A 40-YARD thunderbolt from Alan Brown helped put Crewe FC firmly back in the promotion chase on Saturday.

Brown's incredible strike which crashed against the upright and flew over the line, was sandwiched between goals from Jon Dawson and Jimmy Costigan in a 3-1 Division Two win at Whitchurch Alport.

The result means Crewe can go second if they win their games in hand on Woodley Sports Reserves and Maine Road Reserves.

Boss Ian O'Reilly felt Brown's wonder goal was simply the highlight of a good all-round performance. He said: `We deserved to win and all four goals were excellent.

`But Alan's was worth coming to see on it's own. He cracked it from miles out with his left foot and the keeper never saw it. He ran so far while celebrating I thought he would run out of the ground! It was tremendous.

`Now it seems we have come through a bad patch of form and we are still right in the mix at the top of the table. It is difficult because all the teams we play in this division are unknown to us, but we just have to concentrate on our own game.'

Dawson opened the scoring on 10 minutes with a superb half-volley after latching on to strike partner Lee Westwood's flick on. Brown struck before the break to double the advantage after Westwood had earlier hit the bar.

Super sub Costigan leapt highest to nod home Dan Massey's free-kick after he had replaced the injured Dawson, before Alport pulled one back after a flowing move.

O'Reilly, who is now preparing his side for a clash with Club AZ at Rease-heath on Saturday (3pm), was especially impressed with the performance of 16-year-old sub Paul Brown. He added: `We are quite excited about him. He has good skills and did not look out of place at all.'

Crewe FC U16s hit Stoke Rangers for six on Saturday. Si Everall latched onto a pass from Sam Barrow to open the scoring, Lee Turner blasted a second and Everall made it 3-0 at the break. The influential Liam Murray made it 4-0 after the restart, and Steve Johnson headed the fifth. Everall later completed his hat-trick and the scoring.