Nantwich Town were narrowly beaten by their League Two neighbours Crewe Alexandra in a hard-fought Cheshire Cup semi-final.
The Dabbers went down 2-1 at the Swansway Stadium, despite a stunning strike by Alex Panter.
Goals early in each half by the visitors was enough to see Lee Bell’s men through to the final.
Crewe took the lead as early as the fifth minute when Luca Moore fired home with a low finish in their first attack of the match.
Moore proved a handful for the Nantwich defence in the first 20 minutes, creating more openings denied by good blocks.
Panter had a sniff of a levellers on 24 minutes when he went one-on-one but Crewe keeper Tom Booth denied him.
Nantwich pressed for a leveller before the break but Booth was comfortable.
And any Nantwich hopes of drawing level after half-time were snuffed out within three minutes of the restart.
Moore was left unmarked again and his shot was parried clear by Ben Garratt, but the ball to Dion Rankine who tucked it away to make it 2-0 to the Alex.
The Dabbers were back in the game though a few minutes later, thanks to Panter’s surging run and finish passed Booth to reduce the arrears.
And they almost equalised on 55 minutes when a three on two break saw Jarrett square to Byron Harrison who could only curl his shot straight at Booth.
A James Baillie free-kick from the edge of the box was also saved by Booth as the Dabbers upped the pressure.
Luca Moore had an effort well saved before Byron Moore was denied at the other end by Booth, with Collins then hitting the top of the crossbar with the rebound.
Crewe brought on Noah Bell – son of manager Lee – for his debut for the club in the final 10 minutes.
Nantwich pushed until the end and could have had better luck with a couple of goal-mouth scrambles in added on time.
But the Alex held on and the Dabbers were denied in front of almost 700 supporters.
(Pics courtesy of Jonathan White)
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