Watford striker Tommy Mooney put Crewe's First Division survival hopes to the
sword and boosted his team's promotion hopes with a first-half strike.
Alex midfielder Jermaine Wright lost the ball under pressure, and Nick Wright
fed Mooney who scored with a stunning shot on the turn after 24 minutes.
Earlier Crewe - desperately needing a win to escape relegation - had made an
encouraging start with Rodney Jack causing problems in the visitors' defence
with his lightning pace.
In the opening minutes, Mark Rivers escaped the attentions of Peter Kennedy to
race down the right wing and deliver a cross for Jack who came close with an
acrobatic volley.
But Graham Taylor's men recovered from their early scare, and Nick Wright was
on top form, teasing and tormenting the Alex defence from the right wing.
The winger turned well inside the area to shoot just wide, then a superb cross
was plucked off Mooney's head by 'keeper Jason Kearton.
Next, a Nick Wright cross was missed by Mooney but fell kindly for Kennedy
whose blasted shot was well blocked by Dave Walton.
Another Nick Wright run left defenders trailing as he reached the by-line,
only to see the cross put out of play by Walton.
Crewe fought back, and a brilliant run by Rivers saw the striker work his way
into the box before shooting just wide.
Minutes after half-time Crewe won their first corner, and Steve Macauley
should have done better with Shaun Smith's delivery, a free header falling
wide.
Watford re-grouped, and Nick Wright was in action again, first twisting and
turning on the edge of the box to shoot just over then picking up Kennedy's
cross well inside the area to shoot well wide after being challenged by Shaun
Smith.
Kearton made a superb save from Kennedy's shot after Shaun Smith had given the
ball away with a sloppy clearance.
Alex boss Dario Gradi sent on veteran Mike Newell, and the striker should have
scored with his first touch but mis-cued Rivers' excellent cut-back with the
goal at his mercy.
Teams
Crewe: Kearton, D. Wright, Macauley, Walton, Smith,
J. Wright (Newell 68), Charnock, Johnson, Rivers, Murphy, Jack.
Subs Not Used: Foran, Unsworth.
Watford: Chamberlain, Bazeley, Robinson, Palmer, Kennedy,
Whittingham (Ngonge 78), Hyde, Page, Wright (Hazan 90), Mooney,
Bonnot.
Subs Not Used: Smith.
Goals: Mooney 24.
Att: 5,461
Ref: B Burns (Scarborough).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook