Former Bradford City midfielder Steven Schumacher scored the winning goal on his first return back to the Valley Parade to end a barren run of five successive defeats for the Alex. In a thrilling game that really could have ended 6-5 to either side, it was Crewe emerging victorious thanks to Schumacher's ambitious shot from 25 yards out. In a real end-to-end affair, the in-form Calvin Zola had given Crewe a 2-0 lead within the first 25 minutes with two splendid strikes - the first will certainly take some beating in the voting for the goal-of-the-season.
Bradford continuously came forward in an open game and they hit back with goals from strikers' Michael Boulding and James Hanson. Crewe certainly rode their luck at times but defended resolutely and a busy David Button was excellent, especially when coming for crosses. We held out to give Dario Gradi his first victory since returning to the managerial hot seat.
The versatile Danny Shelley returned to the Crewe Alexandra starting line-up for the first time this season. Stoke born Shelley replaced the injured Luke Murphy (knee) on the right hand side of the Crewe midfield for the trip to Bradford City. Aman Verma was named on the substitutes bench. As expected Patrick Ada replaced the injured Harry Worley (ankle) in the centre of the Crewe defence after serving his one match suspension last weekend. Billy Jones was also free of suspension following his own red card against Bury, but he had settle for a place on the bench due to the recent good form of youngster Ashley Westwood at left back.
With the on-loan goalkeeper Adam Bogdan returning to his parent club Bolton Wanderers to cover for injuries, Adam Legzdins was renamed on the substitutes bench to deputise for the fit-again David Button.
The match at Valley Parade kicked off in bright October sunshine and it was a confident home side making the early inroads into the Crewe Alexandra half. Some neat passing saw Bradford force two early corners with David Button clearing one with an assured punch out to Joel Grant. On the counter-attack, Shaun Miller's cross-field pass was just a little over hit to find the advanced Calvin Zola and Steven Schumacher, and Bradford's keeper Simon Eastwood had an early touch.
Eastwood's second touch was to pick the ball out of his net following a wonderful execution from the in-form Zola after just 7 minutes. After collecting a routine throw-in from John Brayford, the Congolese striker surprised everyone by unleashing a superb volley past Eastwood and into the far corner of the net. From the acutest of angles, Zola had fired home his 9th of the season in spectacular fashion and it was comfortably one of the finest strikes of his career. It was a wonderful start for Crewe in sunny Yorkshire.
Despite having the lead given to us by Zola, Crewe were defending their box a lot more than the home side. Michael Boulding fired one wastefully over and Mitchel-King was in the right place at the right time to deny a forceful run from Lee Bullock on the edge of our six-yard box. Although Bradford were piling on the early pressure in terms of possession in the last third, it was the Railwaymen who went close to adding a second goal on 18 minutes.
Goalscorer Zola did superbly in the build-up when finding Joel Grant in space and he forcefully went at the last two Bradford defenders with pace. Grant produced a moment of sublime skill with a double step-over to pass Zesh Rehman, but his final shot smacked the bottom of the Bradford post and away from danger. Grant was considerably unlucky not to have to doubled Crewe's advantage.
It didn't take long for the Alex to find that cushion of that second goal though with Zola reaching double figures for the season with another excellent strike from 25 yards out. Grant had ran into trouble, but Zola picked up the lose ball and didn't hesitate to drill his shot past a stranded Eastwood. Crewe were 2-0 ahead after 25 minutes with Zola in the form of his life.
Schumacher, enjoying his return to his former club then shot a yard or so yard from 25 yards out as Crewe looked to kill off the opposition before half-time. Bradford were finding it difficult to contain Joel Grant, who was a great outlet on the counter-attack for the Railwaymen. Brayford, with Shelley ahead of him, was relishing the freedom to get forward and he shot just wide of Eastwood's left hand post.
Bradford continued to deliver crosses into the Crewe penalty area, but in truth David Button never really had a save to make in the first-half.
With five minutes of the first half remaining of an entertaining first half, Michael Boulding had a chance to halve the deficit. After Mitchel-King had once again halted a run from Bullock, Boulding should really have converted the loose ball from 6 yards out. The experienced striker did everything right to lift it over the grounded Button but his shot hit the underside of the crossbar and was cleared from the line. The ball hadn't crossed the line and Crewe had enjoyed a lucky escape.
