Match Report

SUMMARY:

Before Alty's lowest gate of the season (688), Alty took a two-goal lead in the first half when, first, Ged Murphy fired home from the edge of the box (19 mins) and a minute later Colin Little chipped the ball over the keeper into the net. But Gravesend made an immediate substitution, with Skinner replacing Watkins and got back into the game when slack marking allowed James Smith to head home from a left-sided cross (33 mins). In a game of poor quality on a pitch made soft by heavy rain overnight and before kick off, Alty seemed to have weathered the storm and looked comfortable with their lead as the game went into the final minute of normal time. But then substitute Moore chased a ball into the Alty box on the Gravesend right only for Coburn to rush out and bring him down as the Gravesend player seemed to be heading too wide of goal to be a danger. Johnson easily converted the resulting spot-kick to rob Alty of a vital three points.

SCORERS

REFEREE: Mr. D. RICHARDSON

Alty were looking for their first win in eight games and today's visitors were the only one of Alty's remaining opponents this season who are not in with a realistic chance in the play-off shake-off. So this was seen as a reasonable game from which points might be won, not least because the Fleet also had suspensions and injuries to weaken them.

Heavy overnight rain had forced Alty to appeal to volunteers to prepare the pitch and their efforts were rewarded as the game went ahead. Many thanks to all concerned! Further heavy showers in the hour before kick off raised fears but, once the game had started, the rain mostly held off and, at times, blue skies were overhead.

TEAM NEWS

Alty's Mark Maddox was suspended and Val Owen out, injured. The recent use of Peter Band up front was abandoned as he now reverted to his customary centre-back position. Colin Potts came into the starting line-up for the first time in the last 18 league games and Rod Thornley also returned up front. Steve Aspinall and Ged Murphy occupied central midfield , with Gary Scott at right-back. Lewis Chalmers rejoined the squad, on the bench and once again Karl Munroe was preferred to Stephen Rose as defensive cover on the Alty bench.

Gravesend were without the suspended McKimm and Glozier and injured top scorer Charlie MacDonald as well as Jay Saunders (back) and Mark Rawle (hamstring). But the reported injuries to Bobby Bowry (knee) and Andy Drury (toe) were not sufficient to keep them out.

ALTRINCHAM (Red & white striped shirts, black shorts and red socks): 1. Stuart COBURN, 11. Gary SCOTT, 15. Peter BAND, 5. Gary TALBOT, 3. Chris ADAMS, 7. Colin POTTS, 37. Ged MURPHY, 2. Steve ASPINALL, 12. Warren PEYTON, 9. Colin LITTLE (capt), 10. Rod THORNLEY . Subs: 14. Lewis CHALMERS, 17. Karl MUNROE, 18. Blake NORTON, 20. Kieran LUGSDEN, 28. Pat McFADDEN.

ALTY SUBS:

GRAVESEND & NORTHFLEET (Gold shirts with black trim, white shorts and black socks): 1. Aaron KERR, 2. Scott GOODING, 20. Ross SMITH, 25, Peter HAWKINS, 21. Robert WATKINS, 23. Andrew DRURY, 15. Daniel SLATTER, 17. Bobby BOWRY (capt), 31. Bradley JOHNSON, 11. Jimmy JACKSON, 5. James SMITH. Subs: 12. Craig HOLLOWAY, 14. Ashley FULLER, 22. Luke MOORE, 3. Justin SKINNER, 26. Jamie DARVILLE.

GRAVESEND SUBS:

REPORT

In front of Alty's lowest gate of the Conference season, by well over a hundred, Alty kicked off towards the 20/20 End and it soon became apparent that the visitors would have to contend with a strong, gusty wind against them. The first meaningful action saw Adams advance on the left and feed Peyton but his cross went out for a goalkick (3 mins). Though the Gravesend supporters were few in number, they included their drummer so they made their presence heard but the home fans, too, were giving good support. Alty won the first corner when Kerr gathered the ball from Band but was judged to have carried it out of play to the left of his goal. Talbot then firmly met Potts's corner from the Alty right but his header was hacked clear by the defence (5 mins). The soft surface was causing the ball to skid in some parts of the pitch and with the wind, the conditions did not make for flowing, passing football and there were plenty of mistakes from both sides. Gravesend soon won their first corner, off Scott, from which they headed over the Alty bar, with the rain now pouring down on the visiting fans at the other end (10 mins). Alty soon won themselves a corner and keeper Kerr failed to gather Potts's flag-kick but, after the ball had come to Peyton on the Alty left, the danger was cleared. Alty soon attacked again, however and a cross from Thornley to the back post was only half cleared before Thornley's low cross from the right disappointingly went straight to the visitors' keeper. Alty were now getting on top and from Murphy's throw, Little almost got free but was closed off at the cost of a corner to Alty (16 mins).

