CREWE wasted good first-half chances to stamp their authority on their Caraboa Cup first round tie with Lincoln City.

Returning to competitive action after a break of 182 days in an eerily deserted Gresty Road, the Alex were by far the more adventurous of these two League One sides and should have been ahead at the interval had Oli Finney and Mikael Mandron shown more composure in front of goal.

The behind-closed-doors cup clash saw Alex boss Dave Artell spring a surprise when naming the inexperienced Billy Sass-Davies and Olly Lancashire in the centre of defence.

Up front Mandron made his Alex debut, flanked by Charlie Kirk and Owen Dale, while Daniel Powell and Chris Porter did not make the bench. Luke Murphy, whose Crewe return was confirmed on Friday, slotted into midfield.

Both sets of players took the knee for the Black Lives Matter campaign before kick-off.

After a cagey opening spell Crewe should have been ahead in the eighth minute when Owen Dale's charging run down the right left Lincoln exposed. But Finney scuffed Dale's cut-back past the post from eight yards out.

Kirk hesitated when he got in behind the visiting defence on the left allowing Timothy Eyoma to divert the ball out for a corner.

Crewe looked the more enterprising with Dale, in particular getting into advanced positions. Dale took a chance with a speculative effort from a tricky angle with the ball flying only a yard over the bar.

The only real drama at the back for Artell's side was dealt with effectively by Harry Pickering who swept a dangerous cross clear of the six-yard box.

Mandron was offered the chance to get his Crewe career up and running midway through the first half, but the debutant headed Dale's juicy cross wide with the goal gaping.

Then Finney's shooting boots let him down before the break after Pickering's hard work down the left offered the midfielder a sight of goal, but he pulled an under-hit effort past the far post.

H.T: Crewe 0, Lincoln City 0

Crewe: Richards; Ng, Sass-Davies, Lancashire, Pickering; Wintle, Murphy, Finney; Dale, Mandron, Kirk.

Subs: Ross, Jackson, Howarth, Morton, Elbouzedi, Anderson.