Lee Bell lauds Crewe response to derby defeat by beating Grimsby

Manager Lee Bell praised Crewe’s players for casting aside the disappointment of a derby defeat to revive their play-off hopes with a much-needed 2-0 win over rivals Grimsby.

Goals from Chris Long and Mickey Demetriou secured the Railwaymen a first league win in six games to leave them just a point behind the Mariners as the battle for seventh spot in League Two heats up.

The success came just three days after losing their grudge encounter with Port Vale to a late goal.

Bell said: “It was a super response from the players and that is what we get from this group when we’ve had setbacks.

“I’m pleased for them as I thought they were hard done by on Saturday not picking anything up from the game.

“It was a really good performance against a good team. Dave Artell has got Grimsby playing well but I thought we nullified them.

“We created good opportunities. Chris was a threat all night and it was a bullet header from Mickey at the end. It was a good all-round performance and I was really proud of the players.

“We’ll keep on fighting and it is all about results now. We’ll take a big following to Bradford on Saturday and we’ll look forward to that.”

Crewe’s promotion hopes have been hit by a lack of goals but a change up front paid off with Omar Bogle and the fit-again Jack Lankester – making his first start since mid-January – causing Grimsby problems on their return to the starting XI, although ultimately two set-pieces were the key to Crewe’s win.

Grimsby were without leading scorer Danny Rose because of concussion protocols and struggled to carve out clear chances.

Jason Svanthorsson crashed a volley into the side-netting and Luca Barrington drove a late effort across the face of goal.

Boss David Artell said: “There wasn’t much in the game and we created enough to score. But if you don’t defend set-pieces it doesn’t matter how many you score.

“The players weren’t up to standard with the decisions and the quality wasn’t there for certain parts of the game.

“We’ve come into the game with one fit striker in the club so it was always going to be tough, although I thought Luca was excellent.”