One of the main positives to take from last night’s 2-1 defeat in the Checkatrade Trophy to the youngsters of Newcastle United was the impressive impact made by our own young player Owen Dale.
The young forward replaced Charlie Kirk in the 70th minute and had a real appetite to make things happen in the final third of the pitch.
The 18-year-old Academy graduate has had to wait patiently for his senior debut after being named on the bench on a number of occasions under David Artell but he was keen to take his chance. He helped create our goal for Jordan Bowery, showing good awareness to link up well with Callum Ainley down left hand side.
The Crewe boss said of the energetic forward’s performance: “One of the positives was Owen’s performance. He got his opportunity and wanted to show what he can do. That is what you want from your substitutes. You want them to come on and make a difference and he did with his energy.
“Owen is a bit further on than Billy (Sass-Davies), who also got his opportunity. It was 15/20 minutes and it doesn’t equate to 90 minutes, but he made an impact and was positive in his play.”