Crewe U23’s fall to a 2-0 defeat at home to Sheffield United.

Two quickfire second half goals gave the visitors all three points in a wintery afternoon at Reaseheath. Alex Morris’ side defended abruptly throughout but their defensive wall was finally breached in the final 10 minutes.

It was a robust and organised Alex display from the off, with Sheffield enjoying the majority of possession. Crewe were happy to let the Blades play in front of them.

Despite the visitors enjoying possession, Will Jaaskelainen’s goal wasn’t really endangered with the Blades restricted to shooting from range.

Though, Sheffield did look to take the lead on 20 minutes, but for some terrific defending from Connor O’Riordan to clear what would’ve been a tap in for the visitors.

Elsewhere, Crewe enjoyed some freedom down the left-hand side, but it was the final decision making that seemed to trouble the Alex from getting in on goal.

A solid defensive first half performance from the Reds saw them go in level at the break.

Much like the first, the second half had a similar style to the game with Crewe having to maintain their solidity at the back.

But it was Morris’ side that registered the first real chance of the half with Joe Levey coming close. An in swinging free kick from the left side of the box forced Sheffield stopper, Jordan Amissah to parry the effort wide of the post.

Before that, Nathan Woodthorpe was the first name to be noted in the referee’s notebook as well as Regan Griffiths soon after.

With just over 10 minutes remaining, the Alex defence couldn’t resist the pressure any longer as the visitors broke the deadlock on 79 minutes. Frankie Maguire found space in the penalty area before slotting past Jaaskelainen.

Almost immediately after, the away side made it two. A slotted ball in behind the defence was latched on to by Angelo Cappello who slotted home to give his side a two-goal cushion.

Crewe had Jaaskelainen to thank for keeping the scoreline at 2-0. The Finland u21 international pulled off a superb reflex save, tipping Ryan Viggars’ point blank header onto the post.

The final action of the afternoon saw Lewis Billington carded for a cynical foul, stopping the counter-attack.

Crewe: Jaaskelainen (GK), Daniels, Adebisi, Griffiths, O’Riordan, Green, Robbins, Tabinor, Salisbury, Onyeka, Levey

Subs: Billington, Booth, Williams, Stubbs, Woodthorpe