Match Report


ALTRINCHAM (0) 2
FOREST GREEN ROVERS (0) 2

Nationwide Conference National match
played on Saturday, 30 December 2006, at 3pm.


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    SUMMARY:

    Above: Val Owen celebrates his goal. To the left, Peter Band returns to his defensive position whilst Warren Peyton and Robbie Lawton congratulate the goalscorer. Picture kindly supplied by Gavin Rathbone, whose website has more pictures of the game.

    Altrincham were the more relieved of the two sides at the 2-2 scoreline after a distinctly under-par performance for more than an hour of this game. The heroics of their ten-man win over Northwich on Boxing Day seemed to have drained the Robins who were fortunate to get to half-time goalless against a FGR side for whom Afful was a handful. Defender Giles put the visitors ahead with a low shot into the corner which evaded Coburn after a corner had been only half cleared (60 mins). Alty made a triple substitution and the performance improved as a result. Soon, with virtually Altrincham's first shot on target, Lewis Chalmers fired home from the edge of the box to level the scores after a good lay-off from McFadden (67 mins). But Forest Green refused to settle for a point and went ahead again when a soaring header from Butler went in off the bar from a corner (77 mins). There was drama in the closing stages as Val Owen fired a low shot into the net to make it 2-2 (88 mins) but, moments later, Peter Band went down with what looked like a bad shoulder injury and had to be stretchered off whilst FGR's Butler was sent off for an alleged use of his elbow. So both sides finished with ten men and for the second time this season the sides had shared four goals.


    SCORERS

  • 60 mins: Chris GILES (Altrincham 0 Forest Green Rovers 1)
  • 67 mins: Lewis CHALMERS (Altrincham 1 Forest Green Rovers 1)
  • 77 mins: Tony BUTLER (Altrincham 1 Forest Green Rovers 2)
  • 88 mins: Val OWEN (Altrincham 2 Forest Green Rovers 2)

    REFEREE: Mr. M Brown


    ATTENDANCE: 912


    TEAM NEWS

    Val Owen was fit enough to join the bench, following his recent calf injury, but Colin Little was suspended after his dismissal on Boxing Day. So, Rod Thornley started up front with Joe O'Neill, whilst Gary Scott came into the side for Little. Scott started at left-back, releasing Warren Peyton to left midfield.

    Flu meant that Forest Green were without defenders Darren Jones and Alex Lawless, as well as midfielder Paul Stonehouse but striker Charlie Griffin returned to the bench after injury.

    BACKGROUND:

    The sides had drawn 2-2 at The New Lawn earlier this season, soon after Jim Harvey had taken charge. Though the new manager had improved the team's performances, Rovers were still without an away league win in 15 months. Alty arrived on the back of an excellent ten-man performance against Northwich on Boxing Day as they sought to win two successive league games for the first time this season.


    LINE-UPS

    ALTRINCHAM (Red & white striped shirts, black shorts, red socks): 1. Stuart COBURN; 2. Steve ASPINALL, 4. Peter BAND, 17. Karl MUNROE, 3. Gary SCOTT; 7. Robbie LAWTON, 6. Steve BUSHELL (capt), 14. Lewis CHALMERS, 11. Warren PEYTON; 10. Rod THORNLEY, 12. Joe O'NEILL. Subs: 5. Gary TALBOT, 8. Val OWEN, 16. Peter THOMSON, 18. Pat McFADDEN. 20. Stephen ROSE.

    Altrincham substitutes:

  • 65 mins: THOMSON for O'NEILL
  • 65 mins: McFADDEN for THORNLEY
  • 65 mins: OWEN for SCOTT

    FOREST GREEN ROVERS (All green, with white trim): 1. Steve WILLIAMS; 11. John HARDIKER, 25. Chris GILES, 4. Darren JONES (capt), 3. Kevin NICHOLSON; 21. Danny WILLIAMS, 10. Michael BROUGH, 7. Paul WANLESS, 8. Simon CLIST; 18. Mark BEESLEY, 17. Les AFFUL. Subs: 5. Tony BUTLER, 12. Mark PREECE, 14. Charlie GRIFFIN, 16. Alex MEECHAN, 20. Ryan HARRISON.


