01/03/2008 - Northampton 0, Crewe Alex 0
Gwyn Griffiths reports from Sixfields
Northampton 0
Crewe Alex 0
IF there were any doubts among Crewe’s board of directors at sanctioning expensive wages for a Championship-class loan striker, they should have vanished at the sight of Nicky Maynard hobbling off at Sixfields.
At the moment, it seems it would be easier to persuade a Hell’s Angel Chapter to join a Sunday school than convince any forward with a decent track record to join the Alex’s relegation battle.
Steve Holland has a list longer than his arm of potential loanees who have turned him down or not even bothered to ring him back.
Clearly, at the moment the actual effects on Crewe’s budget is academic, while a succession of targets continue to turn them down.
But Maynard’s hamstring injury, the severity of which should become clearer today, should be the trigger for a blitz through the internet and papers and some persuasive talking on the phone to try to find “a man who can” to prevent a breakdown in form and fortune at the neediest hour.
There is no doubt Holland and his side have fought every inch of the way in the past three weeks and just one defeat from five very tough fixtures bears that out.
However, with 11 games left Crewe need to convert draws into wins.
Their fifth in eight games against an in-form Northampton side was a creditable effort in many ways.
They may have finished it on the back foot, but they earlier had carved out some of the game’s best chances.
Again they found themselves thwarted by one of this division’s rising keepers. Mark Bunn produced a terrific double save in the 33rd minute to keep out a Steve Schumacher blockbuster and then palm away Byron Moore’s follow-up volley. Those saves were even more breathtaking than the agility showed by Carlisle’s Keiren Westwood to deny Moore four days previously.
But when Ryan Lowe was offered a clear sight of Bunn’s goal early in the second half, goalkeeing heroics shouldn’t have come into it.
Lowe had been on the pitch for three minutes after a half-time change triggered by Ipswich loan winger Gary Roberts’s showdown with the first-team coach.
Holland was having none of it from the loanman and dusted the other Merseysider out of mothballs. But Lowe’s tame shot two yards wide was indicative of the confidence of a man who hasn’t scored since the same opposition were in South Cheshire back on November 17.
While Pope, who replaced the stricken Maynard, offered an outlet and Moore ran himself into the ground, Crewe quite simply need more firepower to survive what promises to be a tense battle to avoid the fourth relegation spot.
If they aren’t going to score many goals, they will need to defend as stoutly as they did here.
The improving Danny O’Donnell didn’t let the physical Adebayo Akinfenwa turn him once, although the Nigerian always looked a danger with his back to goal.
Alex keeper Ben Williams also returned to form after the collywobbles in evidence against Carlisle and he turned Ryan Gilligan’s low drive around the post early on.
Before his injury blow, Maynard failed to get purchase with a lob he clipped over the onrushing Bunn, allowing Mark Little to get back and make the clearance.
And it looked promising when the youngster galloped clear again down the right in the 20th-minute, only to pull up in anguish near the byline.
With his departure so you felt went Crewe’s potency, but Schumacher’s belting drive and a Gary Roberts cross just missed by Moore at the far post proved otherwise.
But the interval was a welcome relief after first Akinfenwa guided a shot wide of the far post and Andy Holt and Danny Jackman forced Williams into smart blocks.
Holland went three up front for the second period, but after Lowe’s faux pas in front of goal Crewe attacks were a rarity as the half wore on.
The defensive solidarity occasionally looked shaky, no more so than when Gilligan nipped in after a free-kick wasn’t cleared and headed towards an empty net. O’Donnell proved his worth by getting back to head off the line.
Jackman’s cross nearly flew in off Baudet’s outstretched leg and big Danish striker Poul Hubertz forced Williams into more action with a firm header from another Jackman delivery.
It was backs-to-the-wall stuff again, just like Elland Road, as a precious point was preserved with sweat and toil rather than poise and elegance.
But there was still time for a vain penalty appeal, when the ball struck home captain Mark Hughes, and for Gary Roberts to fail to pick out Moore with a drag back across the box after the midfielder really had done the difficult bit.
Those are the sort of decisive moments that are now going to have to start running in Crewe’s favour if the four or five wins needed to safeguard League One football are to be eked out.
MATCH STATS
Goal attempts: Northampton 25 (9 on target), Crewe 10 (5 on target)
Referee: Mark Haywood (W Yorks) 6
Cards: Yellow – Northampton: None. Crewe: Lunt (foul, 73). Red – Northampton: None. Crewe: None.
Entertainment: 6
Attendance: 5,507
PLAYER RATINGS
WILLIAMS: Came up to the mark early on with good save from Gilligan and was still on top of his game when the Cobblers threw in the kitchen sink in the closing stages. 7
ABBEY: Occasional lapses of concentration, but generally solid enough. 6
BOYLE: Got forward well to support the attack, but had Crowe to contend with too. 6
BAUDET: A solid and also dependable effort again. 7
O’DONNELL: Another sterling show with clearing headers and important blocks. 8
LUNT: Low key for most of afternoon, but did put Maynard clear in first half. 6
GARY ROBERTS: Got into it occasionally, but struggled to make an impact. 6
SCHUMACHER: Best of the midfield, denied by reflex action save by keeper in first half. 8
GARY ROBERTS (LOAN): Below par and withdrawn at the break after difference of opinion. 6
MAYNARD: Early promise cut short by hamstring injury. 5
MOORE: Lively, yet erratic, but you can’t fault his effort. 7
SUBSTITUTES
POPE (for Maynard, 21): Got some flick-ons and battled hard after replacing the injured Maynard. 7
LOWE (for G Roberts - loan, 46): Missed gilt-edged chance shortly after coming on. 6
O’CONNOR (for Schumacher, 78): Steadied the middle in the closing minutes. 7
Not used: McCready, Fon Williams.
NORTHAMPTON: Bunn, Crowe, Gyepes, Hughes, Little, Holt (Hayes, 79) Burnell, Jackman, Gilligan (Coke, 69), Poul Hubertz, Akinfenwa.
Not used: Henderson, Dunn, Dolman.