Match Report

SUMMARY:

Accrington went top of the league with their second 1-0 win over Alty this season, a goal direct from a free-kick by Man of the Match, Gary Roberts (63 mins). Alty gave their all in the final stages only for referee Varley to send off Peter Band after the ball had rolled up his arm and handball had been given. Band protested in what seemed a controlled manner to linesman Fletcher, but after the referee had consulted the assistant, Band was shown a red card (89 mins). It was an entertaining game with Stanley impressive going forward but Alty had chances, the closest being when Lugsden got to Murphy's raking pass but his low cross was just out of reach of Robinson. Maddox picked up his fifth booking and both Bushell and Peyton were booked.

SCORERS

REFEREE: Mr. Varley (Ilkley)

Alty were looking to improve on their away record against an in-form Stanley side who would go top of the Conference if they won today. Referee Paul Varley of Ilkley was the man who had officiated in Alty's 1-1 draw against Crawley earlier this season. In that match he had booked four Altrincham men and allowed a dubiously offside goal by Crawley to stand, though he later made some amends in awarding Alty a penalty.

TEAM NEWS

Alty were again without the injured Gary Talbot and Lee Hendley whilst Rod Thornley and Stephen Rose were again on loan, playing for Radcliffe, and Kirk Hilton was expected to turn out again for Ashton United. Up front, the on-loan Kyle Wilson was replaced in the starting line-up by Colin Potts. Ged Murphy made his Alty debut, on the right of midfield with on-loan Halifax captain Steve Bushell partnering Val Owen in the centre and Warren Peyton on the left of a new-look midfield.

Facing Alty was their former captain Ian Craney, Stanley's leading scorer this season and a huge shirt-shaped banner was displayed by the home fans, bearing "Craney 8" lettering. The home side had a new keeper today, Rob Elliott, on loan from Charlton Athletic, whilst on the bench was veteran keeper Andy Dibble who had been unable to hold down a place at Moss Lane seven years ago when displaced by Stuart Coburn.

ACCRINGTON STANLEY (Red shirts and socks, white shorts): 25. Robert ELLIOTT, 11. Philip EDWARDS, 3. Michael WELCH, 4. Robbie WILLIAMS, 16. Leam RICHARDSON, 7. Steve JAGIELKA, 8. Ian CRANEY, 19. Anthony BARRY, 21. Gary ROBERTS, 10. Paul MULLIN (capt), 26. Romuald BOCO. Subs: 2. Peter CAVANAGH, 9. Andrew MANGAN, 15. Danny VENTRE, 29. Andy DIBBLE (gk), 30. David BROWN.

ALTRINCHAM (Pale blue shirts and socks, dark blue shorts): 1. Stuart COBURN; 11. Gary SCOTT, 15. Peter BAND, 4. Mark MADDOX (capt), 3. Chris ADAMS; 37. Ged MURPHY, 8. Val OWEN, 30. Steve BUSHELL, 12. Warren PEYTON; 9. Colin LITTLE, 7. Colin POTTS. Subs: 14. Lewis CHALMERS, 17. Karl MUNROE, 19. James ROBINSON, 20. Kieran LUGSDEN, 29. Kyle WILSON.

REPORT

Alty kicked off on a dull, damp afternoon and little could be seen of the opening minutes from the main stand as hordes of Stanley fans changed ends, obscuring the view from the very shallow stand. The first decent shot was Edwards's, as he fired just wide following a freekick. But Alty were also passing the ball about neatly in these opening stages. However, the home side soon began to get the upper hand, with Roberts and the Benin-born player, Boco, impressing. Alty were not helping their cause with some misplaced passing and a number of Little's first-time flicks were not coming off. A foul by Peyton on Edwards soon earned him a lecture (11 mins) but it was Bushell who became the first to be booked for unclear reasons when the ref stopped play and called over both Bushell and Mullin (13 mins).

Stanley gained the game's first corner after a throw had been allowed to bounce in the Alty box. Accrington continued on top as Adams's trip on Craney conceded a free kick on the edge of Alty's penalty area 'D'. Roberts's kick hit the Alty wall. Potts's low cross then went to the keeper and there was a further respite for Alty as Mullin, for the second time, conceded a foul for pushing in an aerial challenge (19 mins). A poor pass by Potts allowed Mullin to feed Barry on the left, whose shot from the by-line was well saved by Coburn (21 mins). Alty's first shot on target came from Potts's lay off to Owen and his snap shot from the 'D' forced a fine save by Elliott (22 mins). Next, as Scott prepared to take a freekick, Owen received a long lecture from the referee.

Alty's back line was doing well but further forward they misfired again when Little's final ball went astray (28 mins). But at the other end, Roberts threatened, laying the ball off from the left by-line for Craney but his shot was well blocked. After a foul on Peyton, Adams's freekick was overhit and soon afterwards Peyton's late challenge on Edwards earned him a yellow card (34 mins). Stanley soon won two corners in as many minutes, the first won by Roberts after he had advanced 30 yards up the field and the second conceded by a well timed header from Murphy.

