It was a victory that, for an hour at least, looked very unlikely against a Crewe side that really had the upper hand and had scored the only goal of the game. Then, just past the hour, Ryan Noble, scored a somewhat fortunate equaliser and it changed the whole game, leading to us dominating the closing stages and winning it just as those of us sat in the stand were preparing for extra time.
There must have been very few, if any, inside the ground who would have backed Burnley at half time. Crewe passed the ball better than us, they looked technically better than us, and had been the better side.
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| A 92nd minute winner from Alex Coleman |
Crewe's opener looked familiar to those from Burnley who were watching the game. It was the corner routine that has brought us a few goals in the last two or three years as the ball was played low to the edge of the penalty box with the first player stepping over it.
James Ballie finished it with a good strike and they might have scored more in the remaining quarter of an hour of the half while, off the pitch, our coach Simon Weatherstone almost looked to be on his own coaching course with Tony Loughlan as the tutor.
The early stages of the second half saw little change but just before the hour it all started to change. Micah Evans almost got on the end of a cross with only a superb header diverting the ball away from him but in the next attack we equalised just after Loughlan, who had now taken charge in the technical area, brought on Luke Gallagher.
Danny Lafferty played the ball down the left for Noble whose shot took a deflection and sailed into the far corner past the helpless Ben Garratt.
Crewe almost regained the lead immediately only for Lafferty to clear off the line but from that moment on it was Burnley very much in the ascendancy with much of the remainder of the game played at one end of the ground.
Jason Gilchrist and then Luke Conlan were introduced as Gallagher fired just wide, Hewitt fired a shot over. Gilchrist, a real predator, almost scored but saw Burnley born Harry Davis deny him.
It was all Burnley but, as the rain poured down, and we past the 90 minutes it was still all square.
Then, in the second minute of stoppage time, it was carnage in the Crewe box from Hewitt's corner. They managed to block at least two shots before the ball eventually dropped for Coleman who drove the ball into the corner and ensured a 2-1 victory.
It's Sunderland next and will be played at Turf Moor during this month on a date to be determined.
Wednesday's teams were;
Crewe: Ben Garratt, James Ballie, Jon Guthrie, Liam Noble, Harry Davis, Mark Ellis, James Jones, Billy Waters, Max Clayton (Kayne Woolery), AJ Leitch-Smith, Fraser Murdock. Subs not used: Robbie Johnson, Perry Ng, Ryan Alcock, Callum Saunders.
Burnley: Nick Liversedge, Cameron Dummigan, Alex Coleman, Tom Anderson, Danny Lafferty (Luke Conlan 81), Micah Evans (Jason Gilchrist 75), Steven Hewitt, Archie Love, Cameron Howieson, Jamie Frost (Luke Gallagher 60), Ryan Noble. Subs not used: Danijel Nizic, Jack Errington.