Preston were all at sea in the first half and I am still trying to work out what formation we were playing as the team was all over the place. Davies opted to play three centre backs but with Mears undecided as to weather he was playing as left back or left sided midfield. It seemed that Lewis Neal was being asked to play as part of a front three and this irregular formation meant Preston played some of their worst football of the season against a Crewe side who are rooted to the bottom of the Championship.
After some awful defending Crewe managed to take the lead through Jones on 35 minutes. They held onto this lead and Preston rarely threatened.
The second half saw some changes and Preston reverted to a more accustomed 4-4-2 formation. As the home side surged forward Crewe succombed to an Alexander goal which levelled the scores. Preston then scored and undeserving winner but it proved to be the highlight in an otherwise terrible game. The ball came out to Chris Sedgwick on the right of the box who volleyed over the keeper and into the back of the net. This certainly was a contender for goal of the season. The goal arrived with only four minutes to play and Preston held onto win and now await the Fourth Round draw.