- Railwaymen are well beaten in Essex
- Three first-half goals do the damage
- The Railwaymen drop to 17th in division
Crewe Alexandra were heavily beaten at Colchester United on Easter Monday.
Goals from John Akinde (2), Noah Chilvers, and Samson Tovide, confirmed an extremely disappointing afternoon for The Railwaymen.
The Reds' display dashed hopes of making it three wins on the spin, and they dropped to 17th in League Two as a result.
Lee Bell made just one change to the side that beat Barrow last time out, recalling Sean Robertson to the starting line-up. Kelvin Mellor dropped to the bench.
Colchester, searching for a first win under new boss Ben Garner, went close early on but Akinde’s header was narrowly wide.
On 12 minutes keeper James Beadle made a super save to push away a Tovide header, as the home side did all the early running.
Dan Agyei danced past a couple of defenders on a run into the box but failed to find a teammate when he crossed from close in.
And when the Crewe attack broke down, Colchester swept up the pitch and found Akinde, who controlled and finished for 1-0, on 25 minutes.
It was 2-0 on 28 minutes. The ball was delivered from the U’s left and when Rod McDonald, on for the injured Connor O’Riordan, tried to head clear the ball was deflected to Akinde who had a simple task to stroke home.
Chilvers drilled wide and Akinde headed over as the Alex struggled to get a foothold in the game.
And it was 3-0 on 40 minutes when Chilvers was allowed to cut inside and find the bottom corner from outside the area.
Courtney Baker-Richardson almost forced the ball home in a scramble just before the break, but Crewe had given themselves a mountain to climb.
Bell made three changes at the break, bringing on Elliott Nevitt, Christopher Long, and Mellor, in place of Baker-Richardson, Lachlan Brook, and Rio Adebisi.
Tovide made it 4-0 on 55 minutes when he siezed possession in the middle of the park and ran through before producing a clinical finish.
United subs Matt Jay and Jayden Fevrier both threatened to add more, while at the other end Agyei forced a smart stop from keeper Tom Smith.
Colchester (3-5-2): Smith; Chambers, Kelleher, Hall; Chilvers (Jay, 66), Read (Skuse, 67), Ashley, Wood, Tchamadeu (Greenidge, 61); Akinde (Hopper, 62), Tovide (Fevrier, 76).
Subs not used: Newby, Sears.
Booked: None.
Crewe (4-3-3): Beadle; Robertson, O’Riordan (McDonald, 22), Offord, Adebisi (Mellor, 46); Thomas, Ainley (Griffiths, 84), Tabiner; Agyei, Brook (Long, 46), Baker-Richardson (Nevitt, 46).
Subs not used: Richards, Colkett.
Booked: Tabiner, Adebisi
Referee: Will Finnie.
Attendance: 4,158 (188)