Crewe’s impressive 2-0 win over rivals Notts County cheered up boss Lee Bell who watched from the stands at Gresty Road as his side moved up to second in the League Two table.
Shilow Tracey’s solo effort just before the break enabled the Railwaymen to take control of the clash and Bell got a good view from up high as he served out a suspension for recent bookings, including a disputed disciplinary decision imposed following the end of last weekend’s draw at Walsall.
Ryan Cooney’s second-half penalty ensured Bell’s side were able to confirm a third win in four games despite substitute Chris Long’s red card in the closing minutes.
Bell said: “I don’t think I should have been in the stand after the Walsall bench got charged in the week. We’d just stayed in our dugout so I was pretty annoyed about it.
“But I’ve got a lot of trust in my assistants, Ryan Dicker and Kenny Lunt, and it was an outstanding performance with and without the ball.
“Notts always try and play football, they’re a really good team although they were missing one or two players today.
“They have high possession and we wanted to counter that and our first goal was a good counter attack.
“It was a really good bit of composure from Joel Tabiner and the after-burners came on from Shilow for a really good finish.
“He is playing with a lot of confidence. After the sending-off we showed the real character which is what the group is about, getting the ball out of our box and blocking.”
Tracey tore from the halfway line onto Tabiner’s pass, outrunning Sam Austin before firing under goalkeeper Alex Bass for Crewe’s 40th-minute opener.
Nick Tsaroulla went close for the visitors after a driving run but keeper Filip Marschall conjured up a great save to push the winger’s effort over the bar.
Marschall also kept out a header from Tsaroulla in the second half which saw an improved display by the Magpies, with boss Stuart Maynard putting veteran David McGoldrick up front.
But they fell further behind when referee Steven Copeland pointed to the spot after Jacob Bedeau impeded Omar Bogle as the striker flew into the box, with Cooney stepping up and sending Bass the wrong way.
Long’s straight red card six minutes from time for a reckless late tackle which left Matt Palmer writhing took some shine off the home side’s impressive afternoon.
Maynard said: “Everyone in the ground could see it wasn’t a penalty. But goals change games.
“Crewe scored on the counter from our corner – it was a good finish. We weren’t good enough as a group today. We weren’t at our best although I still think we had the better chances and we were comfortable in the game.
“David McGoldrick was excellent when he came on and he got us into some unbelievable positions but I think it was one of those days.
“You can always look at the injuries we have had but the squad has done incredibly well to get us to this point. But if we had a full squad available where would we be?”
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