Match Report

SUMMARY:

In sunny but blustery conditions, which made it a game of two halves, Alty were fortunate to get to the interval just 0-1 down as they struggled against the wind. But the Southport goal, after just four minutes, came from a freekick awarded by referee Matadar who overruled his linesman who had merely awarded a throw-in. From McGinn's low free-kick, wide right, Daly turned the ball into the net. But in the second half, with the wind behind them, Alty made a better fist of things, though Alty keeper Stuart Coburn had to make a couple of superb saves. But after Little had missed a glorious chance to score, laid on by Potts, and both Owen and Band had squandered chances, it looked as if Port would hold on in front of their increasingly jittery crowd. But in the last of three minutes of added time, Aspinall's freekick from the centre-circle was met by Gary Talbot's leap to head home the equaliser. Seconds later, the final whistle sounded.

SCORERS

REFEREE: Mr. Mo Matadar

Alty arrived at Haig Avenue having lost their three previous games, the last two of them by very late goals. Southport started the match bottom of the league but had had an encouraging win against Forest Green and, by all accounts, had played well in defeat against Hereford in their last game.

TEAM NEWS

Alty were without the injured Gary Scott and Mark Maddox in defence, so Steve Aspinall reverted to right-back but Chris Adams, also injured last Saturday, had recovered to play at left-back. Likewise, Rod Thornley had recovered from illness to play. On the bench, Karl Munroe returned after an 11-game league absence with injury and Pat McFadden was also included but there was no place for Stephen Rose.

Contrary to his programme notes, Liam Watson included Carl Baker in his starting line-up but he was without the injured Liam Blakeman and the suspended Steve Pickford.

Referee Mo Matadar had also officated earlier this season in the Altrincham v Tamworth match.

SOUTHPORT (All yellow with black trim): 1. Steve DICKINSON; 19. Chris LANE, 25. Mark ROBERTS, 18. Gary BRABIN, 6. Earl DAVIS, 5. Carl BAKER, 10. Dominic MORLEY (capt), 16. Michael POWELL, 20. Matty McGINN, 8. Neil ROBINSON, 11. Steve DALY. Subs: 15. Jamie SPEARE (gk), 3. Jerome FITZGERALD, 4. Neil FITZHENRY, 7. Kevin LEADBETTER, 21. Robbie BOOTH.

SOUTHPORT SUBS:

ALTRINCHAM (Red & white striped shirts, black shorts and red socks): : 1. Stuart COBURN, 2. Steve ASPINALL, 15. Peter BAND (capt), 5. Gary TALBOT, 3. Chris ADAMS; 37. Ged MURPHY, 8. Val OWEN, 12. Warren PEYTON, 18. Blake NORTON; 9. Colin LITTLE, 10. Rod THORNLEY. Subs: 7. Colin POTTS, 14. Lewis CHALMERS, 17. Karl MUNROE, 20. Kieran LUGSDEN, 28. Pat McFADDEN.

ALTY SUBS:

REPORT

Alty presumably elected to play into the stiff, cold wind in the first half, as the teams changed ends and Southport kicked off. But it was Alty's Rod Thornley who was the first to be caught offside, just one minute into the game. However, Alty were soon having difficulty clearing their lines against the strong wind but an early goal in this game for Port owed more to referee Matadar than to the weather conditions. With his linesman right next to the ball as it went out of play, the referee's assistant raised his flag for a throw-in, only for the more distant referee to overrule him and give Port a freekick by the right touchline 35 yards out. McGinn's freekick was low and seemingly unthreatening until Daly poked it home at the near post (4 mins). Moments after the restart, a poor challenge by Aspinall on an opponent saw the Alty defender booked - things had got off to a bad start for the visitors. From the resulting freekick, 35 yards out, Brabin's thunderous shot went narrowly wide.

With the Alty players struggling to get the ball on the deck, aerial clearances to opponents were the order of the day in the opening stages. Things looked a little brighter when when Peyton won a freekick to the right, 35 yards out, but Aspinall's kick was poor, striking the nearest defender rather than reaching the goalmouth. Then, at the other end, a sliced clearance from Talbot forced Coburn wide of his goal to concede the first corner of the game. The in-swinging corner was overhit as Southport, too, failed to come to terms with the blustery wind blowing towards the Alty goal. At last Alty got in a shot when Owen's effort struck team mate Colin Little (10 mins). Soon, Port were back, winning a corner but this came to nothing. When Aspinall caught McGinn's head, the home crowd bayed for a second yellow for the Alty defender but he received a warning only as the Port man was treated (14 mins).

Coburn too was having trouble with the wind as his kick found touch - something he repeated several times in this game. Alty then did threaten, on the right when, following a throw in, Aspinall found Murphy and with time and space to spare the Alty no.37 should have done far better with his cross than put it behind the goal, especially when kicking against the wind. The game meandered on with too much scrappy aerial play in conditions which cried out for the ball to be kept on the ground. But, at last, Alty constructed a decent move as Norton and Thornley combined on the left and from near the by-line Thornley's cross was deflected towards his own goal by a defender but Dickinson saved near the foot of the near post (21 mins). After Talbot had seemed to be fouled, referee Matadar surprisingly gave Southport a freekick which was one of several decisions to cause the Alty manager, Graham Heathcote, to express his feelings to the officials. From the freekick, McGinn curled his effort just over the bar, from wide on the Port right wing. Alty continued to labour with Adams, Peyton and Aspinall all giving the ball away in quick succession as they attempted to clear their lines. The game cried out for someone to control the ball as play passed the half hour mark with Southport enjoying most of the forward movement with the help of the wind.

