Crewe Alexandra crash out of the Cheshire Senior Cup in the Semi-Finals.
Crewe Alexandra’s hopes of a place in the Cheshire Senior Cup final were curtailed on Tuesday evening as National League highflyers, Stockport County defeated the Railwaymen 5-0 at Edgeley Park.
Scott Kashket completed just over 30 minutes after returning from an ankle injury that has kept him out since November last year.
An early strike by Andy Cannon and a late first-half own goal put County in control of the tie against a young Crewe side, before a Connor Jennings brace and an Alex Reid goal late on, compiled to the Alex misery.
The Railwaymen lined up with a youthful looking side featuring just a few senior players with the likes of Regan Griffiths, Josh Lundstram and Madger Gomes. In comparison to a mature Stockport side who handed debuts to three signings they brought in over the weekend.
The hosts came out all guns blazing with the first opportunity falling to Reid though he could only direct his header over the top. Moments later, on six minutes Cannon gave County an early advantage, after picking up a loose ball in the area and firing his volleyed effort under an unsighted Will Jaaskelainen.
In an open game, the Alex’s first attempt on target came courtesy of Tyreece Onyeka following a delightful passing move from back to front. The attacker beared down towards goal before skilfully losing his man, but he could only strike his effort into the gloves of Luca-Ashby-Hammond.
Meanwhile at the opposite end, Reid this time managed to get across the front post to latch onto Ollie Crankshaw’s whipped cross. Again, he could only find the terrace.
As the game began to settle, County’s experience began to show as they dominated possession throughout and Crankshaw began to find his feet to which he forced Jaaskelainen into a smart save at his front post.
Whilst the Finnish u21 international was called into action again shortly after, as Reid leapt highest to head towards the bottom corner, but the Crewe number one was alert to the effort.
Lee Bell made a change on 38 minutes as Max Woodcock replaced Scott Kashket. The man who has only just returned from injury so this looked like a planned substitution.
The final action of the half saw the hosts give themselves a two-goal advantage going into the half time break. Crankshaw and Reid once again linked up for the latter’s header to deflect off Woodcock and into his own net.
Much like the first half, the Hatters started on the front foot forcing Lewis Billington into a late challenge leaving referee, Peter Gibbons to show the first yellow card of the evening. The resultant free kick was whipped towards the far post only for Ethan Pye to connect with his head, but Madger Gomes did enough for his effort to go just wide of the post.
It was a matter of time before County added a third and the hosts' pressure tolled on 50 minutes as Cannon beat his man on the left flank, before darting into the area, only to be brought down by Sam Bhatti. The full back gave the referee no choice but to point to the spot. Likewise, Jennings stepped up to send Jaaskelainen the opposite way and a third for Dave Challinor’s side.
On the hour mark, the Blues added a fourth following an out swinging corner to find the head of Jennings for his second of the evening.
The following 15 minutes saw action from the bench as Owen Lunt replaced Madger Gomes and the hosts making a double substitution. Toby Green who replaced the lively Crankshaw was immediately involved crossing low across goal, but despite a rush of Stockport bodies nobody could get the decisive touch.
Onyeka tried to create something out of nothing on 78 minutes, as he managed to find a yard of space on the left side of the penalty area and curl an effort towards the far corner.
With just over 10 minutes remaining, Reid added a fifth as the attacker who had a hat full of chances all evening found space to convert a drilled effort in at the near post.