Crewe suffered a second-half nightmare as they fell to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Northampton.
Akinfenwa on target again for Northampton
Crewe suffered a second-half nightmare as they fell to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Northampton.
Tom Pope had cancelled out Danny Jackman's first-half opener, but Adebayo Akinfenwa netted from the spot before Adbul Osman wrapped up the points for the visitors.
The visitors were restricted to long-range strikes in a drab first half, but Crewe paid the price for a rash tackle by Michael O'Connor, as Jackman expertly curled the free-kick over the wall leaving goalkeeper Steve Collis helpless.
The Alex were level 10 minutes after the break when Pope collected Billy Jones' cross and with his second touch flicked the ball past goalkeeper Frank Fielding.
Mark Little then cleared another Pope effort off the line before he won the Cobblers a penalty after being brought down by Jones.
Akinfenwa drilled in the 63rd-minute spot-kick with ease and things got worse for Crewe when Osman rose unchallenged to head home Jackman's 70th-minute corner.
