Match Report | Notts County 1 Crewe 3
- Railwaymen rise to third in table
- Demetriou, Nevitt and Austerfield on target
- Six unbeaten on the road for Reds
Crewe Alexandra made it six unbeaten on the road with a super 3-1 success at Notts County.
Mickey Demetriou, captaining the Club for the first time, opened the scoring with his ninth goal of the season.
Top-scorer Elliott Nevitt bagged his 13th of the campaign from the penalty spot to make it 2-0 at the break.
Josh Austerfield fired home from range to make it 3-0, and though Jim O’Brien pulled one back late on, the points were in the bag.
The Railwaymen, who have now won three of the last four, have risen back to third in League Two.
Now they have a full week to recover and prepare for the visit of Morecambe next weekend.
Lee Bell made three changes to the side that drew with Harrogate. One was enforced, after skipper Luke Offord was ruled out for the rest of the season with an ankle injury.
Aaron Rowe and Courtney Baker-Richardson dropped to the bench, as Conor Thomas came into midfield and Shilow Tracey returned to attack. Charlie Kirk made started for the first time since signing on Deadline Day.
Joel Tabiner was amongst the subs in his first involvement since October, and Tom Booth joined fellow keeper Keiren Westwood on the bench.
Notts, for whom Crewe loan man Charlie Colkett was ineligible to play, started with ex-Alex midfielder Scott Robertson.
The game was only five minutes old when a short-corner routine caught County napping and Rio Adebisi’s cross was headed home by Demetriou.
Nevitt saw a shot deflected narrowly over soon after, while, on 13 minutes, Robertson stung the gloves of keeper Harvey Davies with a powerful long-range effort.
On 19 minutes, County possession broke down under pressure and Kirk played Nevitt through on goal with a delicate pass. The striker was clipped by keeper Luca Ashby-Hammond as he skipped by, and the referee pointed to the spot.
Nevitt stayed cool to lift the ball into the top corner from 12 yards, and The Railwaymen were 2-0 up.
On 42 minutes Kyle Cameron whipped in a cross and Macauley Langstaff headed on target, but Davies was equal to it with a reflex save.
And on the stroke of half time, sub Aaron Nemane stabbed wide from close range to remind the Reds there was a long way to go.
The second half was a study of concentration, discipline and tactical nous.
County dominated possession but struggled to pose much threat.
Davies dived bravely at the feet of sub Alassana Jatta, and Lewis Billington won some key headers, but the hosts looked out of ideas.
That was until the 83rd minute, when Davies parried a good strike but O’Brien found the net on the rebound as the Crewe keeper was obstructed by players who looked to be offside.
Davies made a super point-black stop to deny Sam Austin, and Ed Turns cleared Langstaff’s overhead kick off the line, as the Alex held on.
Notts (4-2-3-1): Ashby-Hammond; Macari, Warner (Nemane, 27), Baldwin, Cameron (Austin, 69); Bostock (Chicksen, 69), Robertson (O’Brien, 69); Jones, Crowley, Langstaff; McGoldrick (Jatta, 49).
Subs not used: Stone, Rawlinson.
Booked: Ashby-Hammond, Bostock, Langstaff, Jatta
Crewe (4-2-3-1): Davies; Billington, Turns, Demetriou, Adebisi; Austerfield, Thomas (Leigh, 76); Kirk (Tabiner, 75), Holicek (Cooney, 76), Tracey (Rowe, 64); Nevitt (Baker-Richardson, 63).
Subs not used: Booth, Westwood.
Booked: Demetriou, Turns, Adebisi, Kirk.
Referee: Ross Joyce.
Attendance: 11, 470 (1,446)