A confident Cheltenham Town drew 0-0 with Crewe Alexandra in Michael Duff’s first game as Robins boss.
Cheltenham dominated the chances, Tyrone Barnett coming closest, having an effort blocked off the
line in the 60 th minute.
Crewe offered little in the way of attack, Ryan Wintle coming closest in extra time, but his shot was
fantastically saved by Scott Flinders to keep the score level..
A confident start for Michael Duff, who’s era as manager starts with a point in front of 2921 vocal
Cheltenham fans.
The first chance of the afternoon fell to Cheltenham, Kevin Dawson found himself on the ball on the
right-hand side. He played a pass inside towards Tyrone Barnett who flicked it into the box for Jacob
Maddox but he was met with a good challenge before he could move the ball on.
Duff’s side had the better of the opening exchanges, winning a free kick on the edge of the box. the
resulting cross found Will Boyle’s head but was met by Ben Garratt in goal and pushed away for a
corner.
It was Crewe who then created their first shooting opportunity from open play. the ball dropped to
Perry Ng and he struck towards Flinders, but the Cheltenham number one palmed it out for a corner.
Cheltenham’s first direct freekick opportunity came in the 21 st minute, after a good turn on the edge
of the box Kelsey Mooney was brought down. Ryan Broom stepped up and struck his effort into the
wall, Crewe easily dealing with the resulting corner.
Crewe continued to feel their way into the game, A Charlie Kirk cross on the left gave Alex Nicholls a
free header, but it went wide.
It was the Robins who continued to pile on the pressure before half time, the last action of the first
45 was a strike from Kevin Dawson, his effort was met by Ben Garratt and the resulting corner came
to nothing.
Cheltenham started the second half as they ended the first, Jacob Maddox worked his way down the
left-hand side and whipped in a cross which went out for a corner.
They followed that up with a good spell of pressure. Another good piece of hold up play from
Barnett found Ryan Broom, who went around one defender and struck towards goal, but his low
driven effort was stopped well by Garratt.
Ryan Broom was heavily involved in the action and had the next chance for Cheltenham in the 57 th
minute. He curved a shot from the right-hand side of the box towards the top left corner, but it was
scrambled away by the Crewe goalkeeper, and Tyrone Barnett couldn’t quite land the follow up on
target.
Cheltenham came forward again on the hour mark, this time a corner from Jacob Maddox was
cleared off the line after Barnett met it on the volley, then moments later another chance for
Barnett from close range went wide.
Jacob Maddox was enjoying plenty of the ball on the left, another good cross from him was headed
back into the box by Kevin Dawson but substitute Sam Jones couldn’t get on the end of it.As the minutes went on Cheltenham continued to look the brighter of the two sides, pinning Crewe back into their own half for long spells.
Deep into extra time Crewe then created their best chance of the game, a fast break away down the left resulted in a cross in towards Ryan Wintle, his header towards Flinders was superbly met by the Cheltenham number one.
This was the last chance of the match, meaning Michael Duff took an important point ahead of his first away trip to Exeter next Saturday.
CHELTENHAM TOWN (4-4-2): Flinders, Mullins (c), Atangana, Dawson, Broom, Boyle, Maddox, Forster, Mooney (Jones 64), Barnett (Duku 79), Alcock (Baldwin 54). Subs not used: Thomas, Rhys Lovett (Gk), Clements.
CREWE ALExANDRA (4-4-2): Garratt, Ng, Ray (c), Jones, Bowery, Ainley (Miller 80), Nicholls (Porter 64), Wintle, Kirk, Hunt, Whelan. Subs not used: Raynes, Richards, Lowery, Finney, O’Connor.
REFEREE: B Huxtable
ATTENDANCE: 2,921 (301 from Crewe)
REACTION: Watch interviews from Michael Duff and Craig Alcock HERE.