The Crewe Alexandra Steve Davis has said that he is extremely happy with the performance of his players in the first leg of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy North final. Crewe Alexandra took on Coventry City in an exciting final knowing that they have to work hard in order to have any chance of reaching Wembley. Despite playing away from home, the Crewe players managed to take advantage of some lapse defending from Coventry to win the match 3-0. As a result, they are now extremely close to the final of the competition. The manager Steve Davis, though, has said that there is still a lot of work to be done.
Crewe were taking on Coventry, who were being spurred by more than 30,000 supporters. As a result, they came under a lot of pressure in the first half of the match. However, they managed to take advantage of the enthusiastic attacking from Coventry City to break on the counter and score themselves. Inman scored the first goal of the evening in the 52nd minute, and he doubled his tally on the night with a great effort in the 78th minute. However, it was the 85th minute goal from Leitch-Smith that has apparently put this tie out of Coventry City’s reach.
“This was what you don’t associate with Crewe, grit and determination. It wasn’t easy for them but they all came through with flying colours tonight – I’m very proud of them. It’s only the first part of it, but the gameplan we set up has worked – we set up to frustrate them a little bit and deny them opportunities. What we tried to do is get those little breakaways. We rode our luck, sometimes the goal led a charmed life but you need,” said Steve Davis after the match.