Swindon suffered defeat in the final knockings of the game as Crewe scored two late goals to secure a deserved victory in the end.
The final score was 3-1 to the Alex with Chris Porter and Charlie Kirk’s late strikes proving the difference in a game the home side dominated.
Eoin Doyle’s ninth goal of the season gave Town the lead with seven minutes of the first half remaining but the first of Porter’s two cancelled that out 12 minutes into the second half.
First Half
It was a heavy half an hour of football for Swindon following kick-off at Gresty Road. Few teams have dominated the ball for such a prolonged spell against Richie Wellens’ team since he took the helm at the County Ground.
David Artell’s Crewe did so from the off – Steven Benda was called into action two minutes to tip Harry Pickering’s placed effort wide.
They dominated and dominated but without much to show for it in the shape of clear goalscoring opportunity. Charlie Kirk found space to shoot after 28 minutes but Benda was equal once again.
Wellens changed his formation with Danny Rose coming on in the search for control, with Keshi Anderson making way.
But, for all Crewe’s possession, it was Swindon who struck first – with their first sniff of goal they were in front.
Rob Hunt crossed the ball from the right. Jordan Lyden, in a slightly more advanced role, touched square to Doyle who only needed a sniff. He had an inch of space and drilled low into the ground, and into the net - totally against the run of play.
Crewe looked rocked by the goal – former Town defender, Olly Lancashire almost gifted Doyle another sight of goal but recovered in a nick of time to prevent what would have been easy pickings for Doyle in this mood.
The Alex weren’t out of it though – on 45 minutes it took a very good recovering tackle from Gabriel Zakuani to keep out Owen Dale. After a raking pass from Eddie Nolan, Dale cut in and shot but Zakuani slid and blocked to keep the Town ahead going into half-time.
Second Half
The second-half followed a similar pattern although the game became more scrappy with neither side fashioning much clear cut in the opening stages.
On 57 minutes, though, Crewe were level. Tom Lowery picked up the ball on the edge of the box after Baudry’s clearance from the six-yard box – his shot, or cross, was headed in from point-blank range by Porter.
A point looked like it was in the offing until the final minutes of the game. Porter got his second after reacting quickest to Steven Benda’s save from his original attempt.
Charlie Kirk then benefitted from Town piling forward and finished the game off in extra time.
