JUAN Ugarte made his one and only start for Crewe the last time the Railwaymen squared up to Lincoln City in the League Cup on what turned out to be a night to forget.

The Alex, who were sporting the all-blue away strip that provided little fortune on their travels during the 2005/2006 campaign, were on the receiving end of the League Two side's "John Beck" style tactics.

The late Keith Alexander was clutching the long-ball manual then as Crewe found themselves two down before the break at Sincil Bank. Richard Walker's header reduced the arrears and the visitors trailed 2-1 at the break before they were blown away in the second half.

Robust in more ways than one, Lincoln included giant centre-half Jamie McCombe, who was to become a Crewe transfer target the following summer. McCombe's defensive colleague Gareth McAuley, later to become a Northern Ireland international stalwart, was another to fall under Crewe's scouting radar at the time.

McAuley was to turn down a £150,000 move to Gresty Road in January 2006, but he was not involved in the cup tie.

Dario Gradi's pursuit of Lincoln defenders emphasised the need for something ugly at the back as defensive woes caught up with Crewe in a campaign which ended with relegation to League One. Away from home hefty defeats against Cardiff (1-6), Luton (1-4) and Derby (1-5) hit hard as did a 17-game mid-season winless run.

Exit from the competition then known as the Carling Cup was hardly a major blow, but the nature of it was nonetheless painful.

The failure to fill Dean Ashton's boots after his move to Norwich in January 2005 had proved damaging and the Alex survived only on the last day of the 2004/2005 campaign with a comeback drama (2-1) that will live long in the memory of fans against Coventry at Gresty Road.

Ugarte, a goal-scoring machine for Wrexham in League One, all but briefly, was drafted in up front along with long-standing target Luke Rodgers, Manchester United loanee and ex-Alex academy frontman Eddie Johnson as well as Pavol Suhaj.

Sadly, none of the new recruits cut the mustard sufficiently to dig Crewe out of trouble, although Rodgers was to prove his worth at a lower level and Johnson weighed in with five goals.

Ugarte was the most disappointing. His background with Real Sociedad's development team in his native San Sebastian as well as the fact he was reported to be Xabi Alonso's best friend lent a somewhat exotic appeal to a man who had plied his attacking trade at lowly Dorchester Town before his move to Wrexham, prompting many Alex fans to snap up Ugarte-emblazoned shirts.

It was said the Spaniard's friendship with the son of Rick Parry, then Liverpool's chief executive, had paved his path to the UK where he will be better remembered for his exploits at Wrexham, scoring one of the goals in the Welsh side's LDV Vans Trophy Final win over Southend in 2005.

But at Crewe, those replica shirts were soon heading for the back of the wardrobe. A run-out off the bench in the club's previous home outing against Leicester was followed by a start alongside Steve Jones and Luke Varney.

A cup tie in which the ball spent more time in the air than on the turf was not the introduction the slightly-built Ugarte needed. After what many will recall was a rather aimless hour of futile running he was hauled off to be replaced by Johnson.

He never appeared for Crewe again. A return to Wrexham on loan before a permanent move back across the border brought some sporadic League Two football, but the injury problems that plagued his time at Crewe saw the striker call time on his career at the age of just 27.

He now works as a football agent back home in the Basque region.

As far as the action went that night, Lee Beevers, who also sparked Crewe interest, fired the Imps ahead from long range before Maheta Molango's second. Walker's header was just a consolation as the route-one misery continued with further goals from Gary Birch (2) and sub Marvin Robinson leaving an embarrassing edge to the scoreline.

To emphasise the gulf between the sides back then, Crewe were on their travels to St. Mary's days later; their one and only trip to date to Southampton's then new home ended in a 2-0 defeat.

Lincoln, who were to earn a 1-1 draw at Rushden and Diamonds in their next game, finished well up in League Two in seventh spot, but lost out to Grimsby in the play-off semi-finals.

Crewe despite putting together a late run, including wins at QPR and home successes over Coventry and Sheffield Wednesday, had their relegation confirmed on Easter Monday 2006 after a 1-1 draw with Cardiff.

Subs: Green, Coleman.

Crewe: Williams (Tomlinson), Moss, Moses, Walker, Tonkin, Lunt, Billy Jones, Vaughan, Steve Jones, Ugarte (Johnson), Varney.