Murray makes instant impact for Albion

THE messages from within the camp since Albion made Glenn Murray their most expensive purchase for 25 years have been perfectly understandable.

Keen not to heap too much pressure on his young shoulders, the talk has been, and still is, all about not getting carried away or expecting too much too soon.

Keeping a lid on expectations will be difficult following Murray's two-goal full debut and that is not really in Albion's interests anyway.

A new goalscoring hero is exactly what is needed to bring the crowds back to Withdean.

It could be even better than that, a goalscoring partnership working in tandem to excite fans, judging by Murray's first 90 minutes with Nicky Forster.

Most of the key statistics were encouraging. Murray's brace helped Albion to their biggest home League win since September and they also kept their first clean sheet since winning at Swindon by the same score in December.

One other statistic was disturbing. The attendance dipped below 5,000 for the first time ever for a Saturday League game at Withdean.

In fact, it was the second-worst overall, lower than the turnout on a wet Friday night against Murray's old club Rochdale nine years ago and only 85 more than witnessed the draw with Walsall three months ago, when the Champions' League was live on TV.

Having not just one but two strikers banging goals in might just reverse the downward trend.

Murray, not surprisingly, is reluctant to be mentioned in the same breath as Bobby Zamora and it is worth remembering that Zamora often operated in isolation.

The 24-year-old Cumbrian can only benefit from an experienced campaigner like Forster working alongside him.

The successor to Dean Hammond as skipper has not added to his 12 goals since that Swindon victory but Forster's form has been good and he was excellent again on Saturday.

He will not mind his new partner upstaging him on this occasion. Forster's goals tend to come in bursts and it is only a matter of time before that happens again.

He had the ball in the net late on, when Murray set him up with a lovely lay-off on the volley, but it was disallowed for offside.

That was by no means the only example of the pair linking up well together. The most obvious enabled Murray to score his second goal and Albion's killer third just before half-time.

A Dean Cox cross was flicked by Forster with his head into Murray's path and he buried a right-foot volley.

Cox's return to form was welcome. Perhaps Albion's failed attempt to land Crystal Palace's 22-year-old left winger Dave Martin in the final hours of the January transfer window was the kick up the bum he needed.

Cox was the instigator of all three goals and he delivered plenty of decent crosses into the box. Such service to the forwards had been conspicuous by its absence during the recent poor run.

It took Murray only 23 minutes to make his mark. A Guy Butters header from a Cox corner was blocked on the line and he pounced at the far post to find the roof of the net via the body of keeper Ben Williams.

Butters, back to steady the ship after a four-match absence with a calf injury, scored a rare goal to double the lead four minutes from the break.

Crewe's defending at set pieces was woeful throughout. They failed to cope with another Cox corner and Butters drove in the loose ball.

Murray made sure Albion's first victory over Crewe for 39 years was in the bag by half-time. The foot came off the pedal in the second half but he still almost completed his hat-trick.

He cut inside when Cox's free-kick reached him beyond the far post, feigned to shoot and then did, only to be denied by a block close to the line.

Albion manager Dean Wilkins, delighted with a much-needed first win in six matches, admitted: "It's quite a relief. It has been busy with the activity in and out and injuries as well and it could not have worked out any better.

"Our first-half performance, after the first ten to 15 minutes, was excellent and so were the goals. I thought we would be dangerous from set plays.

"There were a lot of good things that happened and it is good that our signing is off to a flyer as well."

What do you get for Murray's £300,000 fee, Wilkins was asked? "A bit of quality," he said. "It's very early days and we cannot get too carried away and make silly judgements but it looked like a promising partnership (with Forster)."

Opposing defences will not always be as charitable as this and Crewe, with an injury crisis much deeper than Albion's, were there for the taking, particularly with their main threat Nicky Maynard a late absentee.

They could go down and there are much tougher tests to come. Albion are too good to join them, probably not good enough to go up.

They look sharp at the sharp end now, though, and that might at least lure back some of those disappearing supporters.

ALBION (4-4-2): Michel Kuipers (GK), Andrew Whing (RB), Tommy Elphick (CB), Guy Butters (CB), Matt Richards (LB), Jake Robinson (RM), Adam El-Abd (CM), Steven Thomson (CM), Dean Cox (LM), Glenn Murray (CF), Nicky Forster (CF). Subs: Shane McFaul (for Cox 90), Kerry Mayo, Joe Gatting (for Murray 90), David Martot (for Robinson 64), Wes Fogden. YELLOW CARDS: None.

RED CARDS: None.

GOALS: Murray (23,45) and Butters (41).

CREWE (3-5-2): Ben Williams (GK), Danny Woodards (RB), Julian Baudet (CB), Danny O'Donnell (CB), Patrick Boyle (LB), Ryan Lowe (RM), Neil Cox (CM), Steven Schumacher (CM), Byron Moore (LM), Eugen Bopp (CF), Tom Pope (CF). Subs: Stuart Tomlinson (gk), Mark Carrington, Matt Bailey, Junior Brown (Lowe 75), George Abbey (for Baudet 46).

YELLOW CARDS: None.

RED CARDS: None.

GOALS: None.

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