Crewe Alexandra 1 United 1
There is little wrong with a point away at Crewe even at the best of times but a late goal conceded in the 91st minute took the gloss of a solid away performance by United. Chris Zebroski scored United's goal with a marvellous strike in the opening stages but Crewe substitute Miller grabbed a late equalizer for the hosts.
There were two changes for United, one of them enforced, with Scott Rendell breaking his arm against Bradford and Lee Mansell dropping to the bench it meant a return to the United line-up for Jake Thomson and a debut for centre back Guy Branston. The changes also meant a move across the defence to right back for Chris Robertson with Branston coming in to partner Kieran Charnock in the heart of the defence.
United got the first sight of goal in the match early on when Adam Smith released Chris Zebroski down the left and Zebroski cut inside before forcing Phillips into a decent save to concede a corner.
The match was end-to-end in the early stages but it was the Gulls who drew first blood when Chris Zebroski scored a marvellous goal which was almost a carbon copy of his earlier effort but this time his curling right foot shot from 18 yards gave Phillips no chance.
Goal: Crewe 0 United 1 (Zebroski)
Even at this early stage United were on top and shortly after the opening goal Zebroski was again involved when he laid the ball to Nicky Wroe who hit the base of the right hand post with Phillips beaten again. Moments later and Jake Thomson went close to doubling the lead after he won the ball back and hit a low shot that Phillips was scrambling to get to. This was as good a start that United could have hoped for but the Gulls had been in this kind of position before this season and things hadn't worked out as we would have liked but the signs were good so far.
The home side were a little shell-shocked but Grant almost pulled them level with a snap shot that only just passed wide of Michael Poke's goal with the United 'keeper beaten. United were sharing possession with the home side but on the break the Gulls were looking very bright with Zebroski excelling in the opening period.
Although United were leading it took some good defending in quick succession by Nicky Wroe and Adam Smith to stop Crewe forcing Michael Poke into some serious action but yet again on the break United looked dangerous and Elliot Benyon had a deflected shot go wide as Crewe were caught short at the back.
Calvin Zola is one of the most dangerous forward operators in League 2 and he hit the base of United's left hand post in the 42nd minute after Brayford had got the better of Adam Smith down the left, it was just about the only sight of goal that Zola had been given during the first half but the danger was there for all to see.
Despite Crewe gaining a solid foothold in the match after United's lightening start Michael Poke had seen very little of the ball in the first half and the 126 United followers were by far the happier of the two sets of supporters.
Half-Time: Crewe 0 United 1
United were forced into a change at the break with Kieran Charnock not coming out for the second half and Sam Cox replacing him and slotting in at left back with Chris Robertson taking Charnock's place in the centre and Adam Smith swapping sides to right back.
Crewe put United under pressure immediately after the restart and Brayford shot narrowly wide when he should have tested Michael Poke. As in so many matches the second goal, if there was to be one, was going to be crucial to this contest.
Sam Cox slotted straight into his left back role and with Adam Smith now at right back United's flanks were looking pacey and full of technical ability which was going to challenge the home side's equivalent.
The second half was certainly proving a more even contest than the first but that was possibly to be expected with the home side always likely to come out and 'have a good go' in front of their own support. United needed to keep possession as much as possible as last weekend showed that to give the ball away cheaply in the closing stages can be costly.
With just under 20 minutes remaining Eunan O'Kane made his fifth substitute appearance in place of Danny Stevens and immediately went out to the right wing. Straight after the switch Jake Thomson produced a decent cross from the byline which Elliot Benyon hit toward goal but the ball was cleared off the line at the expense of a corner. The match was taking a similar pattern to the Bradford game but surely United could extract a different outcome?
Crewe weren't carving their way through a sturdy looking United defence but they were increasingly looking more direct in their play and the shot count from the home side was totting up but it was from a longer range than the home support would have wanted.
With fifteen minutes remaining the home side had thrown on all of their substitutes and were making a final roll of the dice but Bucks still had one more change up his sleeve and he made that final switch when Lee Mansell replaced Elliot Benyon in an attempt to solidify things in midfield and compress the play. As more Crewe attacking opportunities were wasted the crowd became more frustrated and with Lee Mansell positioning himself in front of his back four Crewe were unlikely to carve a path through middle of the Gulls' line-up.
With two minutes remaining a Crewe corner was headed clear by Chris Zebroski as United were being forced to retreat back toward their goal but they were still looking dangerous on the break. From a harshly awarded free-kick Crewe had the ball in the back of the net but the assistant had given a swift off-side decision and the goal was struck off.
Just as a hard fought away win was within grasp United's luck ran out; a long ball down the middle from Crewe looked desperate but as Michael Poke came to deal with the ball he looked to have missed his punch and left Miller with an easy finish from the edge of the area.
Goal: Crewe 1 (Miller 90 + 1) United 1
Straight from the kick-off United very nearly snatched a win when Jake Thomson hit a well struck shot that Phillips did very well to tip wide for a corner and deny the Gulls' winger.
Before the game most of us would have taken a point but yet again the Gulls were left a little frustrated as they travel home with a point. All attention now moves on to the match at Hereford on Saturday.
Full-Time: Crewe 1 United 1
