Davis' Railwaymen keep chugging along

Davis has guided Crewe to a Wembley final for a second time

Crewe manager Steve Davis spoke admirably of the team ethic at the football club after guiding the Railwaymen to the final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.


Despite conceding two injury-time goals - an own goal from Mark Ellis followed by a Leon Clarke header - in the second leg of the Northern Area final against Coventry, a 3-0 win at the Ricoh Arena two weeks earlier proved enough to earn Crewe a place in a cup final for the first time in their history.

“It’s just the result of a lot of hard work,” said Davis.

“Everybody’s working as hard as they possibly can; the players and the staff. We’ve got some great staff and some great people in the background.

“Everybody’s pulling together and that’s the most important thing. You need everybody to be pulling the same way as you and if they do that, it’s hard to stop.

“It feels like an express train at the moment that’s out of control and that’s a nice feeling.”

Davis’ men will meet Southend, 3-2 aggregate winners against Leyton Orient, in the final at Wembley on 7 April.

The sides’ most recent meeting came in last season’s League Two play-off semi-final with Crewe prevailing 3-2 over the two-legged tie before going onto to beat Cheltenham at Wembley to secure promotion to League One.

“We had a fantastic day down there in May so it’s something for the players to look forward to,” said Davis.

"It's only going to benefit us from a development point of view. The younger boys will learn a lot from tonight and they'll also learn a lot from a return to Wembley.

“It’s going to be a great occasion, a great day for the town to get down there and support the club and an opportunity to win a cup competition.”