Wimbledon 3 Crewe 1

Last updated : 09 August 2003 By Footymad Previewer

Wimbledon's kids turned on the style to beat Crewe and prove there is life after administration.

The home side stunned Crewe with three amazing goals after captain Dave Brammer had given Dario Gradi's side the lead on eight minutes.

Newly promoted Crewe got off to the best possible start when Ben Rix played the ball to Brammer on the left and the midfielder cut inside before curling a lovely shot past Steve Banks from just outside the area.

But Patrick Agyemang proved there is life after David Connolly and Neil Shipperley with a tremendous equaliser on 15 minutes.

Agyemang had to play second fiddle to the more experienced duo last season as they struck 44 goals between them.

Wimbledon had to sell them in the summer to ease crippling debts and Agyemang showed he is ready to carry on where they left off.

Agyemang turned sharply in the centre circle before charging toward a retreating Crewe backline.

He beat Stephen Foster with some fine trickery before curling the ball low into the bottom right-hand corner.

The goal seemed to give the home side renewed confidence and Michael Gordon was causing havoc on the right wing.

Gordon nearly set up Agyemang's second when he beat David Vaughan before floating a delightful cross into the area only for the ball just to elude the striker.

But Crewe still threatened to expose the naive defending of the home side and Steve Jones almost restored the lead before the break with a tremendous half-volley which went just wide.

But Wimbledon took control of the game after the break and soon wrapped up the victory with two more stunning strikes.

Alex Tapp seemed to pose little threat as he ran away from goal, but then unleashed a 25-yard shot which flew into the top corner.

And on 62 minutes, captain Nigel Reo-Coker struck a lovely left-footed shot from the edge of the area into the top corner.

Crewe tried to get back into the match but Foster's header was well saved by Banks.

Wimbledon boss Stuart Murdoch said: "Nigel Reo-Coker looked amazing and charged up and down the pitch.

"People have said that both Crewe and ourselves are going down, but there are 45 games to play. We still have decent players and have youth on our side."Crewe manager Dario Gradi believes his players failed to cope with the heat as well as their opponents.

He said: "We got off to a good start, but we have never played in heat like this before. They had a few decent athletes who could just run past us."