Norwich...1 Crewe...0

CREWE'S hopes of ending their away blues were dashed at high-flying Norwich, last Saturday.

The Alex went into this fixture with the same line-up that had defeated Sunderland in the previous game.

Kenny Lunt, available after his one match suspension, was one of the named substitutes.

As in previous away encounters, Crewe had opened brightly with good passing moves being checked by a resolute defence.

On loan players Crouch and Huckerby came into the game with the home side relying heavily on their contribution.

Norwich started to assert more pressure as the half progressed with Huckerby in particular switching wings with regularity.

It was his curling shot that finally beat Clayton Ince in the 38th minute to give them the lead.

Ince had impressed with his handling and made a couple of excellent saves to keep the scoreline at 1-0.

A double substitution at half-time by Gradi brought Lunt on for Billy Jones and Luke Varney on for David Vaughan, both had taken knocks in the opening 45 minutes.

This move and a modification in the formation saw a marked improvement in Crewe's play and with just that single goal lead there was the hope of at least a share of the spoils.

It was an end-to-end game and both defences had to be on constant alert.

Crewe however were unable to break down a stubborn defence although Robert Green had to make several last ditch saves to deny an equaliser in the final minutes of the match.

Brave Alex fans had to watch the game from temporary seating out in the open but were helped by plastic raincoats provided by Norwich.

The final result was a disappointment but there is still plenty of promise and the away hoodoo has to end sooner rather than later.

Crewe: Ince, Wright, Tonkin, Foster, McCready, Rix, Cochrane, B Jones (Lunt 46), Vaughan (Varney 46), Ashton, S Jones.

Subs not used: Bankole, Walker, Smart.

Attendance - 16,367.