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Everton leave Crewe blue
By William Johnson, Electronic Telegraph 

EVERTON tottered briefly on the brink of an embarrassing FA Cup exit last night at the hands of a struggling Crewe Alexandra team, who had surrendered a dozen goals to three Nationwide League visitors this month.

One to watch: Dean Ashton puts Crewe into the lead with a cool finish Crewe, who almost pulled off a remarkable victory at Goodison Park, took the lead in a pulsating replay through Dean Ashton at a time when they were the better team.  Everton, whose Premiership status is far from secure, gradually gained the upper hand though, and ultimately were good value for their passage into a quarter-final at Middlesbrough.

Tomasz Radzinski, back to fitness after some wretched luck with injuries, scored his second goal in four days to bring Walter Smith's men level and Kevin Campbell snatched an opportunist winner which was cleverly set up by Radzinski.

Ashton is considered to be the next potentially valuable gem to be unearthed from Dario Gradi's renowned nursery and the teenage striker demonstrated why as he notched his seventh goal of the season midway through a first period which contained far more excitement and incident than the entire first meeting had provided at Goodison 10 days ago.

Mark Pembridge, the Everton midfielder, looked in little danger on the halfway line but Ashton pounced on a glimmer of a loose ball and raced clear of the Everton cover to stroke a low shot past Steve Simonsen.

It was a lead Crewe merited on the strength of their early dominance and if Rob Hulse, Ashton's attacking partner, had shown the same composure inside the penalty area, Crewe may have swiftly opened up a two-goal advantage.

Other Crewe openings came frequently before the interval, Ashton forcing a fumble by Simonsen into the path of Hulse from the best of them.  Fortunately for Everton, their goalkeeper retrieved his error before Hulse could make contact.

Hulse also had a penalty appeal turned down, referee Mark Halsey deciding that he had gone to ground far too easily as two Everton defenders closed in.  The Welwyn official also made a sensible decision when Crewe goalkeeper Clayton Ince - hero of the original tie - punched the ball outside his penalty area.

It was a marginal error of judgement and Ince escaped with a caution to the irritation of worried Everton supporters, who were baying for a dismissal and a much-needed numerical advantage.

Everton, who had managed only four goals in their last 10 outings, threatened little before Radzinski's equaliser a minute before half time.

Until then, their best chance had fallen to Campbell, but his weak header failed to trouble Ince.

No such criticism could be made of Radzinski when his first opportunity arrived courtesy of an excellent cross under pressure from Pembridge.  The Canadian international striker, who marked his first appearance of this calendar year with a goal in the Merseyside derby on Saturday, made no mistake from the six-yard line.

Both defences lived dangerously as the tension mounted after the break, Pembridge clearing off the line from Hulse for Everton and Efe Sodje doing the same following an Alan Stubbs effort.

Radzinski was then only a whisker away from getting a scoring touch to an inviting low cross from Niclas Alexandersson as Everton started to dictate matters.

Everton's gradual stepping up of the tempo brought its reward after 70 minutes when Campbell scored for only the third time in five months.  Radzinski on this occasion was the provider, crossing from the right for Campbell to swivel near the penalty spot and hammer a low drive past Ince.

Radzinski almost grabbed a third Eveton goal, but dragged his shot wide.