THE red cards were brandished when Peterborough visited Gresty Road six years ago.

Michael Bostwick and Jack Baldwin were given their marching orders as Crewe held on for victory over a Posh side managed, as now, by Darren Ferguson.

It was a morale-boosting win too as Crewe were languishing bottom of League One before the game. But Bostwick's dismissal for holding back Adam Dugdale as the defender looked to polish off a set-piece header offered Marcus Haber the chance to punish the highly-placed visitors.

It left Ferguson's side playing over an hour with 10 man before Baldwin added to their misery in stoppage time when he was ordered off after picking up a second booking.

Steve Davis had good cause to praise Crewe's players that midweek night; their third consecutive win moved them off the bottom of the table - but they also showed admirable steel, something that had been lacking during a bad start to the 2014/15 campaign.

The goals flowed the wrong way when Rochdale raced to a 5-2 win at Gresty Road and a 6-1 thumping at MK Dons was painful enough for Davis to complete a deal for veteran defender Alan Tate.

The on-loan Swansea man helped shore up the backline in his last season of professional football, while later in the campaign another astute loan deal for striker Nicky Ajose helped Crewe steer to safety by the closest of margins.

The loan market doesn't always pay dividends, though. While Ajose was to hit a rich vein of scoring, Fabian Brandy, something of a maverick talent with a Manchester United youth pedigree long behind him, failed to make an impact during a short stay.

Brandy started this game, but it was Haber who made an impact, although the Canadian, along with Brad Inman, wasted chances to ease Crewe's passage.

Posh were camped in the home half for long spells of the second-half despite Crewe's numerical advantage, but Inman broke clear only to waste a one-v-one in the closing minutes, dragging his shot wide.

Davis said afterwards: "To get three wins is a great credit to the lads who have worked really hard to turn it around. They look a lot fitter and are putting in performances with a high level of energy.

"I rested George Cooper and played Marcus up there and he gave us a little bit more height and strength. I thought Peterborough were very good and they made it hard for us even when they were down to ten men."

Ferguson, as you would expect, was livid with officialdom.

"It was a terrible decision as their man (Dugdale) is nowhere near the ball - he was never going to get it. That changed the game, but I am proud of my players as they had a real go in the second-half," said the Peterborough boss.

"We were cutting them to shreds at times and they couldn't cope with Marcus Maddison."

Crewe 1, Peterborough 0. League One, October 21, 2014.

Crewe: Garratt; Tate, Ray, Dugdale; Tootle, Anthony Grant, Turton, Leigh; Inman (Ness), Haber (Cooper), Brandy. Subs: Shearer, Guthrie, Walker, Haynes, Atkinson

Peterborough: Alnwick; Baldwin, Santos (Mendez-Laing), Bostwick, Smith; Newell, Anderson (Ferdinand), Payne; Maddison, Washington, Taylor (Zakuani) Subs: Otzumer, Aiden Grant, McEvoy, James.