Josh March scored the only goal of Crewe Alexandra’s 1-0 win over Northampton Town after spending several seconds somewhere Northampton goalkeeper Zach Jeacock had apparently not considered checking.

The Crewe striker chased the ball beyond the goal line early in the second half and, rather than immediately returning to the pitch, remained behind the goal while Jeacock prepared to restart play.

Jeacock collected the ball, walked back into his penalty area and eventually rolled it onto the turf.

March was still there.

As the goalkeeper looked upfield for his next pass, the striker stepped back onto the pitch, took the ball from behind him and finished into an empty net for his second goal of the season.

The unusual part was that March had not disappeared from Northampton entirely.

Footage of the incident shows defenders beginning to notice where he was, with players pointing towards the striker as Jeacock prepared to release the ball. The warnings arrived without preventing the one thing everybody had now realised was about to happen.

Jeacock remained unaware until March was already taking possession.

The goal stood and proved decisive, although both managers admitted afterwards that the circumstances raised questions over the rules surrounding players leaving and re-entering the field.

Crewe manager Lee Bell said March had originally gone off the pitch naturally and praised his “bright thinking”, while admitting he was unsure about the precise law. Northampton boss Chris Hogg described the situation as a “grey area”.

There was considerably less uncertainty about the result.

Northampton had created the better chances before the break, with James Maxwell hitting the post, but March’s 53rd-minute intervention was enough to give Crewe a second consecutive 1-0 victory at the start of their League Two campaign.

Northampton had identified where the danger was coming from.

They just could not get the information to the player holding the ball.