Crewe Alexandra manager David Artell described Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Stevenage as a repeat of the famous 1974 boxing bout between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman.
Ali took his medicine up on the ropes in Zaire, but he famously hit back late on to win by a knockdown in the 8th round. The fight is known as the ‘rumble in the jungle’ and Artell used the comparison to the media earlier this morning.
The Crewe boss said: “What was pleasing about Saturday’s performance was the players kept going and had that belief that we could get back into the game.
“We didn’t panic when we went 1-0 down or 2-0 down and although we were trailing and had given ourselves a mountain to climb, I still thought we were the better side.
“In the final 15 minutes, I really thought that there was only going to be one team who would score again and Perry has got us back into it with an absolute cracker.
“We kept going, we kept passing it and in the end they tired themselves out. Because we had kept the ball and made them run around for 75 minutes they found it hard in the closing stages.
“It was the like the rumble in the jungle and they were wilting. If we had gone on for another five minutes, I am sure we would have scored again. Stevenage had ran themselves into the ground.
The boss added: “We thought the opportunities would come and even when Shaun (Miller) was denied by a magnificent save, we didn’t think ‘oh well’ there goes the chance to get something. We went again and Charlie has got in there to head an equaliser. It is no more than the players deserved.”