Match report: Cheltenham 0 Crewe 4
CALVIN Zola marked his return from injury with a brace as Crewe went on the rampage.
The big striker took his tally for the season up to 12 as he scored in either half as Dario Gradi's side swept to their fourth away success to keep clear of League Two's lower regions.
Steve Schumacher and youngster Danny Shelley were also on target at Whaddon Road as the Alex carried a potent threat.
They were fortunate when Cheltenham were denied by the woodwork on no fewer than three occasions, but it was largely one-way traffic in a satisfying and convincing away performance.
Gradi was able to call again on leading scorer Zola and recalled Shaun Miller to the attack, while Clayton Donaldson and Luke Murphy were relegated to the bench.
After Dave Button's midweek return to Tottenham, the Crewe boss opted to solve his goal-keeping conundrum by offering Adam Legzdins a rare opportunity to prove his worth while he included short-term signing Bertrand Bossu among the seven substitutes.
Crewe started brightly, winning no fewer than four successive corners on the right, the second of which offered a shooting opportunity for Joel Grant.
The winger let fly with a volley as the ball fell into his path but found Theo Lewis putting in a timely block.
And home keeper Scott Brown was standing in the path to deny Miller in the eighth minute after a sweeping Crewe move.
Shelley did well to move away from pressure and play the ball infield to James Bailey, whose crossfield pass picked out Miller's run on the left of the box.
The striker controlled and volleyed in one move, but Brown was well positioned to beat the ball away.
Another Crewe set piece was almost as effective with John Brayford sneaking in behind on Bailey's long free kick only to clear the bar with a close-range header.
But at the other end loanee Frankie Artus was reminding the Railwaymen they were in a game when he unleashed a piledriver from 25 yards which banged onto Legzdins's crossbar.
Miller did well to sneak the ball off Michael Townsend and win Crewe's sixth corner just after the quarter-of-an-hour mark.
Cheltenham's giant striker Julian Alsop was making an early impression and when he headed into the path of Michael Pook the goal opened up invitingly.
But the former Swindon midfielder, who was on trial with Crewe during the summer, miscued his shot from the edge of the box and the ball slipped well wide of the far post.
Shelley turned and unleashed from wide right but Brown was equal to the task and pushed the youngster's effort over.
Crewe were pushing and moving with intelligence and skill and were edging closer to taking the lead when Miller blasted wide.
But they had another let-off when David Bird despatched a low drive onto the foot of the post via Legzdins's fingertips.
Yet the Railwaymen soon got their reward, with Zola finishing from a half-cleared free kick in the 29th minute.
When Bailey's low delivery was booted out, Miller was on hand to drive the ball across the six-yard box, where Zola was free to head home.
As Cheltenham responded, Elvis Hammond nearly had the visitors shaking all over with a curler from the left side of the box which flew just past the far post.
And Crewe breezed into a two-goal lead on 37 minutes when they outfought their hosts at a free kick.
Bailey delivered the ball high to the far post and, with no-one able to apply a decisive header, Schumacher picked up the loose ball and rammed a right-footed drive into the bottom corner.
Legzdins was agile enough to get a hand on Artus's rising drive to keep it out of the top corner as an entertaining half drew to a close.
And there was still time for Zola to nip in at the back post to force Brown into a smart stop as Crewe turned ends in the ascendancy.
Cheltenham had veteran frontman Barry Hayles on five minutes after the re-start.
But Crewe were still looking dangerous and Miller and Grant got into good shooting positions at the start of the second half but failed to deliver.
Hammond drove wide after Drissa Diallo drove the ball over the Alex box after Cheltenham boss John Schofield made another change, bringing on David Hutton for midfielder Artus.
Grant was slipped clear with designs on adding a third in the 65th minute, but the winger's shot-cum-cross drifted out of Zola's reach and slipped by the far post.
Cheltenham were denied by the woodwork again in the 68th minute when Alsop's header crashed off the bar with Legzdins beaten.
And within seconds Crewe were making a decisive third strike when Miller slipped in Shelley.
The youngster turned inside his man and crashed a left footer high past Brown.
Hayles looked to have grappled his way through on goal and appealed in vain for a generous penalty when he fell under Ashley Westwood's challenge.
Crewe were capitalising further on slack defending when Shelley streaked clear on the right in the 72nd minute.
While Miller missed connecting with the midfielder's driven cross, Zola was on hand at the far post to fight off a couple of red shirts and nudge home his second.
Bird got in the way as Zola turned and took aim for his hat-trick and Grant narrowly missed burying an effort into the far corner as Crewe finished strongly.
Then Brayford had his legs taken away by Bird as he raced into the box in the closing stages.
Substitute Byron Moore was slipped clear in stoppage time, but Brown managed to divert his effort over.
TEAMS
Cheltenham: Brown, Eyjolfsson (Haynes, 66), Diallo, Townsend, Low, Pook (Hayles, 51) Lewis, Bird, Artus (Hutton, 60), Hammond, Alsop.
Subs: Gallinagh, Richards, Watkins, Puddy.
Crewe: Legzdins, Brayford, Westwood, Mitchel-King, Ada, Shelley, Bailey, Schumacher (Walton, 74), Grant, Miller (Moore, 86), Zola (Donaldson, 80).
Subs: Jones, O'Donnell, Murphy, Bossu.
Scorers: Zola 29, 72, Schumacher 37, Shelley 69
Referee: Mr G Scott
Attendance: 3,124
Comment on this story