Match Report

SUMMARY:

Alty had a hatful of presentable chances to win this game, which they largely dominated, with the best chances coming when Colin Little missed an open goal in the closing minutes and when Steve Bushell was unable to turn in Little's cross from barely two yards in the first half. Results elsewhere would have kept Alty up if they could have scored but a goal just would not come despite goalmouth scrambles and more than one strong penalty appeal against the visitors. Alty lost goalkeeper Stuart Coburn after a quarter of an hour when his back went into spasm and he had to be replaced by Richard Acton but there was a more sickening injury minutes from the end of normal time when Aldershot's Ryan Scott broke his leg in a challenge with Gary Scott. With more than two thousand fans creating a great atmosphere and Alty attacking from start to finish it was a memorable afternoon - apart from the result. Alty may have gone down but they went down with a spirited performance.

SCORERS

REFEREE: Mr Jock WAUGH

Alty were again without Val Owen in midfield and striker Joe O'Neill but Gary Scott, who had not started the last ten games through injury, returned at left-back freeing Warren Peyton for a more advanced role. Alty's other full-back,Steve Aspinall had likewise not started in the previous eight games. So Altrincham fielded six starters who had also started the 2004-05 play-off final at Stoke. Stephen Rose dropped to the bench, whilst Rod Thornley came into the eleven to replace O'Neill. Pat McFadden came into the squad, on the bench.

Aldershot included the prolific former Halifax striker John Grant up front alongside the experienced Marcus Gayle, whilst Darren Barnard, who has been awaiting an operation for several months, neverthless played as captain at left-back. Gayle was starting his first game for three months.

Altrincham had to win this match and then rely on one of five teams above them slipping up to allow the Robins to survive in Conference National. The day was reminiscent of the last match in 2000 when on an equally sunny day Alty had entertained Kiderminster Harriers needing a win to stay up. That game had ended 0-0... and history was about to repeat itself, though this time Alty were go down with the highest points tally in Conference history (admittedly after 46 rather than 42 games) rather than the lowest number of league defeats for a relegated side (14) which was the unenviable record of the 2000 Alty team.

Today's referee, Jock Waugh, had officiated at Altrincham v Stevenage last season, and this season at Altrincham v Dagenham and Northwich Vics v Altrincham.

ALTRINCHAM:(Red & white striped shirts, black shorts and red socks) 1. Stuart COBURN; 2. Steve ASPINALL, 17. Karl MUNROE, 4. Peter BAND, 3. Gary SCOTT; 7. Robbie LAWTON, 6. Steve BUSHELL (capt), 14. Lewis CHALMERS, 11. Warren PEYTON; 9. Colin LITTLE, 10. Rod THORNLEY. Subs: 5. Gary TALBOT, 13. Richard ACTON (gk), 18. Pat McFADDEN, 20. Stephen ROSE, 22. Andy SCOTT.

Altrincham substitutes:

ALDERSHOT TOWN: (All yellow). 1. Nikki BULL; 2. Dean SMITH, 19. David WINFIELD, 5. Rhys DAY, 3. Darren BARNARD (capt); 15. Ryan SCOTT, 7. Mark MOLESLEY, 4. Ricky NEWMAN, 11. Ryan WILLIAMS; 9. John GRANT, 10. Marcus GAYLE. Subs: 17. Kirk HUDSON, 18. Phil ANDERSON, 12. Louie SOARES, 31. Mikhael JAIMEZ-RUIZ, 36. Jonny DIXON.

The game was preceded by a minute's applause for the late Alan Ball, before Alty kicked off towards the away 20/20 End, where a good showing of Aldershot fans were enjoying the South Manchester sunshine. After an early miskick from Band, Coburn kicked clear into the Carole Nash Stand. But Alty soon carved out the first of what were to be numerous chances. The opportunity came when a Chalmers throw on the left was nodded on twice by Alty heads in the Shots' box and fell to Little at the back post but from 15 yards Alty's striker sliced the ball well over the bar (2 mins). It was to be the shape of things to come.

But Altrincham's bright start continued as they went at Aldershot. However, a freekick, won on the right just outside the front edge of the box, was wasted when Lawton’s kick went to a defender (5 mins). Soon, however, another freekick, awarded when Grant jumped all over Munroe, was taken by Aspinall and from Chalmers's excellent nod on, Band's header was caught by goalkeeper Bull (6 mins). But from Bull's punt upfield Aspinall had to be alert to clear the danger at the Alty end. Then fellow defender Gary Scott was on hand to clear off the line as Gayle got the better of Stuart Coburn to the right of the Alty goal but Gayle’s cross was not going in before Scott cleared it (8 mins). Aldershot were conceding freekicks with regularity and from another one, by Bushell, Chalmers again nodded the ball on but the keeper got the ball clear. A great bit of tracking back by Lawton saw Alty attacking again soon afterwards but then Chalmers was penalised and lectured for a challenge in midfield. Altrincham pressed forward again and from Thornley’s smart cross, Lawton miskicked his shot and it ran comfortably to Bull (11 mins). Alty were to rue these missed chances.

