Cardiff 2-1 Crewe

Rob Earnshaw wheels away after his match winner

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Two goals in two minutes from Robert Earnshaw were enough to keep Cardiff top of the Division Two table.

The Wales forward struck in the 84th and 86th minutes to edge the Bluebirds to a 2-1 victory over promotion rivals Crewe at Ninian Park.

The Railwaymen had taken the lead early in the second half when Rob Hulse beat a square Cardiff defence to open the scoring.

Cardiff manager Lennie Lawrence kept faith with the side that took the Bluebirds to the Division Two summit in midweek.

But opposite number Dario Gradi's men more than matched them in the opening half.

Cardiff skipper Graham Kavanagh's 14th-minute snapshot rapped the crossbar with Crewe keeper Clayton Ince beaten.

But the visitors replied with a Kenny Lunt drive that was well tipped over by the alert Neil Alexander in the Cardiff goal.

Lawrence was forced into making three substitutions in an effort to salvage something from the game after Hulse's 48th-minute strike.

It looked like a home defeat on the day contracts were signed for Cardiff's new stadium until Earnshaw popped up late in the day to rescue the situation.

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Cardiff: Alexander, Weston, Gabbidon, Prior, Croft, Boland (Maxwell 73), Kavanagh, Whalley, Legg (Campbell 76), Thorne (Fortune-West 69), Earnshaw. Subs Not Used: Barker, Margetson.

Crewe: Ince, Sodje, Walker, Foster, Wright, Brammer, Lunt, Sorvel, Hulse, Ashton, Jack (Jones 86). Subs Not Used: Bankole, Walton, Little, Rix.

Ref: G Salisbury (Lancashire).