So promising a career can Leeds United see in the midfielder that they presented him with a new four-year contract on Friday – longer than the deals held by virtually every other player at Elland Road – but Delph is no less a part of the club's present than he is of their long-term vision.

The England Under-19 star scored his first senior goal yesterday with the style befitting of a player who is considered to be United's most valuable prospect, and his 30-yard finish and consummate performance became the catalyst for the league victory which Gary McAllister was yearning for.

Not since the opening day of the season, when their visit to Scunthorpe brought a 2-1 victory, had Leeds taken three points from a League One match. And though McAllister's assessment of his team's form had been calm and considered, it would not have improved his mood to see United walk into successive away fixtures at Swindon and Carlisle with another meek result behind them.

Delph helped to dismiss that scenario by opening the scoring with a gloriously instinctive strike in the 27th minute, and an equally rasping goal from Alan Sheehan winded Crewe beyond the point of recovery before the first half was out.

Goals from Jonathan Douglas, Jermaine Beckford and Andy Robinson in the second simply added the gloss the scoreline deserved, even allowing for a bizarre period of injury-time which saw Lubomir Michalik sent off and Crewe score twice.

McAllister had asked his players to play with authoritative confidence, and their display was dominant in the extreme. However hopeful Crewe were of causing an upset before kick-off, they looked out of their depth by the end of the first half and were out on their feet at the final whistle.

United's defence was shuffled again by the addition of Paul Telfer at centre-back and Sheehan on the left-hand side, but the absence of a recognised defender among their substitutes made McAllister's intentions clear.

Paul Huntington and Bradley Johnson were demoted, not only from the starting line-up but from the 16-man squad, in the only changes from the side held to a 2-2 draw by Bristol Rovers last Saturday.

Of comparative interest was the appearance for Crewe of Anthony Elding, the striker dispensed with in July after the briefest of permanent spells with Leeds. Elding had the game's first chance but otherwise did little to strengthen the claim that McAllister was wrong to sell him.

There were few players who fared better before Delph's strike, and the early exchanges ironically suggested that goals might not be plentiful.

Neither keeper made a save worth recording until the 25th minute when Steve Collis' parry kept out a low shot from Beckford, the calm before the storm.

Elding's first chance was handed to him by Beckford, whose back pass ran away from Sheehan and rolled directly to his former team-mate.