By CCFC Sid
November 28 2004

My early prediction that this game had "1-0 sucker punch" written all over it proved correct, as a repeat of last seasons away fixture between these teams, where CCFC battered the opposition yet somehow contrived to lose, came true again. Stuart Giddings, clattered in training on Friday, was replaced by Staunton (Whose re-appearance in the team was not greeted with glee by all!), and as a result CCFC's build up play seemed slightly slower. It will be interesting to see if the CCFC youngster regains his place when he returns from injury....

Former Crewe man Dele Adebola again justified his inclusion in the starting line-up (But badly needs a goal before the confidence goes again), though Andy Morrell, usually shadowed by a minimum of two Crewe players, seemed way off form (And was replaced after 75 minutes).

Some bizarre refereeing decisions didn't help the CCFC cause, with the penalty decision that led to the games only goal looking massively harsh on CCFC. There were other decisions too that left CCFC fans wondering if the day's match official had a Crewe shirt on under his kit .... which he obviously didn't, with all his decisions obviously being impartial.

Usually awesome or awful (Rarely anything in-between!), Crewe's Clayton Ince easily took the `Man Of The Match Award', with said keeper choosing today to have one of his better matches!! CCFC had over 30 shots throughout the match, yet failed to beat Ince with any! The CCFC corner count was around the 20 mark, with the home side failing to make the most of their dominance.

McSheffrey, Hughes, Carey, Adebola, and Johnson all missed chances to give CCFC the lead, with Crewe getting bodies in the way of anything and everything that threatened to go near their goal, before they undeservedly took the lead. A nothing challenge from Williams on Vaughan saw no appeal from Crewe's players, yet the referee for some reason awarded a penalty, which Ashton scored.

Doyle and Hughes missed further chances, before Ashton looked to have doubled Crewe's lead, only for the linesman to rule the "goal" offside. Somehow CCFC got to half-time with no goals to show for all their attacking play....

The second half continued much in the style of the first, with CCFC creating chance after chance, yet being unable to get past Ince in the Crewe goal.

Morrell and Johnson wasted chances before Crewe almost stole a second goal, with Rivers thankfully wasting a chance that was far easier to score, then Adebola, McSheffrey, Morrell and Williams added their names to the "missed chances" column.

Suffo came on for the last 15 minutes, and missed a cracking chance to get CCFC an equaliser. Having rounded Ince, leaving the keeper sprawled on the floor, he opted to shoot from a tight angle rather than cross to a team-mate. The "super-sub" tag is still being used to describe him, but has looked far from apt recently....

The last few minutes saw CCFC throw everything at Crewe in a bid to avoid defeat, with keeper Luke Steele opting to go up for corners. A Williams header, Hughes blast, and Suffo free-kick all failed to find the net, with the inspired Ince saving all three efforts. Sadly, the away side held out to record their first ever away victory versus CCFC, and move ahead of CCFC on goal difference.

Many CCFC fans left fairly happy that the team had given everything and were simply unlucky, but, with away games against Derby and Stoke coming up, the bottom end of the table rather than mid-table, is looking CCFC's most likely position when Christmas arrives. CCFC are a mere seven points ahead of third bottom (And nine off sixth place)....