After a minute or two of sunshine, the rain returned as Alty continued to press forward. When Potts was obstructed by Watkins on the front, right edge of the box, Alty were awarded a freekick which Peyton seemed to have taken too quickly to be effective but the ball nevertheless came out to Murphy, who drove a low shot into the net to give Alty the lead and record his first goal for Altrincham (19 mins). There was no time for Gravesend sub Skinner, who was preparing in the techncial area, to join the game, or for your correspondent to dwell on the fact that he had just missed out on the Golden Goal prize by having purchased the ticket for the 20th minute rather than the 19th, before Colin Little made it two-nil, expertly chipping the ball over the keeper from 20 yards or so (20 mins). It looked like Alty were heading for their first win in eight games. Immediately after the second goal, Skinner finally came on, replacing Watkins in what was presumably a tactical move rather than one motivated by injury (21 mins).

Almost immediately Chris Adams went down off the ball and, though he resumed after treatment, he was not fully recovered. Soon, Slatter fired in a shot which brought a good save from Coburn and then the strong James Smith got into the box before going down under a challenge but referee Richardson awarded Alty a goalkick. Despite the two goals against them, it was Gravesend who pressed forward rather than Alty for the next few minutes until a huge Coburn punt was missed by Gooding and the ball came to Peyton on the Alty left. But only a throw-in resulted, but from this Alty won two corners in quick succession, one from each side of goal, but neither producing any real threat of a goal. On the half hour mark, Alty were forced to change their defence as Adams hobbled off to be replaced by Munroe who went to right back as Scott moved across to the left. The game continued to stutter on, with Alty's fans still tense as they encouraged their side to build on its lead to secure the one win which might make the difference between survival and relegation. However, the home side were still having difficulty finding their men with passes from Aspinall and Murphy going astray more than once. The Alty nerves got worse when the visitors pulled a goal back out of nothing. From a routine throw on the left, Munroe was slow to close down Skinner and, from the by-line left of goal, a cross found the unmarked James Smith who headed past a flat-footed Coburn from close range (33 mins).

Next Potts went down injured, holding the small of his back, but after treatment from Andy Hosgood, he resumed. Band then saw an attempted clearance charged down, which obliged Coburn to race out to kick clear (36 mins). Alty were now looking nervous and the fire which had led them to take a two-goal lead seemed to have diminished. Potts then picked up an unnecessary booking for blatantly tugging Johnson's shirt near the half way line (39 mins). Aspinall now saw his attempted clearance charged down as Alty remained on the back foot. Gravesend won a corner off Band, from a left wing cross, and then Munroe lost out to Jackson but his shot hit the same Alty defender. Two minutes of added time were announced during which the strong James Smith did well and laid the ball off for Brad Johnson, who fired in a fine shot which Coburn did very well to parry downward where he was grateful to see it stick in the mud allowing him to gather it into his hands (45+1 mins). But just before the half time whistle a speculative 30 yarder from Potts just cleared the Fleet's bar. However, seconds before the end of added time, the ref blew for a routine foul against Alty near the centre line only for Gooding to arrive very late with what looked like a two footed tackle on Peyton. This prompted a brief melee involving virtually every player on the pitch, after which the three officials gathered for a protracted debate to identify the miscreants. The ref finally opted to book Gooding before also summoning Alty's Munroe, who was also shown a yellow card for his part in the affair (45+4 mins). After Gravesend had restarted play with their freekick, the whistle soon went for the half-time break. Alty had started well but after going two up a combination of Gravesend's substitution and reorganisation and the home side's nerves had led to the contest becoming far more even. A nervy second half was in prospect for the fans, as well as the players.

After a slight delay as the linesman refixed the bottom of Stuart Coburn's net, the visitors kicked off and Alty were soon on the back foot. But when Scott was caught late by Drury, a freekick gave them some relief. With Gooding now booed every time he touched the ball as a consequence of the foul which had prompted the pre-interval melee, Graham Heathcote exhorted his team to get the ball behind the Fleet's defence and "Get them turned". But the Alty passing continued to misfire before play briefly stopped for the referee to have words with Peyton for removing his shirt to take off his vest, in the process revealing an array of tattoos (51 mins). James Smith's very wide shot was the nearest to any goalmouth incident at this stage but soon Little got in an even more wayward shot at the other end, from a good lay off by Thornley (54 mins). But one fan will have had a smile on his face at this point, as Alty regular Pete Hughes was announced over the tannoy as winner of the Giant Easter Egg raffle!

