New boy Murray at the double for Albion

Glenn Murray celebrated his full debut for the Seagulls with two first-half goals.

The second, on the stroke of half time, was especially well taken but it was not just Murray's goals which offer so much promise for the future.

The 24-year-old's all-round contribution in the opening 45 minutes oozed class and there are already signs of an exciting combination with Nicky Forster.

Albion's first victory over Crewe for 39 years, and first in six outings, was in the bag by the break, a collector's item for the fit-again Guy Butters dividing Murray's double.

The biggest selection problem for Albion manager Dean Wilkins was who to play in midfield alongside recent recruit Steven Thomson.

The departure of skipper Dean Hammond to Colchester, injuries to Paul Reid and Tommy Fraser, and the failure to strengthen on the final day of the January transfer window left Albion light in the centre of the park.

Adam El-Abd was pushed forward to partner Thomson, Guy Butters returning to the centre of defence following a four-match absence with a calf injury.

It was by no means an entirely new experience for the versatile El-Abd. He was sometimes used in midfield last season.

The other changes to the team beaten at Northampton were upfront. Glenn Murray made his full debut in place of Nathan Elder, following his £35,000 move to Brentford and Jake Robinson was preferred to David Martot on the right wing.

New signing Jonny Dixon, from Aldershot, was denied a place on the bench after turning an ankle in training on Friday.

Wilkins' worries were minor compared to the crisis faced by Crewe coach Steve Holland.

He had five players missing through injury from Tuesday's 1-1 draw against Bristol Rovers, most notably their main attacking threat Nicky Maynard.

It forced Holland into a cautious approach, Eugen Bopp playing in behind lone front man Tom Pope.

Two players stood out in the first half, Murray for Albion and Bopp for Crewe.

The £300,000 fee for Murray is already looking like money well spent.

He looked sharp from the start and went close to scoring in the 20th minute when Dean Cox's pass released him. He easily rounded his marker and his angled left-foot drive flashed inches wide of the far post.

Murray only had to wait three more minutes for his first Albion goal. He demonstrated a poacher's instinct to fire into the roof of the net from close range via a deflection after Butters' header from a Cox corner had been blocked on the line by Patrick Boyle.

It improved Murray's rich vein of form to seven goals in nine games, having scored in six of his last seven appearances for Rochdale.

Albion could have been two goals to the good by that stage. Tommy Elphick ended a 16-month League drought for defenders in the previous match at Withdean against Huddersfield and, as so often happens after such a long famine, one of his back four colleagues nearly got his name on the score sheet early on.

Andrew Whing had an overhead kick at the far post deflected into the side netting when the Crewe defence struggled to deal with a Cox corner.

Such a commanding cushion would have flattered the Seagulls. Bopp, in his withdrawn role, posed them plenty of problems.

The transfer-listed former Nottingham Forest midfielder forced Michel Kuipers into a diving deflection only four minutes into the contest after drifting into space to try his luck from 20 yards.

Bopp was instrumental in all Crewe's best work. He won a free-kick off Whing, from which Ryan Lowe's shot around the defensive wall was kept out by a combination of Elphick and Kuipers.

On another occasion Bopp, elusive in possession, went past Forster, Thomson and Whing before skewing wide. He went close to equalising in the 32nd minute with another effort from 20 yards which took a deflection off Elphick as the young centre-half challenged and the ball dipped on to the bar.

It was the turning point of the match as Albion breezed into a 3-0 lead with two goals in the final four minutes of the first half.

Crewe's inability to cope with Cox's set pieces cost them dear again in the 41st minute. His corner was not cleared and Butters drove in the loose ball from 12 yards, a rare goal for the veteran stopper.

Better was to come just before the interval, Murray producing a classy finish to further extend Albion's advantage.

Cox was the instigator once more with a cross which Forster headed on for his new partner to score with an emphatic right-foot volley from the edge of the six yard box.

At 3-0 it was pretty much game over. Perhaps the players felt that too, because they switched off right at the start of the second half, almost allowing Crewe to reduce their arrears.

The ubiquitous Bopp played through Byron Moore and his shot was saved by Kuipers with his legs.

The Dutch keeper did not distinguish himself in the same way in the 57th minute. A free-kick from close to the halfway line by Boyle was pushed out by Kuipers on the half-volley straight to the feet of Moore but he blazed over.

The two chances for Moore dragged Albion out of their temporary lethargy after half time.

They re-asserted and both Cox and Forster did not make the most of openings.

Crewe's defending was woeful, particularly from dead ball situations. Murray had been relatively quiet in the second half but he almost completed his hat-trick from a Cox free-kick in the 67th minute.

It reached him in space beyond the far post and, when he cut back inside, he feigned to shoot at first before his low drive was blocked close to the line by a cluster of Crewe players.

While Murray prospered, things did not quite go Forster's way, although there were clear signs of a profitable partnership developing between the pair.

Forster thought he should have been awarded a penalty when he squeezed between two defenders inside the box but referee Dean Whitestone was unmoved.

Albion's experienced summer buy from Hull, retaining the captaincy despite the return of Butters, had the ball in the net with 13 minutes left.

A lovely lay-off on the volley by Murray from another Cox cross was fired home by the swivelling Forster but it was ruled out for offside.

Forster will have other days. This one was Murray's - it was just a shame more people were not there to see it.

The crowd figure dipped below 5,000 for the first time ever for a Saturday League game at Withdean.

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