City Nearly Delayed by Crewe Express Train

MCFC U18s 4 - 3 CAFC U18s

This latest report is by my very able deputy Andrew Waldon as I was at Stoke for the first team. It looks like I will miss the Wolves away academy game as well this week with City kicking off at 12:45pm against Middlesbrough. I would have made both games had it bean a 3pm kick off for the first team.

A change of venue for this fixture saw City's academy side playing at 'Mini Coms', as the main pitch at Platt Lane was having some remedial work done to it. The suggestions being that sprinklers were being placed under the playing surface as ADUG continue to splash their cash.

City lined up unchanged from their previous drawn fixture at Liverpool, with Shaun Tse replacing Jeremy Helan on the substitute’s bench.

Over the seasons games against the academy sides of Crewe have for some reason always been difficult affairs and that was no different in this clash. The visitors made their intentions clear from the first minute of the game when Joe Clegg was forced to make two fine saves to prevent Crewe opening the scoring. After this initial scare City settled into their normal stride and only a fine goal line clearance and a bit of bad luck in another attack prevented Dedryck Boyata from scoring. It was however a familiar face that opened the scoring on 19 minutes when Robbie Mak scored his seventeenth League and cup goal of the season. Mak started the move from just past the half way line and an interchange of passes with Chris Chantler saw the Slovakian striker free in the box to simply place his shot beyond the keeper.

Crewe had obviously not read the script and immediately responded with two goals inside five minutes. The first came from the penalty spot for yet another dubious decision by an official even the director of football at Crewe ,Dario Gradi watching from the side lines did not know what it had been awarded for, but still the Crewe number accepted the decision and fired past Joe Clegg in the City goal. The visitors then took the lead with a well worked corner that presented Crewe’s number six with a simple tap in.

Straight from the restart City won a corner and the Crewe keeper helped Kieran Trippiers corner into the net, that made it 2-2 and 4 goals inside ten minutes.

Could the goal scoring continue ?, well not really as the game descended into a scrappy affair particularly in the second half which was only brought to life when Gregg Cunningham restored the advantage in City's favour as he curled in a free kick from the edge of the box, When substitute Jack Redshaw fired past the Crewe keeper on 81 minutes that looked as though that would be it but within a minute Crewe's number 9 pulled yet another goal back, as Joe Clegg failed to deal with an initial shot. Fortunately that was the last goal in what was a close and at times somewhat tense affair.

It now appears to be a two horse race between City and our neighbours as to who will win the league. United won 5-0 at Bolton and Liverpool lost 3-2 at Everton. We are in pole position six points clear and the fixture on February 14th against United could go a long way in deciding the final outcome


Team: Clegg(GK), Trippier, Cunningham, Wabara, Boyata, Tutte, Benali (Redshaw), Ibrahim, Mak, Nimely (Guidetti), Chantler

Subs: E Johansen (GK), Tse , Elabedallaoui



The U16s in their fixture at Platt Lane lost 3-1. Surprisingly now its nine games since they last won a game.