Potts tried to spark some forward movement from Alty and after a few minutes of improved play from Alty, Potts and Peyton set up Litttle for a well struck effort, which rose just over the bar (40 mins). Not longer after this, Potts evaded any punishment for abusing the linesman, but Alty were looking likely to reach the interval on even terms. A fine clearance by Maddox from Boco was one of many good pieces of work from the Alty captain today. But, just as the game entered two minutes of added time, Boco shot wildly over the bar from a Carden feed. Also in added time, Stanley's Roberts' fired in a superb left foot touch from the right touchline, 25 yards out which had Coburn scrambling back and grateful to see the ball just clear the angle of upright and bar.

Accrington started the second half well and Mark Maddox was soon drawn into a challenge on the advancing Ian Craney which left his former Alty team-mate with an injured shoulder and the Alty captain with a booking, his fifth yellow card in his last six league starts (48 mins). He will now be suspended. From the freekick, 28 yards out, Roberts's superbly struck freekick was brilliantly saved by Coburn as it headed for the top corner, to his left. But Coburn could only knock the ball down to Mullin who, from barely three feet out, somehow contrived to put the ball over the bar (49 mins). Coburn was soon in action again, smothering the ball as Mullin approached. Next, Boco won his side a corner on the right. But, at last, Alty posed a threat as Potts and Little advanced and caused a couple of panic clearances from the Stanley defence ,which eveniually led to an Alty corner, taken by Bushell from the right. Band won a header at the back post which produced another Alty corner, this time on the left, but play soon switched to other end, whereCoburn saved from Mullin (59 mins).

At this point Mangan came on for Craney, who seemed still troubled by his shoulder. It was the Alty supporters rather than the home fans who saluted the departing Stanley man with a chorus of "There's only one Ian Craney", appreciative of his years at Moss Lane. Alty advanced after this but their move ended with a poor cross by Murphy. Coburn then made a magnificent save from Jagielka whose shot came in just as the whistle went for offside (61 mins). When, soon afterwards, Jagielka broke forward he was clipped by Owen to give Stanley a freekick on the edge of the "D". After twice marking out ten yards and moving the position of the kick in between measurements, referee Varley finally allowed the freekick to take place. Roberts drove the ball at waist height into the corner of the net to Coburn's right, which suggested that the wall was perhaps not exactly where it should have been (63 mins).

After his side's goal, Mullin committed his third aerial foul of the game but again escaped without a caution and soon Stanley were pushing forward again. Clearly Alty needed to change their game-plan and this first change came when Chris Adams went off, to be replaced by Kieran Lugsden (69 mins). Peyton moved to left-back as Kieran joined Little up front and Potts dropped to right wing. But Stanley continued to press and a speedy break out of defence saw Mangan shoot wide from a snap-shot (71 mins). But soon Lugsden turned well and found Little in space but the striker delayed and the chance disappeared without a shot at goal. Stanley replied with Mullin's low shot which went just wide of Coburn's right stick but Alty almost grabbed an equaliser soon afterwards. Bushell and Little fed Lugsden who shot from wide left of goal. Potts closed in and tumbled over Elliott as the keeper fumbled his attempted save. But the keeper was able to react more quickly than the prostrate Potts to prevent a goal (74 mins).

As in several recent games, Alty have belied their part-time status by finishing matches strongly and today was another instance. But Stanley were still a threat and it took another great interception by Maddox to see off Roberts again, at the expense of a corner. The game was now an end to end encounter but how Mr Varley contrived to award a corner to Stanley when Barry shot well wide after 80 minutes was a mystery as no Alty player was anywhere near touching the ball. At the other end, Murphy wasted a good opening with a very high final ball from left to right. Now Potts gave way to James Robinson on the Alty right flank (81 mins). Within a minute, the sub had almost bagged a late goal for the second successive game as a raking pass from the left found Lugsden near the right by-line. But his cross unfortunately was just out of reach of Robinson, unmarked in the goalmouth (82 mins). Alty now brought on Chalmers in midfield for Bushell (83 mins). Maddox and Band continued to impress as Accrington still looked dangerous on the break but, with the game in the 89th minute, a routine ball forward led to a sending off for Band. The ball bounced onto his forearm and ran up to his shoulder and a freekick was flagged by the nearby linesman. Band protested to the linesman and although Mr Varley came across to consult his assistant, few in the ground expected anything more than a ticking off or, at worst, a yellow card. However, the Yorkshire referee brandished a red card and sent off Alty's most consistent player of this season. Band had previously picked up just one yellow card as an ever-present in the Alty side in the Conference this season (89 mins).

Three minutes of added time were signalled and, in the first of these, Little could only fire tamely at goal from a promising opening. Stanley gave up any pretence of going for a further goal and spent the closing minutes trying to keep possession, which they did successfully to record their second 1-0 win over Altrincham of the season. Whilst Stanley certainly had more of the play today, Alty had chances to have taken a point, especially late in the game. But it will be the suspension of Peter Band, which comes at a time when another centre-back Gary Talbot is out injured, which will most exercise manager Graham Heathcote as he prepares for next Tuesday's trip to Grays Athletic, the side displaced by Accrington today at the top of the Conference. Overall, Altrincham gave a solid performance with the midfield generally working well and the busy defence kept Accrington down to one goal. But again, up front, Alty lacked the killer touch and have now scored just three away goals in their ten Conference away games so far this season.