Ellison seals Shrimps triumph
Kevin Ellison hit his 10th goal of the season as Morecambe ended their eight-game winless run with a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Crewe.
The Railwaymen dominated the opening 45 minutes but found themselves trailing at the break.
Alex youngster Nick Powell shot wide with a 30-yard free-kick and Jamie Lowry failed to test keeper Barry Roche with an effort from the edge of the box.
When Roche was called into action he pulled off two fine saves to keep out Lee Bell's fierce free-kick and Ashley Westwood's snapshot.
But the visitors took the lead in the 33rd minute with their first shot of the game. Andy Parrish whipped in a superb cross which Alex defender Adam Dugdale could only flick-on for Ellison to lash home at the far post.
Danny Carlton thought he had doubled the lead on the stroke of half-time, but the winger was fractionally offside when he flicked Phil Jevons' shot past Crewe keeper Steve Phillips.
The home side continued to fashion and miss opportunities with Lowry seeing a shot deflected to safety before Bell's effort was saved and Ajay Leitch-Smith spooned wide from Max Clayton's cutback.
Roche then produced when it mattered again to keep out Leitch-Smith's powerful effort while Dave Artell headed wide from a corner.
Still, it was Morecambe who looked the more likely to score with their rare forays forward.
Ellison headed Lewis Alessandra's corner onto the post before the former cut in and lashed the ball against the crossbar.
The Shrimps' top scorer, who penned a new contract on the eve of the game, then had Phillips scrambling to keep out a long-range shot and Lawrence Wilson flashed a low drive inches wide of the Alex goal.
Crewe 0-1 Morecambe: Match Report - view commentary, squad, and statictics of the game as it happened.
Source: PA
