Crewe head coach Lee Bell said his side’s 3-1 FA Cup first round replay win at Derby has capped off one of the proudest times of his career.

Bell saw his high-flying League Two side go behind early but hit back to outplay their League One opponents and deservedly book a home tie against Bristol Rovers.

Derby had scored two late goals at Crewe to set up a replay at Pride Park and it looked good for the hosts when Tom Barkhuizen scored in the fourth minute.

But Aaron Rowe’s brace turned the game around before Mickey Demetriou headed in to seal Crewe a fifth win in their last seven matches in all competitions.

Bell said: “It’s a really brilliant night for the football club. I’m proud to be part of it and I’m so proud of the players.

“I thought it was right that they won the game, I thought the game plan was spot on and they executed it brilliantly, which is credit to them.

“I’ve said to the players that these last couple of weeks with the performances are probably the proudest time I’ve had in football, to be around these lads and the staff, so we are going to enjoy tonight.

“It is some achievement but I keep saying we’ve got good players at the club and it’s a really proud night. We’ve scored five goals against Derby in two games.”

Derby head coach Paul Warne felt his side lacked urgency in their play as they suffered an early exit from the competition.

“I just don’t think we had any ball speed in our game tonight, we had loads of the ball but we didn’t move it quick enough,” he said.

“When we had opportunities to go forward and get at them we took the easier option and went backwards.

“It looked like they had more in them, that’s probably the nicest way to put it.

“We had plenty of opportunities to get a second goal but tonight we looked a little bit toothless.

“We looked a little bit leggy, I think it’s fair to say, and too many of the players weren’t on song, we didn’t have enough top performers to win a game.

“We didn’t have enough good performances to beat a well-organised, well-drilled, well-coached team in Crewe and congratulations to them, I thought they were very good.”

Crewe boss Lee Bell was quick to disregard his side’s penalty misery after being dumped out of the Carabao Cup by local rivals Port Vale.

The visitors missed all four penalties as they crashed out in the second round with a 2-0 shoot-out defeat after a goalless draw in normal time at Vale Park.

Elliott Nevitt blasted over, Rio Adebisi hit the bar and Joel Tabiner missed from 12 yards while Chris Long saw his penalty saved by Connor Ripley.

Bell admitted: “It’s a real kick in the teeth to go out on penalties.

“Penalties are a bit of a lottery and tonight just wasn’t our night.

“The fans were fantastic and it’s just a shame we couldn’t get a goal for them.

“I’m so proud of the players and there’s so much to draw on. The players need to get over this quickly.

“It was important I delivered the message that I feel is right. We’re going in the right direction and we’re a transformed team compared to last year.

“I know what it means to the area this game, regardless that it’s a cup game and a stand is shut.

“I told the players that whatever happens tonight they needed to be clapped off this pitch and they did that.”

Vale got the bragging rights in a dramatic penalty shoot-out.

Thomas Sang failed with Vale’s third spot-kick after James Wilson and Oliver Arblaster had scored the first two.

Boss Andy Crosby said: “These games are never easy.

“It goes to show that you get the rewards when you prepare properly and we’ve been taking penalties on the training ground for the last week.

“We’ve gone through a lot of detail in case it went to penalties and when you do that there’s less luck involved.

“We changed ends for the home supporters and thank you to the fans because I thought the atmosphere was great. The fans helped us get over the line.”

Crewe manager Lee Bell praised his players’ penalty-taking expertise as they dumped Championship Sunderland out of the Carabao Cup.

Crewe pulled off a notable upset as they scored all five of their penalties to secure a 5-3 shoot-out win at the Stadium of Light.

Elliott Nevitt, Chris Long, Rio Adebisi and Joel Tabiner all scored from the spot, before Ryan Cooney converted Crewe’s fifth and final penalty to secure a place in the second round.

Earlier, Luke Offord had headed the League Two side into a first-half lead, with Chris Rigg claiming Sunderland’s equaliser midway through the second half as the game finished 1-1 at the end of 90 minutes.

Bell said: “It is the most exciting way to go through. We practised penalties yesterday, but I think it was a really good performance, everyone put a shift in, as you have to when you come to a place like Sunderland, regardless of what team they started with.

“We were really well organised and showed some real courage when we had the football.

“I am absolutely delighted for the players in the dressing room, who are in there enjoying it now, and for the fans who came here tonight, and rightly so.

“We spoke about how important set-plays are in our division and we have to keep working on them and keep working on how to deliver new ones to the players.”

Sunderland exited the League Cup at the first-round stage, but it was still a record-breaking night for Rigg, who became the youngest goal scorer in the competition’s history.

Rigg also became Sunderland’s youngest-ever goal scorer when he fired home from the edge of the area in the second half to cancel out Offord’s first-half header.

The 16-year-old committed his long-term future to the Black Cats earlier this summer despite reported interest from Newcastle United and Manchester United, and after breaking into the senior ranks last season, is set to play an increasingly prominent role over the course of the next nine months.

Sunderland head coach Tony Mowbray said: “Chris Rigg belies his age a bit. I can be quite harsh on him, and then I sometimes have to check myself and remember that he’s just a 16-year-old boy.

“I expect more from him sometimes, but then I remember just how young he is.

“He played with real discipline tonight. I asked to play deeper in the first half, and he did that. Then I asked him to start breaking into the box in the second half, and he did that and scored.

“It was disappointing in the end because in the first half, we just seemed to pass round and round.

“We played against a League Two side with good organisation and commitment, but we should have had more to have won the game.”