Darrell Clarke disappointed at Walsall second half showing in defeat

An excellent first half for the home side saw Caolan Lavery put them ahead, before a poor second-half showing allowed Crewe to strike back with goals from Daniel Powell and Oli Finney.

And Clarke has rued his side's failure to perform for 90 minutes - while he also criticised referee Lee Swabey for what he believes was a foul in the lead up to Crewe's first goal.

“Yeah certainly (it was a game of two halves)," he said.

“I thought first 45 there was a real good shape and discipline about us, I thought we were the lot better team.

“We caused a lot of problems and it’s disappointing then not to get the second (goal) which gives you a bit of daylight.

“But second half it was nowhere near good enough.

“I don’t want to criticise but it’s a blatant foul on my player for the (first) goal.

“Josh (Gordon) gets pushed right in the back and he ends up right on the floor and the lad flicks it in and then it’s tapped in at the back stick.

“There’s a couple of things there, first of all it’s a free-kick and then Josh squeezes the line and it’s offside if he doesn’t get fouled - so we’re disappointed in that goal.

“But that’s probably papering over a few cracks of our second half performance which wasn’t anywhere near as good as the first.

“You have to give credit to Crewe as well, I think they’re a very decent team.

“Decent teams like that with their front power, and we didn’t defend particularly well, can hurt you."