Match Report | Salford 4 Crewe 2
- Alex defeated for second time this term
- Baker-Richardson blasts a brace
- Bell’s men slip to sixth in table
Crewe Alexandra suffered a second defeat of the season at Salford City.
Courtney Baker-Richardson’s double, which has taken him to five for the season, was cancelled out by goals from Matt Smith (2), Ryan Watson and Kevin Berkoe.
The game was marred by a controversial moment with the scores at 1-1, when Crewe were celebrating a second only for a late flag to rule offside and Salford allowed to race up the pitch and hit the front.
The Railwaymen kept pushing until the end but could not prevent the end of their six-game unbeaten run at The Peninsula Stadium.
Lee Bell made one enforced change to the side that beat Gillingham in the week. Christopher Long was ruled out with a foot injury and homegrown talent Matus Holicek came in for his full league debut.
Salford, who were unchanged from their recent success at Sutton, were left unscathed by a couple of early Alex attacks – the second of which saw Baker-Richardson blast over from a tight angle.
Smith headed well off target as Salford asked their first question, but the Alex soon countered at the other end and Shilow Tracey fizzed one across goal and wide.
In the 23rd minute Zac Williams cleverly beat a man before driving a cross-shot which Baker-Richardson couldn’t quite meet to divert home.
Four minutes later, The Railwaymen were ahead. Shilow Tracey won the ball back near halfway and Baker-Richardson emerged with the ball.
He fed Rio Adebisi out wide and the wing-back’s superb outside-of-the-foot cross was met by the onrushing striker who guided a header home.
Jack Powell almost caught keeper Alex Cairns out with a free-kick from an acute angle but his effort cannoned off the post.
But 30 seconds over the allotted two minutes of added time at the end of the first half, Salford were level.
Elliott Watt drifted a free-kick from deep into the area and the giant Smith looped a header beyond keeper Harvey Davies and into the far corner.
Stevie Mallan smashed one across goal and wide for the hosts soon after the restart, while Williams fired just wide at the other end after being found by a super Joel Tabiner through-ball.
Just before the hour mark, a moment of controversy swayed the game.
A flowing Crewe move culminated in Holicek squaring for Baker-Richardson tapping in what appeared to be the Alex’s second.
But after a long delay, the assistant flagged for offside. Crewe celebrations had understandably started after the goal appeared to be initially given.
However, when it was chalked off, the referee allowed the game to restart quickly and, with half the Crewe team left at the other end, Salford swept up the pitch with a huge numerical advantage and Smith got his second.
Assistant Manager Ryan Dicker was shown a straight red card for his protestations.
On 70 minutes Joe White slipped fellow sub Aaron Rowe into a good position, and he found Adebisi who forced a save from Cairns.
Seconds later, it was 3-1 when Watson’s deflected shot skipped off the surface and found the bottom corner of the net.
White rattled the bar with Cairns beaten from range as the game entered the final 10 minutes.
Berkoe scrambled home from a corner to twist the knife in the final minute and add gloss to the home side’s victory.
To their credit, The Railwaymen kept going to the final kick and Elliott Nevitt squared for Baker-Richardson to prod home a consolation deep into stoppage time.
Adebisi missed a good chance to pull another back but he shot a yard over in the dying seconds.
Salford (4-3-3): Cairns; Ingram, Mariappa, Tilt, John; Lund (Watson, 65), Watt, Mallan; Smith (Dackers, 90+6), Bolton, Nmai (Berkoe, 87).
Subs not used: Wright, Pedro, Humbles, Olopade.
Booked: Ingram, Watt.
Crewe (3-4-3): Davies; Demetriou, O’Riordan, Offord (Finney, 85); Williams (Nevitt, 76), Powell, Tabiner, Adebisi; Tracey (Rowe, 60), Baker-Richardson, Holicek (White, 60).
Subs not used: Booth, Lunt, Cooney.
Booked: Baker-Richardson, Demetriou
Referee: Thomas Kirk.
Attendance: 3,025 (1,023).