Crewe Alexandra 0, Yeovil Town 1: Byron Webster goal lifts Glovers to tenth
Byron Webster scored his second goal in three games before helping preserve Yeovil Town's resilient if unattractive victory at Crewe Alexandra.
The Glovers registered just their second npower League One clean sheet of the season as the centre half's strike proved the difference at Gresty Road.
Gary Johnson's men have now won five of their last six outings, moving to tenth in the table and three points from the play-off spots.
Praising his side for a battling triumph, winning manager said: "We are in the first division playing a team with Crewe's reputation. They have had some good results here and every result you get anywhere is a top result.
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"Some games you have to play like Barcelona and sometimes you have to play like Rag-end Rovers but you don't mean to.
"Crewe have a lot of lads they think highly of so any result here is always a good result, especially when it takes you into the top ten. We had to dig in a little bit and it was certainly a professional performance.
"We could have killed it off at the end and when you are still getting chances like that at the other end you know it is a really professional performance."
Captain Jamie McAllister passed a late fitness test to ensure Johnson fielded the sae starting XI for the third consecutive game.
The hosts took just seconds to draw first blood when Yeovil failed to deal with Kelvin Mellor's flicked-on long throw. Webster hacked skywards and Oliver Turton's fierce drive from the edge of the box ricocheted off a visitor for a corner.
Chuks Aneke's 17th minute shot from the edge of the box brought a diving save from Marek Stech but the Glovers' keeper could only palm back into open play.
As Crewe attempted to create another chance, Sam Foley nipped in ahead of Michael West to extinguish the danger and launch a counterattack.
Foley eventually crossed for Paddy Madden to head into the net but the Carlisle United loanee was comfortably offside.
On 26 minutes McAllister's blocked shot earned Yeovil a corner but Joe Edwards blazed over with an effort somewhat typical of a drab opening period.
The visitors took an unlikely lead on 41 minutes after Crewe stopper Alan Martin unnecessarily flapped behind Ed Upson's 20-yard snapshot. With the subsequent corner bouncing in the penalty area, Webster pounced to lash home.
Crewe enjoyed a similarly lively start to the second half as they did the first. Aneke slid the ball through to Mathias Pogba who wastefully blasted high and wide seconds after the restart.
On 49 minutes the attacking pair linked again inside the box, Pogba heading straight at Stech under pressure from Dan Burn and the return cross narrowly too high for a host of players in red.
A minute later Luke Murphy dusted himself off after being felled from behind by Upson to deliver a 20-yard free kick that was tipped around the post by Stech.
Madden was alert to steal and lift a bouncing ball over Mark Ellis on 59 minutes but Martin was quick off his line to charge down and block.
Stech's athleticism maintained his team's lead after 63 minutes, parrying Aneke's sharp flick after an impressive one-two with Pogba.
On 77 minutes Aneke spurned a golden opportunity to level, firing wide from close range after being found in space by Matt Tootle's cut back.
Turton evaded two tackles to shoot from the edge of the box on 82 minutes but was unable to trouble Stech as Crewe's attacking dominance continued without producing a goal.
Byron Moore tried his luck first time at angle from an 85th minute diagonal ball, Stech getting down quickly to block.
In a flurry of late Yeovil attacks Foley curled narrowly wide with the outside of his boot on 89 minutes before both Madden and substitute Daniel Johnson went close with angled strikes in added time.
MATCH STATS
Crewe Alexandra (4-4-1-1) - Martin; Mellor, Davis, Ellis, Tootle; West (Daniels, 65), Murphy, Turton, Moore; Aneke, Pogba. Unused subs: Philips, Dugdale, Robertson, Guthrie, Ray, Clayton.
Bookings: Aneke (foul), Daniels (foul), Ellis (dissent).
Yeovil Town (4-4-2) - Stech; Edwards, Webster, Burn, McAllister; Marsh-Brown (Blizzard, 88), Upson, Smith, Foley; Hayter (Johnson, 56), Madden. Unused subs: Ayling, Hinds, Williams, Reid, Stewart.
Goals: Webster 41.
Bookings: McAllister (dissent).
Ref: Tony Harrington (Cleveland).
Att: 4,176.
CREWE ALEXANDRA 0, YEOVIL TOWN 1 - IN PICTURES
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