CCFC Go On Their Summer Holiday's At Half Time!

By CCFC Sid
May 10 2005

How disappointing. My prediction that Crewe couldn't possibly go from New Years Day to the end of the season without a win proved correct, as CCFC allowed them to keep their place in the Championship....

An early start on DJ's Fun Bus (Spaces for most - if not every! - matches next season available! Contact me for details!) saw us arrive in Crewe around 11 o'clock, with a quick hike into town seeing us manage to find a pub that was open - thanks to the landlord of The British Lion!

The stop-off finally saw me find a seller for my fanzines, with "Young Zac" managing to get rid of more in about half-an-hour than I managed in 10 years! And while he might have charged me my profit margin on each issue, he did save me the bother of having to store them with the other few hundred non-solds, and was still cheaper than a certain person who charged me 150% commission last season (Which wouldn't have been so bad, but it turned out he hadn't even sold any - it was another mate!).

A pint or three later, we arrived at possibly one of the worst grounds in the Championship (How Crewe must wish they could simply move Highfield Road to the site of their current ground!!), with probably the quietest set of supporters too.

Had it not been for the fact CCFC supporters took two sides of the ground, there would have been no banter between supporters (With one stand full of CCFC fans taunting the other!), with CA's supporters virtually silent throughout (Except for generous applause for Dele Adebola when his name was read out - then back to sleep....).

For reasons best known only to Mickey Adams, there was a re-call for Lloyd Dyer, though in his defence, LD chose his last match for CCFC to prove that he is actually a half-decent player. With probable "Player Of the Half Season" Richard Duffy having returned to Portsmouth, there was a re-call for Andy Whing too.

CCFC appeared to line-up with only three defenders, and for a large part of the first half Andy Whing appeared to be playing just about anywhere and everywhere on the pitch! (Effectively to!).

An Adebola header went just over Crewe's bar with only three minutes on the clock, then a McSheffrey shot went just wide, a Whing effort was held by Ince, and another Adebola effort was just wide of the post. To use a well worn cliche, it was one-way traffic....

It took 25 minutes for CCFC to open the scoring, with yet another accurate cross from Hughes being met by the head of Adebola. His celebrations were kept to a minimum against his former club. With the CCFC goal came brilliant sunshine - a welcome break from the hail of minutes earlier!!

This should have seen the start of a CCFC scoreline to equal the Derby match, but Gary McSheffrey, amongst others, missed several opportunities to relegate the Gresty Road side. A great through ball saw the linesman harshly judge him to be offside, and soon after, having got past the last Crewe defender, he pulled his shot just wide.

Steve Staunton went down injured on the half-hour mark, and bizarrely, as if it were pre-planned, seemed to be replaced within about five seconds! Jorgensen came on in his place, with Whing changing to the left-back position.

Whing and Varney tangled in the CCFC area on 35 minutes, and with Crewe supporters desperate for any chance of a threat on the CCFC goal, they appealed in vain for a penalty. Thankfully the referee didn't buy it.

A Jorgensen cross-come-shot had to be dealt with by Ince, then Adebola's "backpass" also saw Ince called into action (There wasn't enough power in it to be called anything else!), and a goal-mouth scramble should have seen CCFC double their lead just before half-time, but Page blasted the chance way over the bar. McSheffrey's final effort of the half was also saved by Ince.

Crewe finally managed a shot seconds before half-time, which saw their fans finally wake up to celebrate a "goal" - only to realise that the ball had hit the side netting! So near, and yet to still on the way to being relegated....

Possibly realising that CCFC only had strikers left on the bench, Kenny Lunt pole-axed Andy Whing just before half-time, though his efforts were not enough to stop the player coming out for the second half.

On first half chances alone, CCFC should have been out of site, and Crewe planning trips to Doncaster, Swindon, and Colchester next season. Sadly, the second half saw a totally different game. Crewe didn't have to raise their game, CCFC simply went on their summer holidays 45 minutes early.

Some bizarre early decisions had CCFC fans wondering if the match officials had decided to give Crewe a helping hand (Which, as we all know, is simply not true!! They are, of course, 101% impartial....). Jorgensen breezed past Crewe's right-back, but, as he threatened to cause problems, the home side were given a free-kick. The decision looked harsher than the penalty awarded against Charlton the day before! (Since when has leaving a defender trailing in your wake been an offence?!).

A Doyle though ball to McSheffrey saw him beat two defenders, before a third managed to challenge him, and this was followed by a couple of "no way Pedro!" offside decisions against CCFC.

Whether thinking they were playing against 13 (Maybe 14) knocked the stuffing out of CCFC, or perhaps they thought they had done enough, only they know, but they simply stopped playing.

Thanks to one of these decisions, with John adjudged to be offside by a linesman clearly not up with play, a free-kick for the non-offence saw Higden bring Crewe level seconds later.

A McSheffrey free kick brought a fine save out of Ince (Who always seems to have a storming game against CCFC), though the kick should have been re-taken, as the referee stood 10 yards away from where the kick should have been taken, ordered the wall to step back more, then let Crewe's defenders stand a mere eight yards away anyway. The ball was only parried, and Dyer's cross back in saw Adebola head just wide.

A dangerous ball forward for Crewe saw Steele come out an make a superb header to clear the ball, which was for some reason judged to be a foul. With Crewe fans calling for a red card to be shown, thankfully only yellow was! Though even that was harsh....

Another decent cross from Dyer somehow didn't end up in the back of the Crewe net, and, despite the fact CCFC had dropped down to first gear, they still created enough chances to bury Dario Gradi's side.

Adebola was replaced by Goater with 25 minutes left - and Goater should have scored within seconds of his introduction. A great cross in, which he could and should have reached with ease (Unopposed, and only yards out), was for some reason left. And I thought it was Adebola that didn't want to send Crewe down?!

With just over 15 minutes left, as feeble an effort to tackle a player was shown by Stephen Hughes, and Crewe simply wandered off up the pitch and scored the goal that preserved their Championship status. Steve Jones, who has had a difficult year off the pitch, crashed the ball home from a matter of yards out, as CCFC's defence simply didn't turn up.

McSheffrey and Jorgensen both had chances to do Gillingham a favour, with both efforts being well saved by Ince (McSheffrey's being returned to the danger area by Stern John).

The final whistle blew, and Crewe's players stood around waiting for confirmation that they were safe .... or otherwise. The news came, and as the home side celebrated, CCFC fans departed the ground, not quite sure why the team Mickey Adams seemed to have knocked into shape, reverted to a more "Peter Reid" performance.

The majority of CCFC players had stayed on the pitch to applaud the travelling support, with Stern John, who had disappeared off towards the tunnel as fast he could manage, re-called by his team-mates. While he might have suffered at the hands (Mouths!) of some CCFC fans previously, continually throwing his dummy out of his pram is NOT the way to win them over!

Talk of trying to help MA's old club Brighton stay up, or making sure we have a slightly more local match than Gillingham to look forward to next season were surely way off the mark (Are CCFC really THAT broke that they would rather Crewe stay up ahead of Gillingham just to save petrol money on the away trip?!). It merely seems that some of those players who want to earn a new contract did little to prove that with the final display of the season.

In the fickle world that is football, Nottm Forest's late equaliser has led to rumours that Stan Ternent, who had worked miracles in pulling Gillingham away from the relegation zone only to be hauled back in on the last day, might now be out of a job!

And to those CCFC fans saying they were glad Crewe stayed up, it's worth remembering that they somehow took six points off CCFC this season. Should they do the same next season, this could prove very costly - whichever end of the table we decide to occupy....