Crewe will take on Crawley in the League Two playoff final after sealing their place at Wembley with an astonishing 8-1 aggregate win over MK Dons. Danilo Orsi was the hero of the night for Crawley, netting a hat-trick as the visitors built on their 3-0 first-leg win to leave MK Dons stunned.
Crawley opened up a five-goal aggregate lead after first-half goals from Jay Williams and Orsi. Max Dean replied for the home side just before the break but Orsi bagged his second early in the second half. Dean had a penalty saved before Jack Roles netted and Orsi completed his treble as thoughts turned to Wembley.
Crawley will meet Crewe in the final after they stunned in-form Doncaster when they cancelled out the home side’s two-goal aggregate lead before winning the penalty shootout 4-3.
The goalkeeper Max Stryjek, who joined Crewe only last month on an emergency loan from Wycombe, was the match winner as he saved penalties from Zain Westbrooke and Hakeeb Adelakun to clinch a 4-3 victory in the shootout.
It capped a remarkable fightback against a Doncaster side who had stormed into the playoff places in the later stages of the season with 10 straight wins, and who were firm favourites going into this second leg after winning 2-0 at Gresty Road on Monday.
Crewe, by contrast, finished the season with one win from nine matches, but got off to a fine start at the Eco-Power Stadium on Friday night when Mickey Demetriou headed in at the back post from Joel Tabiner’s corner after six minutes.
Ten minutes later they levelled the tie, the unfortunate Doncaster full-back James Maxwell making it 2-0 on the night when he nudged Chris Long’s low cross into his own net. Rovers rallied and looked the stronger side as the game wore on, Richard Wood heading narrowly wide before the hosts somehow failed to convert from a goalmouth scramble at the end of 90 minutes.
In extra time, Stryjek was alert to keep out Luke Molyneux’s firm shot, the Pole pushing it on to a post, but a shootout looked increasingly inevitable as the game progressed towards the 120-minute mark.
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Doncaster appeared to have the ascendancy in the shootout when Thimothée Lo-Tutala saved Demetriou’s second penalty for the away side but Stryjek saved Westbrooke’s shot from the next kick. Then, after all the others were scored, Hakeeb Adelakun was denied by the Crewe keeper, sparking delirium among the visiting players and fans.
