DARIO Gradi poured praise on his side for their valiant performance despite the Alex going down 1-0 to Crystal Palace.

The Eagles soared to victory in a breath-taking tussle of classy football on Tuesday night but Gradi said he was happy with the effort of his players.

"It was a super game. I go to a lot of games but with this one I was enthralled from start to finish," he said.

"They had those two men up front who were always dangerous and they just caught us napping for the goal. They were a bit more alert to the ball than we were."

He added that none of his players had played badly.

"They all played their part. Kenny Lunt and James Collins were causing problems and Seth Johnson was awesome," he said.

Palace wonderkid Matt Jansen finally broke the hearts of the home fans with a strike to end 65 minutes of goalmouth frustration.

Impressive midfielder Simon Rodger crossed the ball into the box for Neil Shipperley to flick on and Jansen blasted home.

A pulsating first half saw both sides come agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock.

Crewe were kept in the game by last ditch heroics from keeper Jason Kearton, who pulled off a point-blank save from his own defender Matthew Wicks when he mis-cued a clearance, and Kenny Lunt who made a desperate goal-line clearance.

The best Crewe chances of the first half fell to James Collins, who somehow managed to fire over the bar from six yards, and couldn't quite get a clear strike on goal after a goalmouth scramble.

In the second half Crewe substitute Colin Little hit a shot inches wide after latching onto Lunt's delicate chip, and Rodney Jack unleashed a blistering strike from 30 yards only to see it deflected for a corner.

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