-kick on the edge of the box but fellow sub Regan Griffiths didn’t pack enough punch in his shot to trouble Roberts.
Barnsley: Roberts, Williams, Russell (Cotter 46), Lopata, Kitching, Cadden (Shaw 75), Kane, Norwood (Watters 46), Styles, O’Keefe (Chapman 46), Cole (Winfield 75).
Subs not used:Killip, Cotter, Bland, James.
Booked: Lopata.
Crewe (4-3-3): Davies; Adebisi (Cooney 79), O’Riordan (Sass-Davies 89), Demetriou (Offord 63), Williams (Billington 86); Powell (Griffiths 86), Colkett (Lunt 17 (Thomas 79)), Tabiner (Kempster-Down 86); Tracey (Woodcock 86), Baker-Richardson (Finney 63), Holicek (Holicek 86).
Booked: None.
Referee: Michael Salisbury.
