Goals from Shilow Tracey and Ryan Cooney earned Crewe a 2-0 win over promotion rivals Notts County which moved them up to second in the League Two table.
Tracey’s solo effort from the halfway line edged the Alex ahead five minutes before the interval and they doubled their advantage when Cooney converted a 62nd-minute penalty.
Tracey latched onto a pass from Joel Tabiner and outpaced Sam Austin before firing past Alex Bass for his fifth goal of the campaign.
It was reward for the greater enterprise Crewe showed in the opening half in which Max Sanders drove an early effort straight at Bass and Omar Bogle had a far-post effort blocked.
The visitors – without leading scorer Alassana Jatta who is on international duty with Gambia – hardly threatened before the break, although a blistering run from Nick Tsaroulla saw the winger’s powerful strike tipped over by home keeper Filip Marschall.
But they fell further behind when referee Steven Copeland pointed to the spot after Jacob Bedeau impeded Bogle as the striker flew into the box, with Cooney stepping up and sending Bass the wrong way.
Tsaroulla was then thwarted again by the agile Marschall, with the keeper flinging himself across goal to turn around the defender’s header bound for the far corner.
Crewe eased to their third win in four outings, although substitute Chris Long blotted the copybook when earning a straight red card in the 84th minute for a late lunge on County skipper Matt Palmer just moments after coming on.
