Gillingham suffered a second straight defeat in League 2 after struggling in front of goal again.
Shilow Tracey scored a goal in each half against his former manager Mark Bonner to give Crewe the points. The Gills had lacked punch in their midweek defeat to Grimsby and this was a repeat performance.
Striker Elliott Nevitt helped fire Crewe to the League 2 play-off final the previous season but lined up for the Gills on Saturday after his summer switch and was booed by the fans in the home end.
An early injury meant he’d been playing catch-up so far. He was warmly greeted pre-match by many of his old team-mates, even if the fans weren’t so happy to see him, chanting: “You should have stayed at The Alex” as the Gills fell to defeat.
Almost exactly a year had passed since Gillingham’s last visit to Crewe, which proved to be the last in charge for Neil Harris after a 2-0 defeat. Since then Stephen Clemence had come and gone and the Gills started the weekend top of League 2 under Mark Bonner.
Robbie McKenzie was back playing in midfield following the return to the side of Remeao Hutton. George Lapslie was also back in the XI as Ethan Coleman and Jonny Williams were named on the bench.
Jack Nolan went close for the Gills early on with a corner kick that he bent in, evading everyone and almost creeping in at the far post.
Nevitt nodded another chance wide as the Gills saw plenty of the ball during the initial stages of the game.
Gillingham’s positive start came to an end after conceding possession, a pass from Remeao Hutton failing to reach its target and led to two of Bonner’s former Cambridge United players combining to score the opener.
Tracey picked up the loose pass in the middle of the park, laid it off to Jack Lankester and he evaded Shad Ogie’s challenge before returning the ball for his team-mate to slot home with 17 minutes played.
Gills keeper Glenn Morris had to be alert to stop Tracey causing more damage as he came close to running onto Kian Breckin’s ball in behind the defence.
A good defensive block from home leader Mickey Demetriou denied Nolan as the Gills searched for a way back into the game, continuing to have plenty of possession but struggling to find a way through.
Four of Gillingham’s efforts at goal in the half were blocked by a solid back-line. Of their seven attempts in the first 45, home keeper Filip Marschall wasn’t tested.
Gillingham’s previous two defeats had come from conceding first-half goals and being unable to recover. This was looking like another tough ask.
The Gills made a like-for-like switch at the break with Coleman replacing McKenzie and Bonner’s men continued to lack the quality to make any forward play count.
Crewe added a second with an hour gone, Tracey the goalscorer again. His low shot across goal beat defender Max Clark’s attempted block and the reach of goalkeeper Morris, going in off the far post.
It prompted a triple change and a switch to a more attacking formation, with Oli Hawkins, Jacob Wakeling and Tim Dieng introduced.
Morris turned Joel Tabiner’s free-kick wide and also kept out Adrien Thibaut’s clever back-heeled flick from Tracey’s ball into the box.
Joe Gbode replaced Hutton with just over 10 minutes left as Bonner went all-or-nothing.
Jayden Clarke smashed a shot over the bar for the Gills, Coleman went wide and Nevitt had a shot blocked by the keeper late on, only the second on-target effort of the game for the visitors.
The Gills ended the match with much more shots, much more possession but pointless for the second time in five days.
League 2 table
Gillingham: Morris, Hutton (Gbode 78mins), Clark, Ehmer, Ogie, Little (Dieng 68mins), McKenzie (Coleman 46mins), Nolan (Wakeling 68mins), Clarke, Lapslie (Hawkins 68mins), Nevitt. Subs not used: Ashby-Hammond, J Williams, Gbode.
Crewe: Marschall, Cooney, Knight-Lebel, Williams, Demetriou, Tracey (Billngton 89mins), Tabiner (Agius 86mins), Lankester (Thibaut 46mins), Connolly, Conway (Holicek 61mins), Breckin (Lunt 86mins). Subs not used: Booth, Sanders.
Referee: Anthony Backhouse
Attendance: 5,000 (560)
