A wet August day was the setting for this Nationwide league game as we looked for our first league win after two draws. We made just once change from the side which won at Colchester. The game started off slowly and got slower and more dull as the minutes passed.

Crewe started brightly playing some nice football and the pace of Rodney Jack was causing Karl Ready problems. Ready was twice beaten easily for pace by Jack but the striker could not finish on either occasion. Jack was almost forced out of the game after an awful tackle by Ready. Ready flew in with a tackle from behind which was reckless at beat but thankfully for them, Jack got straight up.

We were attacking the Loft in the first half and Kiwomya was causing problems on the right but not to many chances early on. Then a breakthrough and a very lucky one. Jason Kearton attempted to clear David Wright's backpass and Furlong charged the clearance down and sent the ball into the net. Furlong appeared to hit the ball with his hand but that was the bit of luck we needed as we didn't get much more.

A nasty incident followed involving Karl Ready. The big defender went in for a 50/50 with Jack but came out badly injured. The play was held us for eight minutes and Ready was carried off with his leg in a brace with suspected ligament damage. He was replaced by summer signing Christer Warren, who went to left wing back with Bara moving into the back three.

Crewe almost got level when Mark Rivers latched onto to a weak backpass but as he appeared to go round Harper and tap into t he net, Harper recovered to produce an excellent save. Another bad injury followed. Rodney jack went in with a very late and terrible tackle from behind on Baraclough. The referee who was standing 5 yards away failed to see the incident and gave a thrown in to Crewe. No booking or foul! It makes me very angry to see decisions like this especially when Langley, Furlong and Peacock were all booked for nothing challenged during the first half.

Antti Heinola came on to play on the left with Warren moving into the back three, a move which baffled me as Heinola could have gone to his normal position on the right with Perry going into the back three. Despite all this we were well on top without creating loads of chances. Langley was running the midfield and Clarke Carlisle was looking excellent again.

The best move of the game came before half time. Perry burst forward and exchanged passes with Furlong before back-heeling the ball to Langley who drilled his shot at the goal but it as well saved by Kearton. So half time came and it was looking good for us to go on and get more goals.

The second half was a non event. Furlong should have scored when his header was saved by Kearton following a cross from Gavin Peacock. Crewe were slowly getting back in the game but despite having to re organize we were battling very hard and defending well and restricting them to long range shots. The game should have been all over when Efe Sodje (the guy with the bandana) misjudged a clearing header to leave Furlong with just Kearton to beat. Furlong was clean through and didn't even force a save as his shot was screwed wide.

Soon after that miss Furlong tried to make amends as he laid the ball off to an unmarked Wardley who was clean through but his day was summed up as he somehow managed to lose control of the ball. As the game looked all over we got a real fright. David Wright crossed and striker Rob Huise hit his shot against the bar and it bounced on the line and came out.

This brought a terrific response from the Loft as we got behind the lads for the first time in the match. We hung onto the ball and ran the clock down. Still Crewe almost nicked it. Jack ran clean through but Christer Warren made a superb run to cover the danger and saved us from another draw.

So a 1-0 win. Not a great game but the kind of game we have to win if we want to go up and we did so with plenty to spare.

Man of the Match: Mark Perry

13. Lee Harper : Another solid game. Lee kept us in the game with a great save in the first half and coped with long range shots well. 8/10

24. Mark Perry : Not a right wing back but he did very well again. Superb defensively and used the ball well. Hopefully he will now be a regular after Readys unfortunate injury. 8/10

3. Ian Baraclough : He did well whilst on the pitch but was taken off after a very bad tackle which should have seen a card dished out to Rodney Jack. Hopefully he will be back soon. 7/10

5. Karl Ready : Suffered a very bad injury. I hope its not to serious as I don't like to see any player suffer a bad injury. As for his performance, he was pretty poor but as I say I wish him a speedy recovery. 6/10

4. Steve Morrow : One of his best games so far this season. Organized the defence well and used the ball well. 7/10

18. Clarke Carlisle : Absolute Quality. He gets better with each game and has to be one of the best defenders at the club and in my humble opinion, one of the best defenders we have had since Paul Parker left. 8/10

21. Richard Langley : Ran the midfield, wins tackles without diving in, uses the ball well and is just pure quality. 8/10

8. Gavin Peacock : Not his best game, he worked hard chasing back and was struggling with his hamstrings as the game wore on. 6/10

27. Stuart Wardley : Poor old Stuart. I felt sorry for him today he just had an absolute nightmare game. He needs a goal badly to justify his starting place. 5/10

33. Paul Furlong : Closed down the keeper well for his goal and showed some nice touches. He didn't set the game alight but it was a typical Paul Furlong performance. He should have scored a second though. 7/10

11. Chris Kiwomya : Getting better but still not that good. He seems to make the wrong decision on most occasions going the wrong side of the defender or taking on one to many but looked more dangerous than he has in the last two league games.

19. Christer Warren : An excellent debut. Played out of position but read the game well and kept the ball well. Looks a good signing. 8/10