    REPORT

    A very wet twentyfour hours had preceded this game but the Moss Lane pitch had absorbed the rain well - thanks to hard work from groundsman Neil Brown. And rain had started to fall again about an hour before kick off and was to persist through virtually the entire 90 minutes. So, the floodlights were on from the start. After the large attendance for the Boxing Day match, this game did not break the 1,000 barrier, with very few having travelled from Nailsworth to support Forest Green.

    After changing ends, the visitors kicked off, towards the Golf Road End. Rovers' Les Afful was soon looking the most lively player on the pitch as the home side started slowly. A hesitant touch from Munroe allowed the nippy Rovers' striker to steal in and it took a smart save from Coburn to stop his shot, from right of goal (4mins). But Alty now came to life with Peyton and Thornley combining before O’Neill chased the ball to win his side a corner. This was quickly taken from the left, short, and was cleared out to Bushell whose fierce shot from outside the box prompted an excellent save from the 6 feet 6 inch Williams (5 mins).

    Altrincham's improvement continued as they built on Aspinall’s fine tackle and, via Chalmers, the ball came for Thornley whose low cross from the right was just cut out by a defender. Next, Thornley fired well over, after a combination between Peyton , Bushell and O'Neill (6 mins). Then Thornley half-hit a shot just wide after Chalmers had done well. But, as rain continued to fall steadily on a gloomy afternoon, referee Brown now took exception to Thornley's two-footed lunge and booked the Alty striker (8 mins). That seemed to signal the end of Alty's bright spell - for the next hour or so. Passes began to go astray and Forest Green began to enjoy plenty of possession. After Afful had got past Munroe, Alty were pleased to see him fire over the terrace roofing (12 mins) and then after 15 minutes Coburn had to make an excellent stop, beating out Williams's shot from a feed by Beesley. The Alty boss had seen enough. Graham Heathcote now moved purposefully from his directors' box vantage spot to join his assistant, Dalton Steele, on the touchline. Immediately, the Alty boss began a steady stream of instructions to his under-performing team; "More urgency" and "Sharper passing" were amongst his first suggestions to his players, as Altrincham looked lacklustre after their Boxing Day efforts.

    Forest Green's ascendancy produced the game's next two corners, between which the Alty boss told his team that "The whole thing's flat", an accurate assessment of the mood in the ground at this stage. From the second of these corners, from their left, a Rovers' defender headed the ball, unchallenged, but just over the bar (23 mins). Then Alty had another heart-stopping moment when Munroe, shepherding a through ball back to Coburn, unaccountably stopped and turned away, leaving a Forest Green player to nip in but Coburn just managed a half-clearance on the edge of his box. Soon afterwards, the Alty keeper had to be alert again, holding a low shot from Nicholson after a well-worked Forest Green move. But, at last, Alty won a corner themselves, when Lawton's cross was headed over his own bar by a retreating FGR player. But the visitors remained on top, with Clist firing just wide. Manager Heathcote's analysis again rang true as he told his team that they were "second best", as he exhorted them to pass the ball more. But the errors continued as, first, Aspinall played a ball forward to open space and, then, Thornley played a pass back towards his own goal and straight to Afful. After a rash challenge by Band on the FGR left, it was his colleague Munroe who was singled out by the referee for a lecture, following a consultation with one of his assistants (35 mins). When Band then caught Brough late, it was the other Alty centre-back's turn for a talking-to from Mr. Brown. FGR now won another corner, from a deflected shot, which was soon followed by another flag-kick after Chalmers had had to be alert to block a shot at the back post.

    Altrincham continued to perform limply and despite the supporters' best efforts to keep their chanting going, the atmosphere was tense rather than buzzing, as it had been on Boxing Day. The Forest Green midfielder and assistant manager, Paul Wanless was controlling the midfield and half-time could not come soon enough for Altrincham to re-group. But, before that respite, the errors continued as long balls were aimed at no one in particular. But Altrincham did get to the break on level terms and were thankful to have done so.


