Ged Brannan dedicates Accrington’s victory over Crewe to absent boss John Doolan

Ged Brannan dedicated Accrington’s surprise 1-0 win at promotion-chasers Crewe to absent boss John Doolan.

Doolan missed the game at the Mornflake Stadium due to personal reasons but assistant boss Brennan credited the game plan the pair had hatched during the week for frustrating second-placed Crewe, who were falling to their first home defeat in Sky Bet League Two since August 17.

Stanley’s deserved win was secured by a stunning first-half effort from leading scorer Shaun Whalley, who minutes before crashed an effort against the crossbar as the visitors offered all the enterprise.

“It was a fantastic performance. John wasn’t here today because of personal reasons and we missed him a lot, but that was a great performance and we’ll dedicate that to him,” said Brannan.

“We could have won by three or four, we played some great football, created chances and it was an unbelievable goal that won us the game.

“You’d never know that Shaun is 37, but he’s like a fine wine as he gets older. At the other end of the pitch, we had Benn Ward coming into the team and he was outstanding. He was nervous beforehand, but I told him to go out and enjoy it.

“John and I worked on the game plan during the week and everyone stuck to their job and we got our rewards. If we play like that all the time then we’ll be nearer to the play-offs than the bottom of the table.

“Our defending was fantastic. Billy Crellin didn’t have a shot to save and we created four or five chances. What was wrong with Farrend Rawson’s goal? And Shaun also hit the crossbar.”

Stanley led from the 16th minute when Whalley seized on a misplaced pass and chipped a superb effort over Crewe goalkeeper Filip Marschall from 25 yards.

The visitors could have been ahead by then had Donald Love converted from the six-yard box. And before he notched his seventh goal of the season, Whalley thumped the underside of the crossbar after he was slipped clear on goal by Hunter.

Rawson nearly doubled Accrington’s lead laye on with thumping header from a corner which found the bottom corner of the net, but the defender was adjudged to have pushed Crewe defender Ryan Cooney.

The defeat ended Crewe’s five-game unbeaten run, and boss Lee Bell admitted: “It was a really poor performance. If Accrington had been two up by half-time we couldn’t have argued.

“We’ve had these moments before and been able to get back on the saddle and we’ve got an important game against AFC Wimbledon on Tuesday so we’ll need to again.

“The best thing about football is that you can get back out there and put in a better performance than we’ve shown today.

“I can handle losing matches, but not like that – it was a real off afternoon from the players and they can’t argue with anything I said to them afterwards.

“They’ve been excellent this season, but they’ve got to know when they’re below what we ask of them.”