Crewe Alex Under 18’s kicked off 2018 with a credible 1-1 draw at Birmingham City.

Full-back Travis Johnson’s second half header cancelled out a first half Blues strike, but despite good chances & plenty of pressing, the game ended a point apiece.

Birmingham took the lead when the Alex’s trialist goalkeeper couldn’t get enough purchase on his clearance from a back-pass, the ball dropping to the Blues’ right winger who slipped in the striker to produce a neat finish.

The equaliser came after the break from a free-kick on the by-line which was whipped in by Joe Lynch for Johnson for bullet a header into the net.

Alex Hurst had a magnificent chance to give Crewe the lead when he raced away one-on-one, but couldn’t beat the prominent Blues stopper.

Challis Johnson also had a couple of good openings, but he too couldn’t find the winning goal so the points were shared.

Crewe: Trialist, T.Johnson, Sass-Davies, Harrison (Griffiths), Barlow, Offord, Heath (Fenton), Lynch, Lomas, C.Johnson (Linton), Hurst