Match Report


ALTRINCHAM (0) 0 WOKING (2) 4

Nationwide Conference, National Division
played on Saturday, 10 December 2005 at 3pm.


SPONSORS:

  • Match: United Utilities Property Solutions & Grahame and Karen Rowley
  • Matchball: Autotech
  • Programme: Tintagel Consultancy Ltd

    SUMMARY:

    In Friday's NL paper, Woking boss Glenn Cockerill said he was prepared to "win ugly" at Altrincham and his side more than lived up to his threat today. Alty fell behind to a deflected Richards goal after three minutes, whose build up owed something to the unaccustomed make up of the Alty defence caused by injury and suspension. Amazingly, Woking then started to waste time, led by goalkeeper Jalal, and kept up their spoiling attitude for the remaining 87 minutes; but Jackson was their only player booked for time-wasting by the over-indulgent referee, just one minute into the second half. Alty then dominated the first half with three excellent chances, one forcing a good save, another cleared off the line and a third narrowly wide, only to fall to a cheap goal after 42 minutes when Coburn was somehow beaten by a weak effort from Evans. Things got worse for a weakened Alty, already lacking three central defenders before kick off, when they lost a fourth, Karl Munroe, with an ankle injury from a foul challenge by the aggressive Richards, which was missed by the officials, just before half time. They had earlier lost Adams to injury and Owen too was unable to complete the game. Richards netted the third from what looked an offside position left of goal (54 mins) before the officials' failure to spot a clear push on Aspinall from a Woking corner on the right allowed Ferguson to make it 0-4 (62 mins). Woking won no friends with their niggling and negative performance today which was underlined when Ferguson was substituted and left the field swearing and gesturing at the crowd. Alty's James Robinson and Woking's Stuart Nethercott were deserved Men of the Match.


    SCORERS

  • 3 mins: Justin RICHARDS (Altrincham 0 Woking 1)
  • 42 mins: Stephen EVANS (Altrincham 0 Woking 2)
  • 54mins: Justin RICHARDS (Altrincham 0 Woking 3)
  • 63 mins: Steve FERGUSON (Altrincham 0 Woking 4)


    REFEREE: Mr. R Fletcher


    ATTENDANCE: 825


    BACKGROUND:

    After their excellent draw at Grays on Tuesday night, Alty were looking to maximize home advantage today in their final game at Moss Lane in 2005. Woking had been in good form recently and were facing an FA Cup replay against Northwich next week.

    TEAM NEWS

    Alty centre-backs Mark Maddox and Peter Band were both suspended, and a third central defender, Gary Talbot, remained injured. Also out, injured, was midfielder Steve Bushell (groin) whilst his midfield partner Val Owen only played today after a fitness test and was not to last the 90 minutes. Left-back Chris Adams was also less than 100%. So, Stephen Rose came in to central defence whilst both Steve Aspinall and Rod Thornley were recalled to the bench and James Robinson partnered Colin Little up front. Lewis Chalmers came in to central midfield alongside Owen, with Warren Peyton on the left and Ged Murphy on the right. In Maddox's absence, Gary Scott was given the captain's armband today for the first time.

    Woking were without Gary MacDonald, Chris Sharpling, Ian Selley and Karl Murray but manager Glenn Cockerill included his two sons in the squad. Facing Alty was defender Stuart Nethercott, whose headed goal for Spurs in 1995 cemented a 3-0 FA Cup win at White Hart Lane against Altrincham.


    LINE-UPS

    ALTRINCHAM (Red and white striped shirts, black shorts, red socks): 1. Stuart COBURN; 11. Gary SCOTT (capt), 17. Karl MUNROE, 4. Stphen ROSE, 3. Chris ADAMS; 37. Ged MURPHY, 8. Val OWEN, 30. Lewis CHALMERS, 12. Warren PEYTON; 9. Colin LITTLE, 19. James ROBINSON. Subs: 2. Steve ASPINALL, 7. Colin POTTS, 10. Rod THORNLEY, 20. Kieran LUGSDEN, 28. Pat McFADDEN.

    WOKING (Dark blue shirts, white short and socks): 1. Shwan JALAL, 2. Simon JACKSON, 3. Kamin el-SALAHI, 4. Neil SMITH, 19. Stuart NETHERCOTT, 15. Steve FERGUSON, 16.Stephen EVANS, 17. Paul WATSON, 11. Liam COCKERILL, 18. Craig McALLISTER, 9. Justin RICHARDS. Subs: 5. Jimmy AGGREY, 10. Lloyd BLACKMAN, 20. Mark RAWLE, 21. Clint DAVIES, 23. Sam COCKERILL.


