Lee Bell praised Crewe’s players for shrugging off an injury crisis to return to winning ways at Gresty Road.
A penalty seven minutes into stoppage time converted by the Railwaymen’s leading scorer Courtney Baker-Richardson settled a tight affair with the late drama also including a change of referee and a 12-minute hold-up for crowd trouble.
Referee Simon Mather pulled up with a muscle injury in the closing minutes and his stand-in awarded the spot kick after Notts County winger Jodi Jones attempted to block Ryan Cooney’s volley in the box. The ball was adjudged to have hit Jones’ arm and Baker-Richardson slotted the kick into the corner past Sam Slocombe.
“It was a courageous decision by the stand-in referee as he had just come on. I thought it was a penalty straight away and it was taken really well by Courtney, who kept his cool,” said Bell.
“It was important we put in a good performance and we got back on the horse after losing to Stockport in our last home game.
“I thought it was a really enjoyable match with two really good teams. I thought there could have been more goals in the game. We could have been two up in the first half and if we had then Notts couldn’t have any complaints.
“I am so proud of the players, as while we are struggling for numbers with eight or nine out we have put in a good performance.
“They had a strong 15-minute spell in the second half, but we made changes and we tried to hold a high line and that’s what led to the goal. It’s a really great win for us.”
Crewe were the better team in the first half when dangerman Shilow Tracey blasted wide and Baker-Richardson screwed an effort past the far post.
But after the break County dominated and carved out the game’s clearest chances. Macauley Langstaff, who was thwarted by Crewe keeper Harvey Davies in the first half, curled an effort just past the far post.
Veteran striker David McGoldrick looked to be in on goal before he was thwarted by a last-ditch tackle by Connor O’Riordan.
At the other end Cooney’s lob landed on the roof of the net in the dying minutes before the full-back’s effort triggered the penalty award, which was followed by a lengthy hold-up as police were called in to control a section of the visiting fans.
County manager Luke Williams said: “It was a shame as the referee pulled a muscle and there’s nothing you can do about that.
“But I think it probably benefited Crewe as they had some recovery time [when the referee change was made] and they engineered a brilliant break from which the penalty came.
“I was far away from it, but it looks like it’s bouncing, Jodi is attempting the block and it’s gone under his arm.
“It was a drab game with very little to get excited about. I was hoping for a better performance and the first half was quite difficult for us. I felt we dominated the second half and threw everything at the game, but ultimately we didn’t do enough to win the game and we should have seen the game out.”
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