- Railwaymen exit the Emirate FA Cup
- Consolation goals from Nevitt and Rowe
- Focus returns to League Two campaign
Crewe Alexandra were knocked out of the FA Cup by Bristol Rovers at Mornflake Stadium.
Clinical finishing from the League One visitors saw them establish a 3-0 half-time lead through John Marquis, James Wilson and Anthony Evans.
And when Ryan Cooney put through his own net soon after the restart it looked all over.
But, to their credit, The Railwaymen refused to throw in the towel and kept battling.
They got goals back through Elliott Nevitt and Aaron Rowe and put the visitors under pressure.
However, they ran out of time and The Gas will visit Norwich City in the Third Round.
Now Lee Bell and his men will return their attention to League Two, with the visit of Accrington next up (Saturday, 3pm).
Bell made three changes to the side that lost at Grimsby. There were recalls for Zac Williams, Joe White and Aaron Rowe, while Nevitt and Ryan Cooney dropped to the bench. Connor O’Riordan missed out through injury.
Rovers, who had former Alex loan man Evans in midfield, got the first shot on target but keeper Harvey Davies showed great reactions to save at the near post.
The visitors took the lead on 18 minutes when Marquis picked up the ball deep and ran at the heart of the Crewe defence, beating a man before finishing with aplomb.
It was 2-0 on 25 minutes when the ball dropped to Wilson from a corner and he poked it into the bottom corner.
And before the break the referee waved away appeals for a foul on Williams and Evans took advantage by rifling into the top corner from an angle.
The game itself had been fairly even, with the hosts putting together some good moves and being unfortunate in the final third. But Rovers had been ruthless.
The game looked to be over as a contest when sub Cooney turned the ball into his own goal soon after the restart.
But The Railwaymen would not give up. Rowe whistled a shot just wide and, on 65 minutes, Nevitt took a lovely solo goal by driving at defenders in the box before curling home.
And it was 4-2 on 73 minutes when White carried the ball forward before deftly playing Rowe in, and he found the net via a deflection of keeper Matthew Cox.
Roared on by passionate home fans, the Alex pressed for more. Charlie Colkett blasted just over and Conor Thomas was blocked by Cox deep into injury time. But it was too little, too late.
Crewe (3-4-3): Davies; Billington (Colkett, 59), Offord, Demetriou; Williams (Cooney, 46), Thomas, White, Adebisi; Rowe (Finney, 86), Baker-Richardson, Tracey (Nevitt, 59).
Subs not used: Booth, Agius, Robinson.
Booked: Offord, Baker-Richardson
Rovers (3-5-2): Cox; Taylor, Wilson (Grant, 50), Crama; Finlay (Ward, 59), Woods (Brown, 74), Evans, Hunt (Thomas, 46), Vale; Marquis (Sinclair, 74), Collis.
Subs not used: Hall, Grant, Martin, Bogarde.
Booked: Marquis, Taylor.
Referee: D Bourne.
Attendance: 3,127.