Crewe boss David Artell ‘disgusted’ with last-gasp defeat to Exeter

Posted Wednesday, February 21, 2018 by PA

David Artell could not hide his frustrations as Crewe surrendered an 88th-minute lead to lose 2-1 at home to Exeter in Sky Bet League Two.

Jordan Moore-Taylor and Jayden Stockley struck in the space of three stoppage-time minutes after Shaun Miller thought he had won it for Crewe with a close-range finish.

The match lacked clear-cut chances and appeared to be heading towards a goalless stalemate until Miller turned in Harry Pickering’s cross for the third goal of his loan spell from Carlisle.

But after recording two clean sheets in their last two home outings, Crewe’s defensive woes reared up again, leaving Artell angry and frustrated.

“We snatched defeat from the jaws of victory,” He said. “I am disgusted really, as we had worked hard and probably deserved to win the game, but five minutes of madness has cost us.

“Exeter had one chance in 89 minutes then we give them three in the last three. The worst thing we could have done was score, if we hadn’t scored the game ends 0-0.

“We were the better team for 90 minutes then we don’t defend properly. It was all to do with panicking and it is embarrassing.

“We keep shooting ourselves in the foot. They didn’t open us up, our mindset changed when we scored.”

Exeter boss Paul Tisdale saluted his side’s character after the late goals help move the Grecians back into the play-off places.

Tisdale pointed to his players determination to restart the game after Moore-Taylor latched onto the loose ball when Jordan Tillson’s drive flew off a defender.

“I thought the moment of the game was our response after they scored the equaliser,” said the Exeter manager.

“When every single player was back on the halfway line, Crewe were slow to take the kick and thought the game was over – but the team in yellow shirts were back ready to score.

“We put Robbie Simpson on to give Jayden (Stockley) support up there and it made us cross the ball – we didn’t have any other option. It was great that Jayden found himself free as he had been up there several times.

“It felt like more than three points as we didn’t have much time to respond when Crewe scored. But you do have to feel for Crewe as they were excellent for the first 20 minutes.”

Defeat was harsh on Crewe as they were the better side in the first half, showing their intent as early as the first minute when Paul Green’s close-range shot was pushed out by Christy Pym.

A second consecutive victory would have given the Railwaymen a boost in their relegation battle and Artell’s side had a step in their play when they went forward with efforts from Zoumana Bakayogo and Harry McKirdy flying narrowly wide.

Stockley forced Ben Garratt into a smart save, but it was after the break that Exeter’s leading scorer made an impact, going close to turning Kyle Edwards cross home before he ghosted in at the far post to head Lee Holmes cross home at the death.