AS they did last season, Middlewich Town have got into a groove on the road.

The Witches put behind them back-to-back defeats at home when they returned to Cheshire League action at Crewe on Saturday.

And their reward is to rise to third in the table.

They had to recover though from the blow of Ian Carr putting the hosts in front when he converted from a corner.

Daniel Lomas levelled with a low drive before Scott Twite headed into the net from Harry Short’s set-piece to establish an interval advantage.

Jack Gater restored parity, again from a corner, before Twite repeated his earlier trick when he connected powerfully with another Short flag-kick to make it 3-2.

Lomas put Town further from the reach of their opponents when he converted a penalty after James Smith had been fouled.

The visitors also had appeals for two more spot-kicks – one for handball and another when a high boot caught Smith in the face – turned down by the match officials.

There was a nervy finish after Josh Rowley diverted Nathan Southern’s clever flick past Charles Masters but Middlewich held on to record a third win from four games on their travels since they were promoted from League One.

“It’s a while since we played that well,” said co-manager Ross Speight.

“We might have been more comfortable too late on had we been awarded at least one more penalty.

“However I was happy to see us remain resolute in defence, something we haven’t been in the past few weeks.”