A real Jekyll and Hyde showing ensured Crewe's unbeaten home record slipped away with a whimper this afternoon.

Stevenage, vastly improved under the stewardship of Steve Evans and enjoying a strong start to the season, were always going to be a tough nut to crack. But boss Alex Morris had reason to be dismayed by the manner in which a positive first-half showing from his players was eclipsed by a desperately poor second half.

Had Conor Thomas not had his 19th-minute spot kick saved by Taye Ashby-Hammond then, along with Rod McDonald's first goal for the Alex, there may have been the cushion to ride the later onslaught.

But Stevenage drew inspiration from levelling soon after the break through Jamie Reid's opportunist finish and they dominated the rest of the match, although Evans' claim that was sufficient for a 4 or 5-1 victory was typically extravagant stuff from the controversial manager.

However, all it needed was another goal from Reid, this one offered on a plate to the frontman after a dreadful piece of goalkeeping by young Arthur Okonkwo.

Then there was little to no response from a frontline that had sparked into life in the first half on numerous occasions. Even the welcome return after injury and illness of Chris Long from the bench couldn't inspire the Alex into action as Stevenage game managed their way to victory and second spot in the table.

Conor Thomas' first-half penalty was saved (Picture credit: Kevin Warburton)

"We were really poor in the second half, really poor and it is something we have got to fix," admitted Morris. "We do not tell our players to sit back and defend a lead like that, it's not the way we are wired and the way are brought up. But it seems to be happening, so we have to find trends and patterns to see why it keeps happening.

"We have dropped five points from winning positions in the last two home games and points are really precious in this league. The best way to keep them is being on the front foot and extending our lead.

"Both goals were a mixture of ill discipline and individual mistakes. What was disappointing more than anything less was that we had 25 minutes of football to try and work ourselves back into the game, but we never built up any pressure. I know Stevenage are the worst team to do that against as they kill time and take the sting out of the game, but that is up to us to solve and we didn't build any pressure in or around the box."

Yet in the first half Crewe were excellent with Bas Sambou and Dan Agyei finding space down the sides to cause problems. When Agyei was tripped as he was about to shoot from in front of goal, the resulting penalty seemed to point the Alex on their way.

But Ashby-Hammond's excellent save thwarted Thomas from 12 yards. Then emotions got the better of Evans when he was served a yellow card by referee Tom Nield after the official refused to make a similar award when Saxon Earley went down at the other end.

Stevenage boss Steve Evans was in ebullient form as ever when picking up a first-half booking (Picture credit: Kevin Warburton).

The Boro boss must have been incandescent then in the 27th-minute when McDonald was given space to plant a free header onto Tariq Uwakwe's flag kick past Ashby-Hammond.

But Stevenage emerged from their shell and were level in the 48th-minute when Reid, following up Alex Gilbey's drive which Okonkwo could only push out, scooped the rebound into the top corner.

Reid had an easier finish for the 67th-minute winner as Okonkwo was outmuscled by Carl Piergianni trying to punch clear Earley's cross. The Arsenal loanee was way off his line and the ball dropped for Reid to tap in; it was an error that seemed to dismay the whole home team.

For there was little or no response offered over to keep Stevenage perspiring over what was nearly half an hour with added time. A succession of free kicks conceded by the desperate Reds played into the hands of a team well drilled in making the closing minutes of games as boring as a box set of Mrs Brown's Boys.

Rod McDonald celebrates the first-half opener, but the Railwaymen fell away after the break (Picture credit: Kevin Warburton).

"Salford beat us last week and we didn't really turn up, today we turned up for the second half. We'd lost our way, but we have got strong men who are leaders all over the pitch," pronounced Evans.

"In the end it could have been four or five and we had a great energy, passion and will to win the game. Once we made the changes in the second half Crewe didn't really react until we were in front."