Match Report

SUMMARY:

In a very entertaining game, Altrincham gained a deserved if narrow win over an, at times, physical Halifax Town, thanks to a well-taken early goal by former Shayman, Colin Little. Little converted Lewis Chalmers's excellent nod-down of a Steve Bushell freekick after just 7 minutes. Despite losing Gary Talbot in the warm-up, Altrincham played well throughout and should have gone two-up when Peyton fired over from close range in the second half. Some late pressure from Halifax was seen off by a hard working Alty defence. .

Right: Robbie Lawton leaves the pitch after the game.

SCORERS

REFEREE: Mr. M BROWN

Alty came into the game on the back of three successive defeats in which eleven goals had been conceded - including a 0-5 reverse against Dagenham in the last home match. The visitors, last season's play-off final losers Halifax Town, had made a surprisingly indifferent start to the campaign this season.

Of Altrincham's five ex-Shaymen, Val Owen was suspended, but the other four were all in the squad, though Justin Bowler only made it to the bench thanks to an injury in the warm-up to Gary Talbot. The three ex-Halifax players actually in the starting line-up were Little, Munroe and Bushell. After limping off at Rushden on Saturday it was a pleasant surprise to see both Steve Bushell and Gary Scott fit to start. Talbot's calf strain in the warm-up meant that Stephen Rose got late promotion, leaving the bench with a very attacking look to it comprising as it did, Thornley, Lugsden, McFadden, Hendley and Bowler. Steve Aspinall returned to the starting line-up so Scott switched to left-back.

For their part, Halifax included on the bench ex-Alty man, Steve Torpey, signed from FC United in pre-season.

ALTRINCHAM (Red & white striped shirts, black shorts.): 1. Stuart COBURN, 2. Steve ASPINALL, 17. Karl MUNROE, 20. Stephen ROSE, 3. Gary SCOTT; 7. Robbie LAWTON, 14. Lewis CHALMERS, 6. Steve BUSHELL, 11. Warren PEYTON; 9. Colin LITTLE, 12. Joe O'NEILL. Subs: 10. Rod THORNLEY, 15. Justin BOWLER, 18. Pat McFADDEN, 19. Lee HENDLEY, 21. Kieran LUGSDEN.

Altrincham substitutes:

HALIFAX TOWN (Orange shirts, white shorts and socks): 1. Craig MAWSON, 14. Jake WRIGHT, 5. Adam QUINN, 16. Mark ROBERTS, 22. Gus UHLENBEEK; 3. Matt DOUGHTY, 8. Martin FOSTER (capt), 18. Tyrone THOMPSON, 10. Lewis KILLEEN; 11. Ryan SUGDEN, 21. Andy CAMPBELL. Subs: 4. Greg YOUNG, 9. Shane SMELTZ, 15. Chris SENIOR, 20. Steve TORPEY, 25. Russell FRY.

REPORT

Halifax brought a good number of fans for this fixture, played on a very mild, dry evening. Altrincham started well. Two early fouls by Halifax on Little and, very late, on Chalmers gave early confirmation of Graham Heathcote's pre-match assessment that Alty could expect Halifax to be "in your face". Alty had the first goal effort when Peyton, Chalmers and Bushell fed O'Neill and from his pass, Little fired just wide of the keeper's right post (5 mins). O'Neill was then clattered from behind to give Alty a freekick left of centre, 30 yards out. Bushell's curling kick was met by a towering leap from Chalmers, to the left of goal, and his nod down fell via a defender for Little who rifled a firm shot past Mawson from 15 yards to give Altrincham the lead (7 mins).

A foul in the back by Sugden on Little gave Alty a freekick before a couple of freekicks for Halifax partly restored the foul count before Mawson had to rush out of goal to head clear as Alty attacked again (12 mins). But soon Coburn found himself in serious action when a through ball was only half headed back to him by Rose and then Munroe missed his header, leaving the Alty keeper to make a point blank block from a Halifax attacker, with a corner being the outcome for Halifax. After a late foul on Chalmers, Campbell received a lecture from the tolerant referee. But then Scott and Rose fed Little, whose excellent first-time flick found Lawton and he won Altrincham their first corner (17 mins).

Play was now fast and flowing and, after O'Neill had battled hard to keep possession, Peyton fired in a fine curling shot from the left which the keeper did well to stop and then gather at the second attempt, to his left (20mins). O'Neill was soon chasing another apparently lost cause and earned applause as he won a throw in for his efforts. Though he may not have scored yet in the league for Alty, O'Neill's whole-hearted effort has endeared him to the Moss Lane faithful. In midfield, Bushell was showing little sign of the injury that saw him leave the field on Saturday after half an hour and he and Chalmers were looking a useful partnership in the absence of Val Owen. A foul on Bushell, 30 yards out gave Alty a freekick. From this, Bushell tried to repeat the move which brought Alty's first goal and it nearly worked again as Chalmers once more out-jumped the defence to feed Little but, this time, his left-foot shot went wide of the keeper’s left post (23 mins). However, a Mawson long kick upfield then gave Halifax a chance as Sugden (or was it Campbell?) forced a good save from Coburn. The two sides continued to provide great entertainment to the crowd and soon, it took a great tackle from Scott to see off Uhlenbeek on the Halifax right. Then Sugden had a shot saved fairly comfortably by Coburn (26 mins). But play then went to the other end where Peyton got on the end of Aspinall's long ball from the right but his low cross into the goalmouth from the left was cleared.

