Barnsley strikers Mike Sheron and Neil Shipperley combined to abort Crewe's Worthington Cup second leg mission impossible.

Shipperley struck early to effectively end his tie after just 12 minutes when Crewe defender Dave Walton slipped to leave the Tykes hit man with just keeper Jason Kearton to beat.

Sheron compounded the Alex's woes minutes after the break, latching on to a superb Robbie van der Laan through ball before stroking the ball past substitute keeper Ademole Bankole.

Shipperley then rubbed salt into Crewe's wounds by slotting the ball past Bankole after Bruce Dyer had got the better of Efe Sodje.

Facing a 4-0 deficit from the first leg Crewe set about their massive task brightly.

David Wright could have got Crewe off to an ideal start within the first minute but fired his delayed shot over the bar.

Minutes later Rob Hulse was guilty of woeful finishing when he latched onto a probing Kenny Lunt ball and beat Barnsley defenders Chris Morgan and Chris Barker, but drilled his shot wide of the goal.

Clearly deflated by Shipperley's early strike Crewe soon faded and Barnsley looked to extend their account with Brian O'Callaghan and Dyer both going close.

After 30 minutes Kearton spilled a fierce Sheron shot but quickly recovered to tip the ball from the feet of the advancing Shipperley.

Crewe were restricted to a handful of first half chances. The best being a speculative long range Lunt effort on the stroke of half-time.

After the break Dyer could have made it worse for the Alex but he completely missed the ball after van der Laan had whipped in a fierce cross across the six yard box.

Brave Crewe were denied any consolation after an impressive double save from Kevin Miller.

The Tykes keeper first blocked Lunt's 30 yard stinger and then recovered to keep out Colin Little's follow up.