    REPORT

    Alty kicked off towards the 20/20 End and the opening couple of minutes were uneventful, though mostly played in the Alty half. But, in the third minute, a ball lobbed up the inside right channel went over Rose and came to Richards inside the box. He was given time to turn and shoot past Coburn though supporters behind the goal indicated that it was aided by a deflection (3 mins). So, as on Tuesday at Grays, Alty had conceded a very early goal.

    After Evans had reacted to a challenge by Murphy, Alty were awarded a freekick which could only be taken after both players had received a lengthy lecture from Mr Fletcher (7 mins). From the freekick by Adams, 40 yards out in a central/right position, Chalmers rose well in the box but was winded by a challenge in the midriff from a Woking player who was playing the man rather than the ball. No penalty was awarded, a decision which prompted Alty manager Graham Heathcote to shout to the referee "Is that allowed, then?" After treatment for his winding, Chalmers continued and almost immediately a slick exchange of passes by Owen and Little on the front edge of the box ended with a snap shot from Little which Jalal did very well to tip out for a corner on the Alty right (10 mins). From this, another corner followed, on the Alty left, taken by Robinson. Alty were now getting on top and Woking keeper Jalal was already at this very early stage attenmpting to waste time by consistently not picking up the ball until chased down by an Alty player. Soon, a foul on Little yielded an Alty freekick 30 yards out. Murphy laid the freekick off to the nearby Peyton whose shot cleared the bar (13 mins). But Alty continued to press and the crowd began to get behind them, not least when Chalmers executed an excellent tackle in centre-field. Jalal continued to waste time before picking the ball up whenever it came his way, tactics which showed an amazing lack of ambition for a full-time side which was already leading a part-time team with barely 15 minutes on the clock.

    Alty were now enjoying most of the possession and a neat move started by Scott and involving Chalmers, Murphy and Robinson saw the last-named play the ball back from the by-line to Scott whose cross from the right found the incoming Peyton. His snap-shot, which lacked full power, was well saved by Jalal (20 mins). For Woking, Nethercott was leading a solid looking defence as Alty continued to attack. The home side went close again soon afterwards when Watson misdirected a pass to Owen and, from his ball from the right, Little headed the ball onwards to Robinson whose first-time shot was well hit but went narrowly wide of the Woking post, to the keeper's right. At the goalkick referee Fletcher warned Jalal about his timewasting and the home crowd were soon further annoyed by Ferguson's play-acting. The Woking man went down as if injured, only to jump up like a rocket to have a go at an Alty player. But Mr Fletcher took no significant action (27 mins).

    After more delaying tactics by Jalal soon afterwards, Alty won another freekick at which the visitors took an age to retreat to the statutory ten yards (32 mins). Alty now lost Chris Adams whose longstanding hip problem meant that he had to be substituted by Colin Potts after just 34 minutes. Peyton now moved to left-back and Chalmers to left-midfield, with Murphy moving inside as Potts took up the right-flank position. Rose then did well to clear some potential danger from Woking but it was Alty who were well on top at this stage, winning two more corners. The second of these arose when Chalmers rose superbly to Potts's first corner to set up a low shot for Murphy which was heading for the bottom corner till Jackson somehow blocked it, by seeming almost to sit on the ball to concede the second corner.

    Woking's physical approach continued as Munroe was bowled over (37 mins). But, despite all their possession, Alty could not find an equaliser before Woking took an unlikely two-goal lead, the goal coming from a mishit effort by Evans from the edge of the box which somehow evaded the dive, to his left, of Alty's keeper, Coburn (42 mins). With the game deep into three minutes of added time, Alty lost another player to injury when Munroe rose to clear the ball just inside his own half in a central position but was fouled by Richards who jumped at the man rather than the ball. The officials failed to spot anything wrong with the challenge and Munroe was left needing treatment, having fallen awkwardly on his ankle. After treatment, Munroe hobbled off and after manager hetahcote had queried why no free kick had been given for the foul on Munroe, Alty finished the half with ten men. Half-time arrived with the unambitious visitors jeered off the pitch but holding a two goal lead after a half in which Alty had shown virtually all of the attacking intent.


    Half-Time: ALTRINCHAM 0 WOKING 2

    Munroe was unable to appear for the second half and indeed was using crutches later in the evening at the Club Christmas Dinner. His replacement at the start of the second half was striker Kieran Lugsden. This meant another shift of positions as Lugsden's arrival meant that Robinson retreated to midfield and that Lewis Chalmers made an unaccustomed move to play at right-back, with Scott switching to the left. The second half was barely a minute under way when Woking's woeful lack of a positive attitude displayed itself again as Jackson took an inordinate amount of time not taking a throw-in. At last Mr Fletcher took action and booked the Woking defender (46 mins). 2-0 up, against a side which had already lost two players injured, Woking's negativity was mystifying.

