Dave Artell always had faith in Shaun Miller

Posted Sunday, October 28, 2018 by PA

Crewe boss Dave Artell knew it was a matter of time before striker Shaun Miller was among the goals again.

After Corey Whelan fired Alexandra ahead, Miller netted his first goal since returning to the club in the summer to seal a 2-0 win over Grimsby.

Miller was a prolific scorer in his first spell with Crewe after coming through the ranks and he finished off a successful loan last term with a double against Cheltenham on the final day.

The 31-year-old has been troubled by injuries since his summer move from Carlisle, but Artell was not surprised by his predatory finish.

“I knew it was only a matter of time before Shaun started scoring,” said Artell.

“He’s come through the injury and we know what he can do. He looked like scoring at Stevenage and Yeovil last week so I knew one was going to go in sooner or later.

“They were both quality goals, both his and Corey Whelan’s. I thought we would get chances if we put the ball from one side of the pitch to the other.”

Before Crewe’s two late goals it had been a day for goalkeepers as both Grimsby’s James McKeown and Crewe counterpart Ben Garratt pulled off a string of fine stops.

McKeown’s speed off his line thwarted Jordan Bowery and Garratt was impressive too, with his quick reactions denying Mariners frontman JJ Hooper from close range.

But Crewe made the breakthrough when Whelan latched onto Charlie Kirk’s ball and drove into the far corner, before Miller struck.

The win was the second in three games for Crewe, who have lost only once at home in League Two this season.

Artell added: “Our home form is good and we have picked up four points away from the last two games, but that has to continue.

“The good thing is that the fans expect us to win at home now which shows how well we’ve been doing.”

The defeat was Grimsby’s first in five matches and boss Michael Jolley said: “For most of the game we were the team in the ascendancy. We created a number of chances and their keeper won the man of the match.

“Wes Thomas went through in the first half and got tugged back, so the chance he got was of one lower quality than it could have been.

“It was frustrating as we didn’t take the chances we created and we conceded two goals in the last part of the game.”