Crewe seal first Bramall Lane win

Ryan Colclough made a fairytale return to football by scoring Crewe's late winner in a 2-1 success at Sheffield United.

Play-off hopefuls United appeared to have claimed at least a point when Jason Holt, on loan from Hearts, cancelled-out Lauri Della Valle's first-half opener. But Crewe substitute Colclough scored a memorable winner in the 89th minute as the visitors claimed their first ever win at Bramall Lane. United had made just one change to the starting XI which had beaten Scunthorpe in midweek with Mark Howard replacing Iain Turner between the posts. Howard has been struggling with a back injury of late but was deemed fit enough to start. He was powerless to prevent Dalla Valle opening the scoring after 11 minutes though when the former Finland Under-21 international seized on Uche Ikpeazu's pass and powered home from close range. Bramall Lane had all the atmosphere of a dentist's waiting room and, from United's perspective, the football was similarly dull. Nicky Ajose should have doubled Crewe's lead soon after when Anthony Grant robbed John Brayford of possession but shot straight at Howard. United did have the ball in the net midway through the first-half, but Ryan Flynn's effort was disallowed for a foul on Crewe goalkeeper Paul Rachubka, who later breathed a sigh of relief when Brayford headed over from Jamie Murphy's corner. Holt levelled in the 56th minute following an excellent move. Bob Harris worked the ball forward, Murphy crossed and the midfielder controlled it with one foot before producing an angled finish with the other. Brayford hit the post with a header following a 78th-minute corner taken by substitute Ben Davies before Colclough, now recovered from a long-standing hernia problem, pounced for the winner.