A brilliant display from Arthur Okonkwo helped secure Crewe their first win in eight games.

Interim boss Lee Bell - who has chalked up back-to-back wins since taking over from Alex Morris - was quick to praise the decisive contribution the big Arsenal loanee made for the second week running.

If it hadn't been for Okonkwo then the Alex would have been staring down the barrel of a demoralising defeat at the hands of the basement club - and Dan Agyei's far-post plunder with 10 minutes left would, at best, have been a point saver.

In his first loan stint away from London after promotion to the Gunners' first team squad, Okonkwo, 21, is on a learning curve and Crewe have had to bear with the occasional mistake he has made coming off his line. But on it, there is no doubt he is a superb shot stopper, helped by his giant six ft 5 frame.

The former England youth international flung himself across to keep out a set-piece effort from Alex Newby and came out on top in a one-v-one with the same player before Agyei sunk the winner following a rampaging run and excellent cross from Tariq Uwakwe.

In truth it wasn't convincing stuff from the Alex, who, again without Courtney Baker-Richardson, offered little inspiration once they got in the final third.

Joel Tabiner gets on the ball against Colchester (Picture credit: Kevin Warburton).

While Crewe improved after the break, they were caught out when Newby was played through on goal. Thankfully, Okonkwo stood tall against the diminutive winger and a big reach tipped the ball around the post.

The sucker punch was delivered within minutes with Agyei, whose curling effort past the post was the only first-half threat from the hosts, pouncing for his fifth goal of the season.

And the Alex finished with a flourish threatening to add more in seven minutes of added time, including when sub Charlie Colkett unleashed a piledriver Sam Hornby got in the way of.

Bell said: "The most important thing is we need some wins and if we can't do it in the way we set out to do it then we need to find another way.

"It was a nervous performance in the first half – we only had one shot on goal and we weren't hurting their weak areas. We made a couple of adjustments at half time, but Arthur (Okonkwo) has kept us in the game with two brilliant saves.

"I think he's got eight clean sheets and if we keep clean sheets we've got players like Dan Agyei who can pop up like that and win games."

Wins like this one, along with last week's FA Cup success, can surely give the season a lift, but more importantly they will put distance between Crewe and the wrong end of the table. Defeat today would have been unthinkable and would have left Colchester only five points behind.

But now the Alex have twice as many points as Matt Bloomfield's side, who will remain in deep trouble if they keep ending up pointless after putting in performances like this one.

Bloomfield said: "Okonkwo made incredible saves - on another day Alex Newby scores two goals. We were the dominant team, but we didn't see the game out and we didn't defend our box at a crucial moment."