Stevenage 1-1 Crewe

By Paul Fletcher BBC Sport at Broadhall Way

Ashley Westwood scored a stunning left-foot equaliser to earn Crewe a draw in their first competitive meeting against newly promoted Stevenage.

The Crewe midfielder's effort went in off the post early in the second half to cancel out Yemi Odubade's opener for the home team.

Stevenage, who started the day in 10th place after collecting five points from their opening four League Two fixtures, scored close to the break after Stacy Long's initial shot had struck the post.

Long did not finish the match as he picked up two second-half bookings and Crewe, 13th going into the game, took charge but could not find a winning goal against a committed and determined home side.

The match was particularly notable for a lively substitute appearance by promising 16-year-old Crewe forward Nick Powell and the fact that both teams wore Stevenage kits.

The referee was not satisfied that Crewe's away strip did not clash with Stevenage's home kit and so the Alex ended up wearing Boro's away yellow.

Until Stevenage scored it was the visiting side who had enjoyed the bulk of the precious few openings.

PAUL FLETCHER'S BLOG The matchday experience at Stevenage had many qualities that I sometimes think have been permanently lost at higher levels of the game

The lively Clayton Donaldson had an early penalty appeal turned down after he tangled with Scott Laird, while official James Linington later blew for an infringement a split-second before Shaun Miller found the top corner with a superb 20-yard strike.

The referee should have played an advantage as the foul had been given for a crude lunge on Crewe midfielder Westwood.

Miller drew a comfortable save from Chris Day with an overhead effort, while the Alex almost capitalised on a sloppy pass from John Mousinho, who gave the ball straight to Crewe's Calvin Zola.

The striker played in Westwood but the midfielder's low strike was well stopped by the Stevenage keeper.

It had been a largely scrappy and disjointed half, not helped by the whistle-happy referee, but it turned decisively in the home team's favour when Odubade, who might earlier have been awarded a penalty, slotted into an empty net from six yards.

Odubade then showed a superb turn of pace in injury-time to collect a teasing long ball before picking out Robbie Sinclair, who twisted and turned before forcing a brilliant one-handed save from Chelsea loan keeper Rhys Taylor.

Crewe's equaliser came 10 minutes after the restart, with Westwood finishing a flowing move with a 20-yard strike.

And the match appeared to move further in their favour when Long saw red after collecting a second booking just after the hour mark.

The referee might have sent Crewe's Miller from the field after a very late challenge on Laird - but the forward escaped with a yellow and was immediately replaced by England Under-17 international Powell.

The young forward had an immediate impact, forcing a save with a crisp left-foot strike, while Day also saved a close-range effort from Zola while Westwood shot over with a free-kick.

Stevenage had few opportunities to snatch a winner, although an Odubade header did force a save from Taylor.

Stevenage manager Graham Westley told BBC Three Counties Radio:

"When you get a red, the game is always distorted because you are obviously going to have to work that little bit harder.

"We were probably fortunate to be one-nil up at half-time, but we took our chance and had grafted away in that first half.

"In the second half, thirty minutes with ten men does make a difference there is no doubt about it. We could easily have got ourselves a goal as much as they could have done.

"As everyone comes to the party, as all the boys find their feet, and they will, we will turn our results from these odd draws."

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