Bradford's pressure did finally pay off though in the final minute of the half with Boulding making amends for his miss with a firm header past Button after James O'Brien had clipped back his cross across a crowded penalty area.
After conceding, Crewe wanted the half-time whistle and Alex captain Mitchel-King was booked for blocking off a run from Boulding. Full-back Luke O'Brien fired a tame free-kick at Button and Crewe went in at the break with a 2-1 advantage.
In the opening minute of the second half Schumacher was unfortunate not to reinstate Crewe's two-goal advantage after some more good work from Brayford and Zola. Schumacher must have thought his diving header had silenced his former club once again only for the on-loan goalkeeper from Huddersfield, Eastwood, to tip it away for a corner.
Almost immediately, James Hanson had a shot deflected from the edge of the Crewe 18-yard box as the second 45 minutes started as open as the period.
As you expect that late goal from Boulding had prompted a surge from the home side and it was they on the front foot at the start of the second half, forcing a succession of early corners. A super run from Luke O'Brien saw him trick his way past Shelley but he fired a couple of yards wide of the target from a tight angle.
Crewe still looked a threat when they ventured forward and some more extraordinary skill from Zola nearly saw the towering striker through on goal again, but his fancy flick was just a little strong and Eastwood collected.
On the hour mark, Bradford made a change with Scott Neilson replacing Chris Brandon on the wing. Neilson's first real contribution saw him play full-back Simon Ramsden and his hanging cross saw Ada and Button get in a muddle, only for the Crewe goalkeeper to recover well to save a shot from the Bradford substitute.
Miller should have made it 3-1 on 67 minutes after some good approach play from the impressive Zola and Grant. Their combination play on the edge of the Bradford box, set-up a chance for Schumacher and his shot-come-cross fell invitingly to the Crewe striker just six yards out, only for him to shoot straight at Eastwood. He must have thought he was offside and because he wasn't flagged it was a glorious chance wasted.
Schumacher got Miller out of jail just a few minutes later though. It was evident that on his return to Valley Parade, he had been desperate for a goal and after taking a chance with a shot from 25 yards he duly got his reward. Eastwood was rather deceived by the bounce but really should have done better. Schumacher could not hide his delighted and was hoisted up in celebration by his joyous team-mates.
It was such a topsy-turvy match though and Bradford were still being encouraged to attack at any opportunity. They hit back again with just over 20 minutes remaining with the lanky James Hanson getting across Mitchel-King to half volley past Button. This game was far from over.
Young Ashley Westwood then had a lucky escape when the referee's assistant penalised him for handball after he had raised his hand to a cross. Although the offence looked to have taken place inside the Crewe box, the referee awarded a free-kick much to the frustration of the home side. It was certainly a close call and Westwood, who had hardly put a foot wrong all afternoon, was booked for the offence. After a chorus of boos had died down, Michael Flynn fired his free-kick into a solid Crewe wall.
To relive some of the pressure, Dario Gradi introduced the fresh legs of Anthony Elding for Miller. Crewe needed to retain possession better further up the field.
Bradford substitute Neilson fired just wide and goalscorer Hanson had Button scrambling across his goal with one ambitious attempt from long range. The onslaught continued with another of Bradford's subs Leon Osborne seeing his shot pushed away one handed by the busy Button.
Mitchel-King also had to survive a penalty shout after a Boulding header had flick off his arm. It wasn't deliberate and the referee rightly awarded a corner. Crewe and their 261 supporters inside the crowd of 11, 557, certainly needed a breather!
Grant got a breather with six minutes left on the clock to be replaced by Byron Moore. With time running out Button pushed a shot from Bullock over the bar and from the resulting corner, Westwood did superbly to whack another header from Hanson off of the line. He was in the right place at the right time to protect our slim lead.
Crewe were holding on but Elding had arguably the best chance of the closing stages to score again. His attempted chip just didn't have enough height to defeat Eastwood, who saved with one hand. The anxious few minutes passed and Crewe had the three points.
