FAN’S VIEW 21/22 – NO.38

CREWE ALEXANDRA 0 OXFORD UNITED 1

Crewe being bottom of the league with no points from their last six games in which they’d scored just twice worried me, as such things do. But I wasn’t worried enough not to lump just over twenty quid of an already well expanded left over kitty from previous away pints on a Yellows win at 10/11.

It was one of those trips where our driver had arranged a business trip and the passengers, two of us this time, were dropped off mid-afternoon. That gives plenty of time to get a feeling of a place. Oh dear. Crewe is almost dead. Boarded up shops, bookies and pawnbrokers. The few people wandering about looked like characters. That’s the word I’ll use although some from other parts might have opted for strange. A bit later on we spotted one man in a suit, which wasn’t the sharpest, but he looked so out of place.

We needed a pub that was at least half decent to hang about in until the one we had our eye on opened at five o’clock. That proved to be a challenge. Quite a few don’t open on Tuesdays including Tom’s Tap & Brewhouse which sounded good if nothing else. Looking through windows and sauntering in and then quickly out, we’d found little evidence of hand pumps to satisfy our real ale craze.  They all appeared to be ubiquitous chain type establishments.

Where there were hand pumps the pump clips were turned inwards indicating there was no ale to be had from this source. In one pub we had to step quite a way over the threshold to discover this and as we did so one of the few people inside made eye contact. It was a woman sat on a stool a bit away from the bar. We smiled and explained that we were after real ale and there was none on. She replied that she was just minding the bar for Doris (I’ve made that name up because I can’t remember what she was called) and that they had the clips turned the other way so the bar staff could see what they were serving. Yes, right. But it was strange place. We felt obliged to see what happened next as she went behind the bar and said “Doombar.”  We’re thinking “eff off” but being polite said “no thanks, what’s the other one”. “Wainwrights”. “Okay then we’ll give that a go please”. Pint glass put in place, pump pulled towards the volunteer and glass fills up with water.  “Goodbye and thanks for trying”. The days are gone when we would have stayed and had a Guinness that we didn’t really want.

After much more trudging about we came across the British Lion. That’s a pub I remember from quite a few seasons back and realised Crewe had not been plain sailing beer wise even then. It had been Good Beer Guide listed but new tenants had taken over and asked us what they needed to do to look after their beer. I remember suggesting they contact CAMRA. This time there was nothing wrong with the pint of Hobgoblin and it passed the time.

In a joyless place The Borough Arms was a joy to drink in.  An independently owned local pub with well over 100 years of history serving a large choice of good quality beers. We weren’t the only Oxford fans in there.

The game had not been long started when the evidence told, as suspected, that this wouldn’t be a stroll in the park. The home side did not look like a side rooted to the bottom without confidence and hope.

To be honest the whole affair was quite even and at the end of the game I’d say we just deserved it but only just and there could be no real argument if we’d left with just a draw.

We weren’t hitting the target as we had done on Saturday and only for a short spell got into the rhythm we maintained at the Valley for the final three-quarters of the match. That was just after we’d taken the lead. The Alex came across as a better outfit than the Charlton but being 10 points from safety with just 13 games left have it all to do.  They had 52% possession which doesn’t sit well with our footballing philosophy but at this stage of the season it is all about winning is it not?

Three points from a scrappy 1-0 win with a scrappy goal has the same value as three points achieved by crushing opponents 4-0 or 7-2. I like it. It proves we can do this stuff and let’s celebrate the second clean sheet in a row even if we did ride our luck massively on one occasion and nearly threw it away on another. That’s the first time we’ve managed that this season.

In the first half Herbie Kane hit one just wide of the post. (He will open his Oxford account one day).

We went quite close again when the ball Mark Sykes played across goal that no white shirt got on the end of was recycled and Matty Taylor glanced his header just over.  (Just is a word I’m using a lot in this but can’t be arsed to find an alternative)

Next effort on goal was from them. Despite the red shirt when we were playing it around at the back, Jack Stevens must have thought that Dan Agyei was still a team-mate. Thankfully realisation kicked in in time to beat away DA’s effort.

We had a couple of other efforts before the break. A Taylor attempt from distance which was off target and Sam Baldock putting it over the bar after one of our better moves of the half.

Josh Lundstram on as sub brought a bit of trickery to the Crewe attacks and with us giving the ball away more than before, their threat level rose.

Elliott Moore had to stretch to knock out a ball that had been pulled back into our box and in doing so injured himself and had to depart. From the resultant corner we were within a whisker of going behind. Chris Long hammered the ball from point blank range against the bar and down but we got it away and got away with it. Perhaps it would be our night without hitting any heights.

Ryan Williams was taken out by Tommy Lowery and we managed to keep the free-kick live in a messy bit of play that ended with Ciaron Brown stepping backwards and scoring with a left foot volley. The finish, which wasn’t the best ever seen, was certainly better than the build-up play.  We need to score goals like that in addition to the wonder stuff. They all merit celebration and if this had not gone in we’d be two points worse off now. I’m still doing things common sense says I should have stopped doing 30-40 years ago. I jumped up on the seat I’d been stood in front of, seat tips back leg slips down resulting in bruising and a little cut. I really must stop.

We now became more pleasing on the eye with Dave Richards in the Crewe goal having to pull off a good save from Baldock and Cameron Brannagan putting a low shot a couple of inches wide after a turn of the highest quality by Marcus McGuane.

This was never comfortable. A nail biter to the end but we got bodies back as needed and got over the line in the end.

After this we’ve now slipped from best to third best goals per game scored and are still 9^th best in the goals per game conceded charts.

But other than our three points and the clean sheet the best stats of the night were Plymouth losing at Cambridge and Wycombe at Wigan along with Sunderland drawing at home. Our current resting place in fourth position now looks a tad more comfortable and even if teams with games in hand were to win them all, hypothetically of course, we couldn’t drop below sixth.

Next up are Cambridge United, conquerors of Argyle who’d had four straight wins before that game. Like us Cambridge have not conceded in their last two games. Challenge after challenge. Can’t see that being easy.