Lee Bell praised Crewe’s players for their work ethic after back-to-back victories lifted the Railwaymen to second in the Sky Bet League Two table.
After a run of five draws from seven slowed the Cheshire side’s promotion charge before Christmas, Crewe have stormed into 2025 with two uplifting wins, following up a comeback win over Carlisle on New Year’s Day with a resounding 4-1 victory over a Bromley side finishing with 10 men.
“I enjoy being around these players who work so hard, my staff are relentless too and everyone wants to work and achieve something as a group and being part of a winning team and not as individuals,” said Alex manager Bell.
“We’ve had a good start to the year, but it’s so tight at the top of the table.”
Crewe were dominant throughout and took an unassailable grip on the game through goals from Omar Bogle and Jack Lankester, both of whom came off the bench to net the vital stoppage-time goals in the 3-2 success over Carlisle.
The attacking duo started against the Ravens, who were put to flight during a flurry of goalmouth action with Bogle firing in the rebound after Lankester was slipped in behind the visiting defence in the 28th minute.
Andy Woodman was yellow-carded by referee Scot Jackson for protesting about a foul in the build-up.
And the Bromley boss was also angry watching his side, which had registered three clean sheets in five previous games, offering such tame resistance.
Bogle helped on Lankester’s drive from the right of the box for Crewe’s second in the 32nd minute before Jack Powell’s hand on a Corey Whitely effort allowed Michael Cheek to reduce the arrears from the resulting 36th-minute spot-kick.
Lankester, though, left defenders in his wake as he finished into the bottom corner after receiving Lewis Billington’s cross to restore Crewe’s two-goal advantage in the 38th minute. The attacker went close to adding to his tally just after the break and Crewe were rarely troubled in the second half.
Kamarl Grant’s 79th-minute dismissal for a second booking after a trip on Chris Long killed off faint hopes Bromley might have had of extending their previous 12-game unbeaten run.
Then Jamie Knight-Lebel completed the scoring with a fourth – Crewe’s highest tally this term – when he headed over goalkeeper Grant Smith from a long ball eight minutes from time.
Bell added: “It is good to get the goals spread around the team as that was a real strong point for us last season.
“It was pleasing to see Lewis Billington come on. He’s had knockbacks this season but he’s come in and he knows he’s going to have to perform like that to get in the team. He’s been extremely professional and dedicated and while he’s not had much minutes this season I thought he was excellent.”
Bromley boss Woodman admitted: “We were humbled. We weren’t at the races and while we’d had one day’s less rest after playing on Thursday, I’m not using that as an excuse – you can’t take anything away from Crewe.
“We let players go, we stopped and we were so off it. We got gifted a penalty and could have gone in at half-time at 2-1 down, but then we conceded again less than two minutes later.
“You can’t have days like that against a team who are second in the league. We had a period 14 games ago when we needed to change things and maybe this is another time to make a check again. We’ve got to get better in many departments.”