    When Woking gained a corner off Owen, Watson trundled across to take it. After the corner had been cleared, Little and Lugsden combined to feed Robinson whose excellent curling shot from the left-centre just cleared the angle of bar and upright (51 mins). Soon afterwards, Jalal booted the ball out of the ground to clear from Lugsden before Woking were penalised for handball to Alty's right of their goal, near the by-line. Potts wasted the freekick, driving it low into the wall. (53 mins). Another foul by Richards yielded an Alty freekick but, within a minute, Woking had wrapped the game up. A pass was allowed to come through to the unmarked Richards, left of goal, and despite claims for offside, he scored comfortably past Coburn to make it 0-3 (54 mins).

    When Lugsden was brought down moments later, Mr Fletcher did find a yellow card for Woking's Evans (56 minutes). But things continue to worsen for Alty as Owen's pre-match fitness problems came home to roost and he was forced to come off with Steve Aspinall coming on for only his second sub appearance in the Conference this season after his summer operation (57 mins). All Alty's subs had now been used. Aspinall slotted in at right back occasioning yet another enforced change of formation as Chalmers now reverted to centre midfield. Indeed, Chalmers was soon involved, with his long throw from the left being dropped by Jalal at the near post, giving Alty a corner, taken by Robinson and which he wastefully drove low into the sidenetting (58 mins). Another foul from Richards produced a free kick to Alty but soon afterwards the big Woking striker went down as if poleaxed under Rose's modest challenge before resuming to a chorus of "Cheat" from the home crowd.

    After another protracted throw-in procedure by Woking's Smith, the Cards won a corner on the right, taken by Watson. As Aspinall moved to intercept the corner at the near post he received a two-handed push which the officials failed to spot and the incoming Ferguson put the ball into the net for a goal that was allowed to stand. Although Alty had not marked the scorer well, the goal should not have stood (62 mins). The goal temporarily knocked the stuffing out of Alty and Woking almost got a fifth when McAllister got free on the right and found a colleague whose low shot deflected off Peyton inside the box and came back off Coburn's right upright into the keeper's grateful arms, with manager Heathcote berating the officials for the lack of an offside flag in the build-up (64 mins). A late tackle by Rose earned him a caution which could not be disputed (65 mins) but Alty regained their composure and from Potts's feed, an Aspinall shot looped up off a defender and was dropping over Jalal's head before the big keeper got back to tip the ball out for a corner. Jalal then stayed down, off the pitch, prompting a stoppage whilst he was treated in front of the less than sympathetic home supporters in the Golf Road End (67 mins). From Robinson's corner, Little's shot was blocked but soon a Chalmers' throw from the right produced another Alty corner watched by manager Heathcote, who had now moved from standing by the touchline to a seat in the substitutes' box.

    Alty continued to press and Lugsden got in a good shot on the run from the right which Jalal saved. Woking won a freekick 22 yards out from which Richards curled an effort over the bar. Woking then brought on Rawle for Richards, who left to a predictable chorus of boos from the home supporters for his combative play (72 mins). After Murphy had been penalised in the centre circle, Woking won a corner from a slight deflection of a wayward shot and at this point replaced Smith by Blackman (74 mins). A promising Alty build up then foundered on Chalmers's misdirected cross to Jalal but, as the game reached the 80th minute mark, Woking were confidently keeping possession against an under-par home side. After a tangle between Little and Blackman, the Woking sub was booked (82 mins). Another Woking substitution saw the manager, Glenn Cockerill, bring on his second son, Sam, to join his brother Liam who had started the match. Ferguson was withdrawn and as he headed to the bench he gestured and mouthed at the supporters in the Main Stand (85 mins).

    The game's final minutes of normal time passed fairly uneventfully before three minutes of added time were announced. During these the only incident of note was a lecture to Jackson, already booked in the first half for timewasting - for timewasting again. It was that sort of behaviour which was so mystifying throughout this game. Full-time Woking have undoubted ability and were faced by a much weakened part-time side but disappointingly employed spoiling tactics virtually from the third minute of the first half when they already led 1-0. They should have had the ability to beat Altrincham by much more positive and entertaining methods. As manager Graham Heathcote told the NL Paper after the game, "I'm sure [the spectators] could have spent their money better elsewhere at this time of year".

    Robinson and Nethercott were deserving Men of the Match for their respective sides.


    Full-Time: ALTRINCHAM 0 WOKING 4