The fans were good and I think they enjoyed it

Last updated : 31 August 2003 By Tony Scholes

Both managers though it had been a good game of football but not surprisingly the winning manager thought the result was a fair one whilst the losing manager thought his side had deserved something out of the game.

Crewe boss Dario Gradi was more than happy with the way his Crewe side played: "I thought the players played well today, without hitting the heights of Monday night," said the Crewe boss.

"It was a similar sort of game to the Walsall game because both sides wanted to play football and not just whack it up there. I said to Stan after the game that the way it started we could have had a 4-4 game but then it settled down and we had our chances to get something from the game, but they can say that too.

"I thought we worked hard and probably deserved a point. We finished the game strongly and with just a little bit more experience Steve Jones could have scored two goals. I thought he would have scored the second one because he was scoring those throughout last season.

"Clayton Ince made a fantastic save from the penalty and that kept us in it at that stage and we went on from that and created a few chances. They were holding on in the closing stages and with a bit of luck or more ability we could have got an equaliser.

"The promising thing for us is that we played some good football and had them under pressure in the final fifteen minutes. We very rarely did that in the First Division and apart from Ipswich in the second half no side has really looked that much better than us."

Stan was quick to agree on the quality of the football served up and thought we were worth the win. "It was a good game of football and I thought we just shaded it," Stan claimed after the game. "It was a fantastic three points for us and we created a lot of chances again.

"Sooner or later they will start going in but their keeper has made a good save from Robbie and Glen has missed a good chance. All in all though it was a good open game and that is what you expect from one of Dario’s teams. It was a good advert for the First Division."

He also had a word for the youngest player on the field, Richard Chaplow, who scored the winning goal with his first goal in the first team.

"He was fantastic today, he played really well. The goal was marvellous for him and for an 18 year-old he’s a player if he can keep his feet on the ground.

"Tony Grant was also fantastic in midfield and we defended well when we had to.

"The fans were good and I think they enjoyed it."