News in Crewe

A NEW annual tennis tournament has been established in memory of two tennis club stalwarts.

Players at Wistaston Jubilee Tennis Club took part in the The Wistaston Cup with the round-robin tournament ending in a draw between Team Alan Jones and Team John White.

THE late postponement of Crewe's home clash with Portsmouth today (Saturday) left referee Martin Coy under scrutiny.

The match official called off the League One clash after holding a 1.45pm inspection amid concerns over large areas of surface water on the pitch at the Mornflake Stadium.

CREWE Alexandra continued their woeful league form with another toothless attacking display that boosted Oxford's play-off hopes.

The supporters in the Gresty Road End were unusually quiet tonight, demonstrating the growing lack of belief that the Railwaymen can't pull off a great escape. Such a performance like this will have only confirmed what most of the fans are thinking. Crewe are going down.

DAVE Artell has paid tribute to John Bowler after the passing of the former Crewe Alex chairman.

The Alex announced Mr Bowler's death, aged 85, yesterday afternoon (Wednesday).

RIVAL boss John Coleman lent his support to Dave Artell after the Crewe boss came under fire from his own fans after a hefty defeat at Accrington.

Artell stressed the Alex faithful had the right to voice their displeasure after a miserable afternoon in Lancashire in which his side, already trailing to Ross Syke's first-half set-piece header, conceded three times in 14 minutes after the break as they succumbed to a fifth straight loss.

DAVE Artell questioned his players desire to stay up after an abject second-half show helped Plymouth to a comfortable win.

Those in the ranks doubting Crewe's hopes of pulling off a Great Escape clearly won't be featuring much in the next three months. But it would be a brave, and possibly reckless, player that was prepared to put their head on the chopping block of their passionate manager.

EXCITING loan capture Rekeem Harper could prove to be a "real asset" in Crewe's relegation fight.

That's the view of boss Dave Artell, who is expected to hand the 21-year-old midfielder his Alex debut against Plymouth Argyle at the Mornflake Stadium tomorrow night (Tuesday)

THE weather hit the CREWE REGIONAL SUNDAY LEAGUE with five games off due to waterlogged pitches.

But the Premier Division leaders made the most of rivals Betley being in cup action to extend their lead at the top to four points thanks to a 6-3 win over Talbot.

CREWE Alex hope to complete a busy few days by making "one or two" more signings before the transfer window shuts this evening (Monday).

Assistant manager Kenny Lunt says the club are optimistic that they can add to the quartet of deals brokered last week.

CREWE Alex have rounded off a busy afternoon in the transfer window by completing a deal for Oxford United attacker Dan Agyei.

The 24-year-old became the Railwaymen's third signing today (Friday) when he penned an 18-month contract with the Alex paying the Us an undisclosed fee for his services.