A CHANGE of formation worked wonders for Crewe as they put two mediocre road trips behind them with victory over one of Dave Artell's fancied sides.

Omar Beckles made the most of a goalkeeping error to score against one of his former clubs and Chris Porter, starting his first game for a month, put the game to bed with a late finish after an outstanding bit of work from Tommy Lowery.

Stanley fullback Harvey Rodgers' sending off soon after the break did ease the passage to victory, but nevertheless Crewe put an impressive attacking front and Porter should have probably added more to his tally.

But he played a big part, being brought in to help Mikael Mandron, who has shouldered a lonely burden in recent games, as the Railwaymen switched to 4-4-2.

"We had to make sure we came up with a plan to counteract Accrington. We'd worked on it for two weeks to see if we needed a different way of playing," revealed boss Artell.

"It's the first time we've done it in a long while, but the lads picked it up and we were the better team in both halves without it being a vintage passing display."

Beckles side-footed home in the 32nd minute after on-loan Chelsea keeper Nathan Baxter let Charlie Kirk's cross slip from his grasp.

When Rodgers took Kirk down in full flight, the fullback's challenge may have been outside the box, but the tackle was a last-man offence and it left Stanley staring down the barrel.

Porter and Mandron should have wrapped it up and when Baxter palmed out a Porter effort the post came to the keeper's rescue as Lowery's effort thudded back in his direction.

The midfielder appears back to his best after a convalescence from Covid-19 and his curved pass picked out Porter for an easy far-post finish with 11 minutes left.

Stanley offered little, although midfielder Adam Phillips wasted a good early opening inside the box when he drilled his shot wide.

Donervon Daniels also made a welcome return to action for the first time since October, replacing youngster Travis Johnson, and his manager was pleased to see the defender not only finish the game, but make an important contribution on the right.

"It's his first 90 minutes for a long, long time. He was whipping in some unbelievable balls and he was sound in his defending," added Artell.

"He did ever so well and it is good to get him through a game. We will look after him and get him going."

When they needed to, Crewe got bodies in the way, as when subs David Morgan and Tariq Uwakwe tried to make the most of a rare slip at the back. But they were rarely under threat and it was a deserved win that moves them up three places to 11th.

Stanley boss John Coleman had no complaints.

"We started brightly and had a couple of chances. Our game plan was working well, but we gifted them a goal and in the end they were good value for their win," said Coleman.

"One or two of the lads know they're better than what they showed. There were a couple of individual errors and it is very difficult when you are down to 10 men against a good team like Crewe."

Crewe: Richards; Daniels, Beckles, Wood, Pickering; Lowery, Wintle, Murphy, Kirk; Porter, Mandron Subs: Jaaskelainen, Johnson, Lancashire, Dale, Evans, Powell, Walker.

Accrington: Baxter; Rodgers, Nottingham, Hughes, Burgess; Butcher, Conneely (Russell), Phillips (Morgan), McConville (Uwakwe), Burgess; Charles, Bishop.

Subs: Savin, Maguire, Scully, Ogle.

• The Alex have revealed that Mikael Mandron has agreed a new contract with the centre forward agreeing a deal running to the summer of 2022.

Crewe's leading scorer penned a one-year contract when he arrived at Gresty Road last summer after departing Gillingham.

Talks had been ongoing with both Mandron and Omar Beckles in recent weeks in a bid to extend their stays. Boss Artell will now turn his attention to tying down Beckles, who is currently under the one-year deal he signed when he joined Crewe last September, which included an option for a further season.