Salvage crew hit back to grab a share of spoils

Charlie MacDonald (right) restores parity against Crewe. Pictures: Alan Howarth

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Athletic 1, Crewe 1

Athletic were desperately in need of three points here. Against a Crewe side with no away goals to boast of in 2013-14, this seemed the perfect chance for a pick-me-up.

Initially there was precious little to fire the imagination. Amid the familiar failings, though – thanks to hesitant defending, Athletic conceded the first goal for the seventh time in eight games this season – there was a new-found pragmatism which at least rescued a point.

Johnson’s men started the game brightly, but Steve Davis’s visitors were never less than interesting..

Oliver Turton netted at the second time of asking past a deceived Mark Oxley – with the aid of a deflection off the inside James Tarkowski’s ankle – and with Athletic at sixes and sevens could have made it two seconds later when outstanding winger Byron Moore headed against the crossbar.

Athletic also struck an upright in the first half. In a rare flowing move, Sidney Schmeltz was sent down the right flank by Tarkowski and his cross was slightly miscontrolled by Charlie MacDonald before his sweet left-footed strike crashed against the post.

And in spite of a poor overall display, striker Adam Rooney was nearly a goal hero. Sent down the middle by James Dayton in the 35th minute, he should have done better than shoot straight against

goalkeeper Steve Phillips’ legs.

Having seen his team misfire in the opening 45 minutes, Johnson changed things round. Introducing Jonson Clarke-Harris for Rooney, the tempo was upped and James Dayton brought into the hole behind the substitute and MacDonald in a virtual 4-3-3 formation.

The emphasis shifted. Crewe were still dangerous on the break, but when Athletic found an equaliser it was deserved. It came from broken play, with Dayton teasing a loose ball over the defence to find MacDonald on the shoulder of the last defender.

There was a suspicion of offside, but the volleyed finish through goalkeeper Steve Phillips’ legs was emphatic enough.

Dayton was the main creative spark and came close to a winning goal when, on the hour, he cut in from the left to smash a goalbound shot which Phillips did very well to palm to safety.

Oxley had to be alert to produce a diving save from Clayton before the game petered out.

As a strike partnership, Rooney and MacDonald didn’t quite work here. It was easy to see why Johnson went with two proven penalty-box poachers, but somethig was missing from Athletic’s game with the loss of a link man like Danny Philliskirk.

There were a number of below-par individual efforts among the home line-up. A draw was a fair result and after halting a run of three successive defeats, Athletic can also be thankful for the small mercies of a point – which, no matter how many pretty passes are played across 90 minutes, is infinitely better than nothing. And there is food for thought, selection-wise, for the game at Crawley this weekend