Another long punt from Mawson led to a corner, off Munroe, who along with Rose was doing well at the heart of the Alty defence. This corner had to be retaken because of pushing in the box but finally the ball ended in Coburn's hands from a Halifax header. Soon Mawson was busy at the other end as Aspinall found Little and his improvised backheel wrong-footed the advancing Mawson but was cleared by a defender (30 mins). When O'Neill was fouled again by Foster, the referee pulled the Halifax captain aside, pointed to three different areas of the pitch where he had committed earlier misdemeanours and then let him go with no more than a lecture. Aspinall's freekick was cleared out of the goalmouth and play soon switched to the other end where Campbell picked up a Town clearance on the left and played the ball low across goal to Killeen who forced a fine, one-handed save from Coburn, to his left. Apart from a speculative 35-yarder from Little (35 mins), there was no real threat of a goal in the next few minutes. Nevertheless, Chalmers's long throws continued to be useful to Alty both in clearing their lines and in threatening the opposition goalmouth. Then, after more good work from O'Neill, Chalmers was fouled by a late challenge from Killeen which gave Alty a freekick 27 yards out. Alty executed an impressive rehearsed routine from the freekick which set O'Neill free in the box but just as he was about to shoot from near the penalty spot he was brought down by a challenge which the referee judged to be fair (40 mins).

Alty then almost capitalised on a mix up between Wright and Mawson, when the defender gently headed the ball back to the advancing keeper, who was only a foot or two behind him. The keeper, taken by surprise by Wright's intervention hastily hooked the ball clear to Lawton on the Alty right. From 20 yards out, Lawton's immediate rising shot just cleared the bar (42 mins). However, from a sliced clearance by Aspinall, Halifax gained a corner on their right which was half cleared to Thompson who lashed a shot well wide. Just before a minute of added time was started, Sugden shot wide but the interval arrived with Alty good value for their lead in an entertaining forty-five minutes.

Halifax boss Chris Wilder sent his team out early for the second half and, after they had kicked off towards the Golf Road, a freekick conceded by Munroe led to a shot over the Alty bar. But Alty won the half's first corner after Little cleverly made some space for a shot from a feed by Aspinall (49mins). Halifax then made a surprising switch with Sugden, who had looked the more potent of Halifax's strike force, withdrawn in favour of Senior. The change was greeted by some booing from the travelling fans, presumably directed at the management, as Sugden, a recent target for York City's transfer attentions, walked off the pitch (51 mins).

Rose then made an excellent clearance but offside had been given in any case. Next, a Coburn punt found Lawton with great accuracy. He cut in from the right and found Little who relayed the ball to Peyton just beyond the back post but his fierce left foot volley from close range cleared the bar comfortably and a very good chance had gone begging (52 mins). Two more long throws from Chalmers maintained the momentum for Alty before Halifax came back at Alty.

The visitors now made a second change as former Alty winger Steve Torpey replaced Doughty (56 mins). There was then a stoppage as Lawton and a Halifax opponent clashed heads, with the Alty man needing the lengthier treatment. A rare lapse in the Alty central defence allowed a shot at Coburn which he saved well from point blank range. There was then a bizarre incident at the other end as Coburn's punt was headed back by Quinn and keeper Mawson was forced to scramble to his right to make a full length stop to prevent an own goal (59 mins).

Chalmers was particularly in the wars, just after the hour mark. First, he hurt his knee in making a good tackle near half way and needed treatment. Then, when play had barely restarted he was the victim of a late challenge by Thompson. After recovering from this second knock, Chalmers unleashed three long throws in succession from the left but eventually Halifax got the ball away as Alty's lead looked reasonably comfortable at this stage. The Shaymen made their last swap after 66 minutes when New Zealander Smeltz replaced Campbell. But Halifax'sTorpey now began to see the ball on the Halifax left and he won a corner for his side. Before this could be taken Senior had to be stopped from pushing Coburn on the goal-line but the Alty keeper got his own back as the corner finally came across, unceremoniously bundling the jostling Halifax man out of the way, undetected by the referee.

A great Bushell tackle stopped the next Halifax attack but, soon afterwards, Torpey almost got to the by line before putting a low cross in from the left which went just behind Senior in the goalmouth. Quinn then picked up a booking when he clattered Little from behind and the Alty striker had to have treatment before resuming (77 mins). O'Neill and Bushell then got the ball to Little whose shot was taken by the keeper at the second attempt (80 mins). Next, O'Neill went close at the end of a good move in which the referee twice allowed play to continue despite two late tackles by Halifax in the build-up. But at the other end, Halifax created an opening on the right for Uhlenbeek but he fired over the bar from an acute angle (82 mins). Rose now needed treatment for an injury before a Torpey cross from the left forced Coburn to tip the ball over the bar at the back post, for a corner. After a foul on Rose had given Alty a freekick, play stopped for lengthy treatment to Bushell. Though a stretcher was brought on, he managed to hobble off but as he did so, Hendley came on for Little, up front (89 mins). Almost immediately, Bowler came on for Bushell before, finally, the free kick could be taken. In the four minutes of added time, Mawson had to rush out to head clear but neither side managed to threaten a goal and Alty ran out the narrow but deserved winners.

For the Altrincham defence to have kept a clean sheet was especially worthy of mention, as the centre-back pairing of Rose and Munroe was an unaccustomed one, which had only been chosen minutes before kick off. Former Shaymen, Little and Bushell both rose to the occasion against their former club but all around the pitch there were excellent performances from Altrincham, not least from Chalmers in centre-midfield, Coburn in goal and Lawton on the right. Colin Little was named Man of the Match as Altrincham climbed to fifteenth in the table. But after a robust encounter tonight, physio Andy Hosgood may be busy this week dealing with knocks to Bushell, Little, Lawton, Chalmers and Rose, all of whom needed spells of treatment during tonight's game.