AT THE outset of the millennium, the thought of facing Crewe Alexandra in anything but a cup competition appeared nothing more than the most far-fetched nightmare for Leeds United supporters.

Yet they watched such a chilling dystopia unfold before disbelieving eyes here as the reality of how far they have fallen in the past 18 months became painfully apparent.

A deserved victory for Dario Gradi’s side on their first league visit to Elland Road leaves them six points above their vanquished opponents, having strengthened their outside hopes of the playoffs with an eighth game undefeated thanks to goals in either half in a game played out amid storms of Biblical proportions.

Dean Ashton, the forward coveted by several Premiership clubs, added to his reputation with a 20th goal of the season, and although the visiting team were indebted to a fine performance from goalkeeper Clayton Ince, they sealed the win with a classic sucker punch eight minutes after the restart, courtesy of Mark Rivers.

“I wouldn’t mind having Dean Ashton in my side,” admitted Kevin Blackwell, the Leeds manager, after his side’s four-match unbeaten run was brought to an unceremonious end. He was rather less charitable about his own strikers, including Nathan Blake, who enjoyed an ignominious start to his month’s loan from Leicester City. “My strikers just didn’t have the balls to go in where it hurts to get on the end of things, even if that meant getting a smack in the mouth,” he said. “Some of our service was a striker’s dream but there was a lack of tenacity. Crewe had one shot in the first half and scored.”

There was a degree of controversy in the build up to Ashton’s 17th-minute opener, as the Crewe forward claimed a disputed corner after a tussle with Matthew Kilgallon.

Still, Leeds’s sense of injustice was no excuse for the pitiful defending that ensued, as they allowed the most dangerous marksman at this level to advance untracked to the corner of the six-yard box, where he met Kenny Lunt’s low set piece with a first-time volley.

Rivers capitalised on more defensive hesitancy to claim his seventh goal of the season with his left foot from 12 yards after Leeds’s suspect rearguard failed to clear a Lunt free kick.

The sending-off of Paul Butler eight minutes from time for a justified second yellow card after the defender hauled down Luke Varney merely rubbed salt into Leeds’ wounds.

Gradi, whose starting line-up featured nine players brought through the club’s youth system, played down Crewe’s chances of mounting an unlikely assault on the top six. “There are a lot of big clubs ahead of us. But then again there are a lot of big clubs below us,” he said. “There’s no pressure on my side to go up, the pressure is just to play better each week, and we’re doing that.”

STAR MAN: Clayton Ince (Crewe)

Player ratings: Leeds United: Sullivan 6, Kelly 6, Butler 7, Kilgallon 7, Richardson 7, Wright 5 (Walton, 71min 6), Gregan 7, Pugh 7 (Einarsson, 61min 6), Lennon 8, Healy 6, Blake 5

Crewe Alexandra: Ince 9, McCready 7 (Bignot, 61min 6), Foster 7, Walker 6, Moses 6, Lunt 7, Rivers 8 (Cochrane 87min, 6), Bell 7, Sorvel 8, Vaughan 8, Ashton 8 (Varney, 75min 6)

Scorers: Crewe Alexandra: Ashton 16, Rivers 54

Referee: A Marriner

Attendance: 32,302

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