Kerr in the visitors' goal continued to have an uncertain afternoon as he now missed Aspinall's freekick from 45 yards out but Little was judged to have fouled him. But when, a couple of minutes later, Coburn was clearly fouled as he pushed a ball away, the referee gave no freekick. Moments later, Peter Band was penalised prompting the home crowd to boo the referee, many of them still believing that Gooding should have been sent off by Mr Richardson for his two-footed, late challenge just before the interval. Soon, a cross-cum-shot from Slatter, on the right, narrowly cleared the angle of bar and upright as the visitors enjoyed the better of the game. Even when Kerr again dropped the ball from Potts's effort, Murphy was not able to capitalise on the situation. At this point Gravesend brought on Luke Moore for Jimmy Jackson (63 mins). Talbot and Band continued to look solid at back for Alty, where Scott too was playing as well as anyone. There was then a bizarre incident as Aspinall appeared to accidentally kick Munroe in the head but overall the mood at Moss Lane was tense as Alty fans counted the minutes awy.

At last Alty had an opening when Aspinall's freekick found Thornley but his control let him down on the by-line, to the left of goal (67 mins). But Alty now had a series of throws which gave them some breathing space before Kerr caused the home fans amusement by falling over as he took a goalkick. As Kieran Lugsden prepared to come on, Potts was flattened by Skinner, who was booked for what was at least his third foul since coming on as a substitute (70 mins). Alty now won a corner when Band and Thornley combined, at which point Lugsden came on in place of Thornley (71 mins). Kerr chased after Peyton's corner from the left but got nowhere near it but when Potts crossed the ball back in from the right, Kerr caught it. Alty then put themselves under pressure when Lugsden, 20 yards from his own goal on the Gravesend right, underhit a pass back to Scott who was forced to lunge and foul an opponent, which cost him a yellow card and a freekick on the right, just outside the box (72 mins). The freekick went for a corner off Talbot but this was cleared.

Soon Alty responded with a corner of their own from Lugsden's cross but Potts made a hash of the kick. Alty were then robbed of a promising position when Little attempted to find Peyton as he advanced up the inside left channel only for the referee to get in the way of his pass and possession to pass to the opposition. Gravesend made their third change as Fuller came on for Drury (77 mins). Play was still not a pretty spectacle but Alty were pleased to hack clear a Gravesend attack inside the penalty area before Talbot was penalised, 35 yards out. But Gooding's freekick gave Alty a goalkick. With Alty still on the back foot, Grahan Heathcote exhorted his team again to "hit the space behind them". But his side remained penned back until they won a corner (84 mins), through Murphy and Peyton. This heralded a relatively comfortable few minutes for Alty as the final minutes ticked away and the Fleet's challenge seemed to be over. After a spell of being hemmed back, Alty now took the game into the opposition half, and won a couple of throws to keep the ball in the opposition territory. But with the game entering the last minute, a ball forward on the Gravesend right set Moore chasing into the front corner of the box. As defenders rushed back to cover, Coburn dashed out and brought down the Gravesend sub in the outer fringes of the box, when it looked as if the ball would run far right of goal to a relatively unthreatening position. Immediately the Alty keeper held his head in his hands, knowing the enormity of the possible consequences. Not only did the referee point to the spot but the Alty keeper must also have feared that he might be dismissed. However, referee Richardson produced a yellow card but uncharacteristically, Coburn who has a superb record of stopping penalties, dived early and left the spot-kick taker Johnson to knock the ball calmly into the other side of the net (90 mins). The collective disappointment amongst the Altrincham fans was almost audible. Thrree minutes of added time were played during which Alty pressed forward but the nearest they came was when Lugsden did well to get up to an aerial ball but his header curled wide of Keerr's left post. As the whistle went on a disappointing outcome to a game which had started so well for Altrincham, Colin Little and Gravesend's Bowry were named as Men of the Match.

Alty have now equalled their worst run of the sason, eight games without a win, and have five difficult games left, mostly against play-off contenders before the end of the season. But before too much gloom sets in, both Scarborough and Southport lost today and Alty remain three places and now six points above the relegation slots, although the bottom two teams both have a game in hand. A win today might almost have guaranteed Alty's survival in the Conference but the drama continues, with the next encounter a long Tuesday night trip to Dagenham and Redbridge.