There was then a curious spell as Chris Adams took a couple of throw ins in centre field which were each preceded by an animated exchange of views between the Alty left-back and his assistant manager Dalton Steele; what it was all about was not clear. As half time approached it looked as if Alty would do well if they could get to the interval just a goal behind, with the prospect of their playing the second half with wind assistance. But as two minutes of added time were announced, Southport won a corner off Murphy but this only led to an Alty goalkick. Alty rode out the two minutes to reach the dressing room just a goal behind.

Above: Blake Norton leads his team-mates off the pitch at half time. The other visible players for Alty are Warren Peyton, Gary Talbot and Chris Adams, followed by Peter Band. The Southport players shown are, left to right, Gary Brabin, Matty McGinn and Neil Robinson. Watching, back to camera, is Alty boss Graham Heathcote.

Alty kicked off the second half and soon began to enjoy far more possession than they had had before the break. Indeed they won their first corner just a minute into the second period but Norton's corner-ball came straight to Dickinson. However, two offside decisions against Little and Thornley, in as many minutes, prevented any real threat to the hosts' goal. When Southport got to the other end, Daly went down in the box under a challenge from Band and rolled around until the referee failed to award a penalty and had a word with him at which point he got up smartly, holding his right buttock. But Band was soon forced to concede a corner to Southport, which was cleared. Band was soon involved at the other end when, following a Murphy throw on the right, Aspinall's cross came off a Southport player to Band but he stabbed a good chance well over the bar (56 mins).

Southport almost wrapped up the game soon afterwards when Aspinall lost the ball and it came to Daly left of goal. His well hit shot, aimed for the far corner, produced a superb save by Coburn, going to his left (56 mins). After a two footed challenge by Morley, Aspinall sent the resulting freekick, from half way, into the box where Band rose well and his header forced a decent save from Dickinson (58 mins). Altrincham now brought on Pat McFadden for his second Conference appearance after netting almost 30 goals for the Reserves this season. He replaced Rod Thornley up front. Alty now got forward again and, from Owen's pass, Little's shot was comfortably saved (61 mins). McFadden then jinked into the edge of the box but was closed down. The visitors were now enjoying their best spell, and won two corners in as many minutes. The first corner came when McFadden fed Aspinall and from his ball into the box, Davis rose to head the ball against his own goal frame to give Alty a corner, despite the linesman having raised a flag beforehand. Then Davis conceded a second corner from a Murphy throw in (66 mins). After Adams had been lectured for a trip on Robinson, play carried on without any major incidents until Colin Potts came on to replace Blake Norton. Potts went on the right wing with Murphy moving to replace Norton on the left (71 mins).

Altrincham were the better side in the second half but Southport were still intermittently playing some neat football on the ground. However, Potts then set up Little with a superb pass up the middle which the Alty striker met well, but his volley flashed the wrong side of the post when he should have scored (75 mins). Southport responded with two good chances inside a minute. Firstly Lane fed Daly but his shot was well saved by Coburn and then the same Southport player, from a similar position, just left of goal, fired in another shot which Coburn again saved well (77 mins). Having survived these threats, Potts won Alty a corner but Potts himself took the corner poorly, the ball failing to get past the first defender in front of the near post (78 mins). Alty now made a tactical change bringing on Karl Munroe for his first appearance since December, after injury (79 mins). He replaced Murphy, prompting Band to move forward to support the attack. Munroe himself slotted into the defence. A couple of minutes later Leadbetter came on for Baker for the Sandgrounders (81 mins).

Alty caused Southport some concern soon afterwards but the home side hacked the ball clear after Band had threaded it across the box. An otherwise disappointing game became a better spectacle in these closing stages as Alty pushed forward. Next, Band was played in well by Adams but the centre-back took his eye off the ball and the chance disappeared. However, there was soon another melee in the Southport box as Owen threatened. Next, McGinn miscued a clearance over his own bar as the home supporters became incraesingly jittery about their side's slender lead. An Alty corner arrived after 87 minutes from which McFadden's header was saved by Dickinson. But his counterpart, Coburn, soon had to move smartly off his goal line to stop an advance by Robinson into the box (88 mins). Owen then had a great chance to equalise, following a fine pass from Adams, but the Alty midfielder's control let him down inside the box. Southport now brought on Fitzgerald for McGinn (89 mins).

Three minutes of added time were displayed on the fourth official's board as Alty continued to press for an equaliser. Their last chance seemed to have gone, in bizarre circumstances, when a throw from the right corner by Aspinall came to Peyton and his blasted, goalbound shot from the edge of the box hit Band, full on, in the face, leaving him poleaxed. However, after treatment he recovered (90+1 mins). As Alty stared at their fourth consecutive defeat, salvation arrived. Owen was fouled just inside the Southport half, inside the centre circle. After the referee had forced him to take the ball back a couple of feet, Aspinall sent his freekick up into the box where, towards the left of goal, Talbot rose superbly to power a header past Dickinson and send the visiting fans delirious and the home supporters into a depression (90+3 mins). There was just time for Southport to kick off after the goal before Mr Matadar blew his whistle to end proceedings.

As a spectacle this was not a pretty game; the weather saw to that. And it was only in the final stages that became a more entertaining spectacle. After Southport had had much the better of the first half, Alty had likewise taken advantage of the wind behind them to have the upper hand in the second period. But Alty owed a lot to goalkeeper Stuart Coburn for a couple of excellent saves which had kept the margin to one goal in the second half. The draw allowed 17th-placed Alty to maintain their lead of five points over the 18th team but, more importantly, to stretch the gap between them and the relegation places to eleven points, with nine games left to play.