Each season a surprise team will emerge and put a challenge in that will seek to upset the preseason predictions. Not many will have had Crewe Alexandra down as an automatic promotion contender. That is those outside of The Mornflake Stadium.
Sitting in fourth position, but level with third place Mansfield Town, the team from Gresty Road have gone under the radar a little, but their consistent play means they are worthy of their current position.
This past weekend they beat second place Notts County, their opponents slipping to fifth as a result due to the highly competitive nature of the division. The winner came in the seventh minute of added on time. The only goal of the game came courtesy of a penalty by top scorer Courtney Baker-Richardson.
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The 27-year-old striker reflected on his goal that keeps The Railwaymen very much in the thick of the League Two promotion race and told the club’s Official Website: “As a leader and the number nine it’s a moment when you have to step up to the plate and help the boys out.
“I knew it was the dying moments of the game and the pressure was there – but you have to stay cool and composed and thankfully I put it in the bottom corner.
“It can make you a hero or a zero but you have to take a breath and do what you have to do. It was a game we could have put to bed in the first half. In the second half they had more aggression and at points we were camped in our half.
“But I think this win shows what we are building here at Crewe. They are in second in the league and it was good to win again at Gresty Road. We are a good unit.”
Writer’s View
Crewe could be the team that upsets the odds. They have recovered well after a relegation two years ago, by stabilising last season, and now making a solid push at the right end of the table this term. Players like Baker-Richardson will be key to their success. He is one of four players to have scored five or over times so far, as the team are joint second top scorers in the league.
Having got themselves into a good position now, it is the Christmas period which will be crucial as those with larger squads usually cope better. So for teams like Crewe it will be vital that their core group stays healthy.
