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Forest Green Rovers 3 Crewe Alex 2

A GOAL deep into injury time has sent Crewe Alex into the bottom three of League Two on Saturday.

They led twice - through Chris Porter’s first goal in 14 outings and Jordan Bowery’s fifth of the campaign – but had been pegged back by a Christian Doidge brace with seven minute to play.

Then Alex Lacovitti popped up to slam home the winner from a 93rd minute corner and make it eight straight away defeats for the Railwaymen.

Their situation is getting ever-more urgent, and they face a crunch game at fellow strugglers Morecambe on Tuesdaty night.

Crewe wanted to improve on their recent record in the first ever meeting between the sides, at the New Lawn Stadium.

The Alex went into it on the back of three League To defeats on the spin – part of a sequence which had sent them tumbling to 20th in the standings – and they were missing Michael Raynes (groin) and Tom Lowery (hamstring).

That meant recalls for striker Porter and defender Eddie Nolan as the Railwaymen switched to a 4-3-3 formation.

Perry Ng avoided also adding his name to the lay-off list which also includes George Ray (back), James Jones (pelvis) and Ryan Wintle (leg) when he recovered from a midweek illness to start.

Forest Green, promoted to the Football League for the first time in their history last season, were only one spot above the Alex at kick-off but they had found good form of late.

A total of 10 points from the last 12 had lifted spirits at the club based at Nailsworth – the smallest town ever to host a Football League club.

For the hosts, defender Dale Bennett was back in the team after serving a one-match suspension while forward Omar Bugie was on the bench after returning from international duty with Lebanon.

Former Crewe youth player Mark Roberts was among their substitutes.

The buzz around the ground before the start was that Rovers had found their feet in the fourth and were expected to rise up the table. They started with confidence, moving the ball around well on a sodden pitch and putting the visitors on the back foot.

But it was Crewe who hit the front on 16 minutes when George Cooper whipped in a superb cross from the right side and Porter powered a bullet-header past keeper Brad Collins.

The visitors had started with an usual system, which saw captain Chris Dagnall dropping deep and Bowery out wide. At times, with Rovers in possession, every single Alex player was behind the ball, yet when they won it back they all had licence to join in attacks.

It made for an entertaining spectacle but real opportunities at goal were few and far between.

Forest Green, who looked to play football at every opportunity and left four attackers up when defending corners, were jeered when their first strike on target - a 20-yarder from Drissa Traore – went straight into the midriff of keeper Dave Richards.

However, they were cheering just before the break when a swirling cross from the right was not dealt with and Doidge slammed in the loose ball from close range.

Porter was inches wide from getting his second when a flicked header beat keeper Collins but dropped the wrong side of the post.

But it was 2-1 on 54 minutes more excellent wing play from Cooper saw him feint to his left before crossing with his right foot where Ng, up in attack, nodded back across goal and Bowery swept home.

Tempers flared when Dagnall and Keanu Marsh-Brown clashed in front of the dugouts, which gave the game a nastier edge, as the rain continued to fall on an increasingly difficult surface.

Crewe went very close to a second when Ng skipped down the right and drove the ball across goal, but somehow it was scrambled clear by the home side from under their own bar.

Then Brad Walker drove a free-kick right at Collins, before the Alex defender’s weak header at the other end fell straight to Doidge who let fly a strike which deflected just wide.

Rovers pressed more as the clock ticked down and threatened on a number of occasions. They thought their luck was out when Manny Monthe turned a wayward shot past Richards but it came back off the post.

However, the green shirts were quickest to the loose ball and when it was delivered back into the danger area Doidge was on hand to net his second, on 82 minutes.

Then it was up for grabs and Forest Green looked more likely. Still, Crewe had put a real shift in and looked determined to at least take a share of the spoils.

They looked like they had a point until deep into injury time when a late corner caused chaos in the Alex box and Lacovitti forced it home at the far post.

Rovers (4-3-3): Collins; Fitzwater, Collins, Lacovitti, Bennett; Osbourne, Traoré (Monthe 78 mins), Laird (Wishart 61 mins); Brown, Marsh-Brown (Bugiel 71 mins), Doidge.

Subs not used: Randall-Hurren, Roberts, Pickering, James.

Crewe (4-3-3): Richards; Ng, Nolan, Walker, Pickering; Grant, Ainley, Cooper; Dagnall, Porter, Bowery.

Subs not used: Garratt, Bakayogo, Kirk, Finney, Lundstram, Reilly, Stubbs.

Referee: Chris Sarginson.

Attendance: 2,221