Crewe needed a late penalty to overcome Fleetwood 1-0 at Highbury Stadium.

After Town had dominated the first half, the Alex woke up in the second half and eventually sealed the victory with a Ryan Cooney spot-kick less than five minutes from time.

The game started slowly with Crewe’s Filip Marschall making the first real save after half an hour, denying Mark Helm from a tight angle.

Minutes later, after some excellent Ryan Graydon footwork, Phoenix Patterson had a strike tipped onto the bar as the Cod Army turned up the pressure.

Crewe’s best chance came seven minutes from the break, with a cross from the left seeing Adrien Thibaut volley just wide.

In a similarly slow-starting second half, the visitors grew more into the game and came close on 68 minutes through substitute Omar Bogle.

After three previous unsuccessful shouts, Crewe were given a penalty on 87 minutes and Cooney scored for the second successive game.

Despite the generous addition of five minutes injury time, Fleetwood could find no response and Crewe came away with the points.