Jamie Reid stepped off the bench to strike the winner for promotion-chasing Stevenage, as they ground out a 1-0 victory against Crewe.

Following their second home win in four days, Boro are up to second in League Two and three points ahead of fourth-placed Northampton, while the Railwaymen’s seven-game unbeaten run is at an end.

The monotony of an awful first half was only broken after 35 minutes when Crewe defender Rio Adebisi headed over from Tariq Uwakwe’s free kick.

It took over an hour for Alexandra goalkeeper James Beadle to be called into action, but he stood strong by first beating away Luke Norris’ effort before tipping Josh March’s strike over.

Having upped the pressure, Stevenage finally found the breakthrough on 79 minutes when Reid turned after controlling Kane Smith’s long ball and fired into the bottom corner from outside the area.

Boro twice came close to making the game safe late on as Carl Piergianni’s header hit the bar before Beadle did brilliantly to keep out Michael Bostwick’s follow-up.