Murph on captaining his home town club to a successful season

Luke Murphy was determined to get fit and lead an ‘Academy Eleven’ out against Walsall for the final game of the season. Murphy has been struggling with a tight groin strain for a number of weeks, but came through to play at Wembley in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final and then led Crewe to a 2-0 win over the Saddlers to finish a successful campaign.

minute.^thMurphy, opened the scoring against Walsall via the penalty spot and Chuks Aneke rounded off the season with another stunning strike in the 86

Murphy told crewealex.net: “I wanted to finish the season with some minutes under my belt again and we played 11 academy players, which was great credit to everyone at the club.

“It is getting harder as bigger clubs try to take players away, so to have 11 starters who have come through thanks is great credit to Steve, Neil, Critch, James and Dario. I'll be in everyone's debt.

“Dario's here every night some of that goes unnoticed. They don't just turn up on a Saturday, and I think this will give them the recognition they deserve.

“To just be playing well for Crewe and being captain was good enough for me but to lift the JPT and lead the academy team out is a real plus.”