Lee Bell dedicated Crewe Alexandra’s FA Cup victory over Leyton Orient to Alex Morris, who stepped down as manager 24 hours earlier.
Morris, who has been part of the club for almost 30 years, took the decision to stand aside for ‘compassionate reasons’.
He has now become assistant to Bell, who has stepped up to take over as boss on an interim basis.
Bell’s first match in charge was a 1-0 victory over Orient on Saturday, and afterwards he said: “It’s been a rollercoaster 24 hours.
“I’m absolutely made up for everyone. It’s been an emotional time; we are human beings. Alex is an unbelievable person who has dedicated his life, from the age of 12, to this club.
“It takes a brave man to do what he’s done, and we dedicate that win to him. We’re not surprised we’ve won; we don’t think we’ve been that far off.
“I’ve been excited. I was clear on what the information would be to the players; I want them to play with more freedom and excitement, and hopefully I can get my teeth into it next week and we can work on some things I want to improve.”
Bassala Sambou’s injury-time strike – his first of the season – separated the sides at Mornflake Stadium.
Bell added: “It was a great goal, a lovely cross and a super finish. I spoke to Bass before the game and told him to completely and utterly forget about goals and just do what he does, work hard for the team, and the goals will come. He has good techniques and he can score goals.
“We had to weather a storm early on but Orient are an excellent team with an excellent manager, and we had to respect that.
“It was a much more even second half and I thought we were shading the game at the time the goal came, and we probably deserved it.”