    Half-Time: ALTRINCHAM 0 FOREST GREEN ROVERS 0

    Rain was still falling steadily as the second half started and the opening minutes showed little immediate improvement in the home side's performance. First, a Scott pass went to Brough and then Lawton trod on the ball before O'Neill miscontrolled the ball just as half a chance appeared to be beckoning in the opposition box. A Bushell shot hit a defender to provoke a half-hearted appeal for handball before Aspinall showed great composure to dribble clear as the visitors again got into the Alty box. Munroe was now booked for a foul near half-way (55 mins). Graham Heathcote continued his analysis, telling his side that "They're dictating to us" before advising his team to get the ball into the opposition goal area as "We've not been in their box for 50 minutes!" After Alty had scrambled clear another Forest Green incursion, Bushell was judged to have fouled an opponent 21 yards out and earned a lecture for his tackle. Williams's free-kick was deflected out for another FGR corner. This was half cleared before coming from Nicholson to Giles, whose low shot seemed to enter the bottom right-hand corner of Coburn's net in slow motion to give the visitors a deserved lead (60 mins). At this point, Forest Green made a change as club captain Butler came on for Wanless.

    After the re-start, a Munroe misheader suggested Alty would struggle to get back into the game but at last they got in a shot when Bushell and Lawton fed Thornley but he hooked his effort wide of the keeper’s left post (63 mins). But even an off-target shot was a reason to be hopeful at this stage. The Alty management decided to go for broke with a triple substitution and it must have been difficult to decide which three of the misfiring team to replace. In the event the strike pairing of Thornley and O'Neill gave way to Thomson and McFadden, whilst Val Owen replaced Gary Scott. The last change meant that Peyton moved to left back (65 mins). The change almost immediately worked the desired trick as McFadden showed excellent composure to lay the ball off for Chalmers to curl a shot into the top of the net, to the keeper’s left, from the edge of the box (67 mins).

    The goal and substitutions totally transformed Altrincham and the stadium came alive for the next few minutes. Firstly, Thomson won a corner before a second corner kick arrived via Lawton’s efforts. The urgency that had been lacking for more than an hour had suddenly been found and the odds now looked on Altrincham going on to win the match. The visitors responded with a change of their own as Meechan came on for Beesley (71 mins). But the game turned again when referee Brown gave FGR a freekick against Chalmers which the home crowd thought should have been awarded to their player. From this freekick, a corner resulted and Butler was allowed to rise unchallenged and power a header from Clist's flag-kick into the net off the underside of the crossbar, from the outer reaches of the Alty penalty area. Altrincham’s brief revival had been undone (77 mins).

    But, despite going behind for the second time, the home side were now playing better than in the first half and Aspinall's cross to the back post soon yielded a corner for the Robins. But the minutes were ticking away as Bushell became the third Alty man to be cautioned, for a challenge from behind (83 mins). FGR now brought on their last substitute, striker Charlie Griffin, who replaced Afful (85 mins). To give the visitors their due, they did not shut up shop. Altrincham fashioned a good opening for Lawton to equalise, but he skied Chalmers's feed well over the bar (86 mins). And when McFadden was clearly held inside the box but no penalty was given, it looked like the visitors would hang on for their first away win in the Conference since September 2005 (87 mins). But the West Country side have a habit of conceding late goals and they did so again as an Alty freekick from Aspinall was cleared out to Owen whose low shot found the bottom corner, to Williams's right - a similar goal to the visitors' own first goal in this match (88 mins).

    Still FGR did not batten the hatches and came at Alty to earn two corners (90 mins). As Alty cleared the second corner and steamed upfield, Band went down, in obvious agony, about 25 yards out from his own goal in centre-field. Later reports suggested an off the ball clash with Butler but, for the time being, play continued with the Alty defender, prostrate and in clear distress, whilst keeper Coburn tried in vain to get the ref's attention. Play stopped as Alty won a throw on the left and after consultation with his linesman, referee Brown red-carded Butler for what was allegedly an elbow on Band. Meanwhile Band himself had to be stretchered off with what looked like a bad shoulder injury (90+2 mins). So, both sides were to end the game with ten men. Though a further three minutes of added time were played Altrincham could not find a winner and, indeed, defeat would have been harsh on the visitors who, had they been more clinical in front of goal, could have wrapped this game up in the first half.

    After their excellent win on Boxing Day, when they had played with ten men for 70 minutes, it may just have been that, today, fatigue overcame the Altrincham part-timers. Lewis Chalmers was named the Alty Man of the Match, presumably for his excellent goal more than anything, as the reality was that today the entire team looked a shadow of the one that had beaten Northwich Victoria just four days earlier.


    Full-Time: ALTRINCHAM 2 FOREST GREEN ROVERS 2