Crewe boss Lee Bell saluted his players for showing gritty resistance as the Railwaymen held firm in the face of a strong Colchester fightback to claim a 2-1 victory.
Chris Long struck twice in the opening minutes to put Crewe in early control but Samson Tovide set up an intriguing second half when he cut the arrears soon after the break at Gresty Road.
Crewe were hanging on at times as Colchester dominated before the hosts were able to record their third win in four games.
Bell, whose side were indebted to captain Luke Offord’s goal-line clearance from Joe Taylor, said: “These are the best type of wins when you have to work your way through to get a result. We couldn’t stop Colchester’s flow, but we worked so hard.
“They played some good football and I don’t think their current position is a reflection on them at the moment. After the early goals we wanted to carry on with our attacking but we sat back a bit and let them back into the game.
“We did stay strong in the second half and our skipper cleared that one off the line late on with a brilliant recovery. We under a bit of pressure, but the lads kept their heads and discipline which was really pleasing.
“I was delighted with the early goals. Mickey’s [Demetriou] throws are a real threat and then Longy took his penalty really well. But I thought everyone in the team put in great effort and they were all excellent.”
Demetriou’s long throw caused problems for the Us defence and Long fired the loose ball into the corner of the net to give the hosts a third-minute lead.
Long then took his tally for the season to five by converting from the spot in the seventh minute after Shilow Tracey was bundled over in the box.
Colchester’s response saw Taylor volley over and Noah Chilvers crack an effort onto the post.
But it was after the break the Essex side stepped up their onslaught after Tovide finished off Taylor’s driven cross over the six-yard box in the 53rd minute.
Tovide, Arthur Read and substitute Jay Mingi all went close before Taylor was thwarted in stoppage time.
Colchester boss Ben Garner said: “We won’t concede a worst goal all season for their first and I thought the penalty was really soft. But after that we were brilliant and we absolutely killed them.
“The number of chances we created, we dominated the ball and for 80 minutes that was our best performance of the season.
“When we got the goal I thought we’d go on and win the game, but we couldn’t just get the next goal. We got into some really good positions and had one cleared off the line.
“If we’d performed like that over the whole 90 minutes we’d have won the game comfortably.
“The second half was as dominant display as you will have seen. It was just a case of whether we’d get the goals, but I thought Crewe defended set-pieces well and threw their bodies on the line, but we should have taken at least a point.”
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
Vlahovic out of Juventus clash with Milan
Dusan Vlahovic will miss Juventus' trip to Milan in Serie A this weekend and is also a doubt for the Champions League game at Aston Villa, head coach Thiago Motta has confirmed.
Vlahovic returned from the international break with a muscle problem in his left thigh, and the manager, after he confirmed the Serbian's absence for Saturday's game at San Siro, was asked about his chances of playing on Wednesday at Villa Park.
"I don't know. He definitely won't be there tomorrow. We hope to have him back as soon as possible," Motta told a press conference on Friday.
"Injuries are part of football. Now it's Vlahovic's turn, but we'll keep playing with the same principles, attacking and defending together."
Vlahovic is the latest of Motta's injury problems at Juventus. Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez missed the last six league games and is still unavailable, while Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik is a long-term absentee.
Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz will also miss the game with Milan and defender Juan Cabal recently suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury, the same issue which will keep fellow defender Gleison Bremer out for the rest of the season.
"I'm really disappointed for Cabal because, like Bremer, he'll be out for a long time," Motta said.
"This is another reason to push ourselves, to commit that bit more so that these absences don't weigh too heavily."
Juventus go into the game as the only unbeaten side in Serie A but find themselves sixth in the standings in what is so far a very tight title race, with just two points separating Motta's side from leaders Napoli.
"It's very balanced and this is good for both us and the public," Motta said.
"We must all try to continue like this. We have to try to get as many positive results as possible."
Milan are one place behind Juve but six points off Motta's side.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
