Gallant Crewe kept alive their chances of avoiding relegation at the same time
as upsetting Ipswich's dreams of automatic promotion in one of the day's biggest
upsets.
Steve MacAuley hit a late winner as Town buckled under the pressure of the
race for the Premiership, promotion rivals Bradford leapfrogging them into
second place behind First Division leaders Sunderland.
A lively match on a rain-sodden surface exploded into life in the 64th minute
when the bustling Rodney Jack sent Mark Rivers clear down the right. He cut in
to fire past Richard Wright to put Crewe into the lead.
Three minutes later Crewe might have had a penalty when Ipswich skipper Tony
Mowbray brought down Jack in the area but the referee ignored the incident.
He pointed to the spot, however, in the 70th minute when Crewe defender Dave
Walton was adjudged to have brought down David Johnson.
Mark Venus cracked in his ninth goal of the season, his sixth from the penalty
spot.
Crewe had battled well but faced an uphill task for the final 13 minutes after
midfield man Jermaine Wright was sent off for a second bookable offence.
Dario Gradi's team produced some excellent football with Seth Johnson
outstanding. Even when down the 10 men they never gave up.
Jack raced past Mowbray and unleashed a drive that Richard Wright touched over
the bar. From the corner taken by Shaun Smith the battling visitors regained the
lead.
Central defender MacAuley scored with a first-time volley from six yards. It
was a great recovery by Crewe who looked anything like a side under a threat of
relegation.
Jason Kearton, Crewe's Australian goalkeeper, rescued his side in the 88th
minute when he punched away a close-range header from James Scowcroft.
Crewe ended an Ipswich run of seven home league wins which had helped make
them favourites in the race with Bradford to take the second automatic place.
Now the Yorkshire club are back in the driving seat after their 3-1 win at QPR.
The writing had been on the wall from the first half. Crewe settled better on
the wet surface with Jack always a threat to the Ipswich defence.
The highlight of the first half had come in the 18th minute when Jack tested
Wright with an angled drive that skidded off the surface.
The best Ipswich effort of the first half came after 25 minutes when Northern
Ireland international Jim Magilton saw a 25-yard drive touched over the bar by
Kearton.
Teams:
Ipswich: Wright, Stockwell (Naylor 84), Phetis (Wilnis 68),
Clapham, Mowbray, Venus, Dyer, Holland, Johnson, Scowcroft,
Magilton.
Subs Not Used: Cundy.
Booked: Magilton.
Goals: Venus 70 pen.
Crewe: Kearton, D. Wright, Smith, MacAuley, Walton,
Charnock (Unsworth 90), J. Wright, Johnson, Jack (Little 88),
Murphy, Rivers.
Subs Not Used: Street.
Sent Off: J. Wright (77).
Booked: Walton, J. Wright.
Goals: Rivers 64, MacAuley 84.
Att: 20,845
Ref: C Wilkes (Gloucester).
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