Lethal Lee Hughes scored a hat-trick as Coventry went on the rampage at woeful
Crewe.
Hughes was rested in midweek but still scored after coming off the bench and
he showed the rest had done him good with a deadly performance in front of
goal.
Hughes created the first goal, crossing from the left as keeper Ademole
Bankole got a hand to spoon the ball into the air. Then as it came back to
earth, Delorge beat the giant keeper to the ball to knock it in.
Crewe equalised in injury time at the end of the first half. Shaun Smith
curled in a corner and Rob Hulse powered a near-post header into the back of the
net.
But seconds later Coventry were back in front when Hughes turned Steve Foster
before driving in a terrific curled shot from 15 yards.
And the former West Brom man struck again after 47 minutes. Lee Mills flicked
on De Lorge's long throw-in and Hughes beat Bankole to the ball to nod home.
Then after 58 minutes it was Delorge's turn. Crewe's David Wright deflected a
cross back across goal and Delorge pounced to drive home past a stranded
Bankole.
David Thompson made it five after 67 minutes after David Wright and Bankole
got into a muddle at the back, allowing the former Liverpool midfielder to nip
in and score into the empty net off the post at the second attempt.
Then in the 70th minute Hughes made it 6-1 when he ran onto Thompson's
through-ball before barging past Bankole and Efe Sodje to finish.
Crewe boss Dario Gradi responded to the collapse by substituting his hapless
Nigerian goalkeeper for Trinidad & Tobago international Clayton Ince.
Then after 87 minutes Crewe capped their day when skipper Shaun Smith drove a
penalty against the crossbar after David Wright had been tripped by Delorge.
But Crewe had their chances early on and should have taken the lead when David
Vaughan unlocked the Coventry defence with a inch-perfect pass to Rob Hulse.
The striker rounded Marcus Hedmen but somehow Marcus Hall managed to boot it
off the goalline.
Teams:
Crewe: Bankole (Ince 71), Wright, Foster (Walton 62), Sodje,
Smith, Lunt (Rix 64), Sorvel, Brammer, Vaughan, Ashton, Hulse.
Subs Not Used: Jack, Little.
Booked: Brammer.
Goals: Hulse 45.
Coventry: Hedman, Quinn, Breen, Hall, Delorge (Fowler 90),
Konjic, Safri, Healy (Betts 87), Thompson,
Mills (McSheffrey 73), Hughes.
Subs Not Used: Davenport, Pead.
Booked: Healy, Hall.
Goals: Delorge 37, Hughes 45, 48, Delorge 57, Thompson 67,
Hughes 70.
Att: 7,835
Ref: G Salisbury (Preston).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook