BY TOBY ROBINSON

Crewe...1 Notts Forest...0

MARK Rivers fired Crewe to their fifth successive home victory against Nottingham Forest at the Alexandra Stadium on Tuesday night.

The 25-year-old forward picked up an incisive pass from Dean Ashton, beat two defenders down the right and saw his finish deflected into the back of the net on 78 minutes.

It was all that Crewe deserved after creating the better chances throughout an evenly-contested match.

Ashton enjoyed two early opportunities as the Alex came out strong at the start, putting one just over the bar on 4 minutes and firing into the keeper's hands soon after.

Forest found some rhythm in the following stages but failed to break a resilient rearguard and Crewe should have taken the lead on 20 minutes after Rivers raced down the left and put in a cross touched on to Sorvel who, with the net begging, placed a weak effort into Beasant's hands.

Edwards missed a sitter for Forest as territorial advantage swung back and forth before Stern John almost broke the deadlock with a powerful drive that struck the upright and rebounded to safety on 40 minutes.

After the interval Bankole was in early action to keep out Andy Johnson's snapshot on 47 minutes as Forest applied the early pressure.

The match turned on an ugly incident just before the hour mark as Vaughan raced in on George and then stamped on the Crewe keeper, giving the referee an easy decision to produce the red card.

The Alex picked up the pace with Forest down to 10 men and both Rivers and Ashton made inroads before combining for the vital breakthrough.

It was Ashton again who almost made it two within a minute of the restart through a stunning solo effort, only thwarted by a magnificent save from an outstretched Beasant.

A neat one-two between Deano and Street presented Little with a great chance to wrap it up five minutes from time but a suspected handball kept out his effort, only for the referee to turn down all appeals.

Nerves were rarely tested into injury time and Crewe continued their fantastic home form with a victory that puts them nine points clear of the drop zone.

Crewe: Bankole, Wright, Smith, Macauley, Walton, Gannon (Street 44), Lunt, Sorvel, Little, Ashton (Tait 90), Rivers.

Subs not used: Ince, Charnock, Foster. Attendance - 7,916.