At the other end, from a Bernard throw the ball was worked via Williams to Newman who hit an excellent shot from 25 yards which went only narrowly wide. But as goalkeeper Stuart Coburn went to place the goalkick his back went and he collapsed to the ground. Despite treatment from Andy Hosgood, the Alty keeper was unable to continue and as treatment continued off the pitch, Richard Acton came on in goal after a three-minute stoppage (16 minutes). As play resumed Alty put together another good move which ended when Thornley went down in the box, but his appeals for a penalty met deaf ears (17 mins). As Stuart Coburn was stretchered to the dressing room, Acton was out well to gather the ball for Altrincham. The atmosphere in Moss Lane was electric with the home fans doing all they could to cheer their side on. Altrincham now won the game's first corner and from the right, Bushell played a diagonal ball to the incoming Aspinall who skied his shot yards over the bar (20 mins). But the chances continued to be created as Lawton advanced from half way and fed Little who did well to get to the by-line, right of goal. But from his cross across the face of goal, Bushell was unable to make enough contact to turn the ball in and this gave a defender the chance to clear off the line. It was not looking like Alty's day in front of goal. As two passing policemen decided to come in and savour the atmosphere Alty gained another freekick for Day's clumsy challenge on Little but Peyton's freekick was overhit for Chalmers and went out for a goalkick.

Alty's next threat to the Shots' goal came after 27 minutes when Aspinall got to the by-line but his cross was cleared. Winfield's foul on Little yielded another freekick 23 yards out but this came to nothing more than a throw-in. From the throw, Little's shot was blocked before Day was fouled by Lawton to relieve the pressure. From a quickly taken freekick Alty were almost caught out but Smith's shot across goal from the right was reached by a stretching Williams but he could only direct the ball into the side-netting. Alty's pressure now let up for a few minutes but a foul in the Alty box allowed Acton to clear any danger. Alty once again lifted their game after this as Little and Thornley exchanged passes before Thornley's fine cross was hooked over the bar by Little (34 mins). At the other end, Ryan Scott fired well wide (35 mins).

From Peyton's low cross from the left, Alty won another corner which, from Bushell's kick, came off Band for a goalkick (39 mins). Another corner followed a few minutes later from Lawton's cross but after this Aldershot broke away only for Lawton to recover possession. When Williams went down in the Alty box he got as negative a response as Thornley had received earlier from referee Waugh. As the 45 minutes ended, only two added minutes were signalled despite the long stoppage for Coburn's injury. In the first of these minutes, a fine 25-yard effort from Peyton went narrowly wide. But the interval arrived with Altrincham still goalless despite an excellent performance and plenty of half-chances.

Caretaker manager Martin Kuhl sent his team out onto the pitch well before the start of the second half and before play resumed he replaced Newman by Soares, the departing player later emerging with an ice-pack on his leg. Alty started the second period where they had left off and, soon, Bull was forced to punch clear from Peyton’s fine cross, just as Colin Little arrived to convert the chance (47 mins). Still supported strongly by their fans, Alty continued to go forward but a shot from Thornley was beaten out before there was danger at the other end. Grant got the better of Acton, to the right of his goal, but Scott cleared up the danger. The Alty defender was having a fine game after his long lay-off. Soon after this Alty's fourth corner arrived and following this a fine cross by Bushell came to Little but he could not turn it in and the chance was gone (49 mins).

There was then an almighty scramble in the Shots' goalmouth as Chalmers and Little combined and then Peyton's cross flashed across the face of goal but the ball just would not go in for Altrincham. Another Alty corner followed but this came to nothing. Yet another chance came when Little, Peyton, Thornley and Scott combined, but from Gary Scott's superb cross, which dropped to Bushell, the Alty captain miscontrolled the ball and it ran to Bull (54 mins). After Acton had rushed out to clear a long ball from Aldershot, Band eventually headed clear. Play stopped soon after this when Chalmers and Ryan Scott clashed heads in midfield but both players resumed after treatment (59 mins). Acton had to make a good catch down at his feet from Soares's cross as Alty understandably took a slight breather around the hour mark. But they were soon back attacking when Thornley's shot was blocked. News was filtering through that results elsewhere were going Alty's way so just a single goal would suffice to prevent relegation for the Robins. But Aldershot now won a corner, which Band cleared (65 mins).

There was then another scrambled clearance in the Aldershot box after which Hudson came on for Williams (67 mins). After this Chalmers ran at the defence but he could find no colleague with his final ball inside the box. However, Aldershot then went close as Soares’s curler from the right went narrowly wide (68 mins). From a freekick by Aspinall the ball came out off a defender but soon another good cross from Scott, from the left, dropped beautifully for Bushell but he volleyed the ball miles over the bar (70 mins). A minute later a good save from Bull denied Peyton, who had fired in a strong shot from the left as Alty completely dominated the game. Then, when a defender jumped over Little, another Altrincham corner resulted rather than a freekick. Bushell's long corner from the right found Munroe at the back post but he could only put the ball wide (72 mins). Aldershot relieved the pressure for a few minutes before a foul by Winfield on Thornley gave Alty another freekick, 40 yards out. At this stage Thornley gave way to Pat McFadden, up front for Altrincham (75 mins).

The pressure continued as Bull punched clear a Chalmers long-throw. Then a Lawton shot was blocked by Bull (78 mins). Peter Band was now pushing up front to augment the Alty attack as the game went into the final ten minutes. But Alty had a scare when Munroe sliced a clearance out of play and went down injured. But after treatment for what looked like cramp, he played on (81 mins). Then, as Gary Scott and Ryan Scott went for a ball on the touchline in front of the dugouts, there was a nasty crack as Gary’s boot caught the Shots' player's shin. The referee saw no foul and play momentarily continued until Ryan Scott's cries of "My leg's broken" halted proceedings. After having his leg put in a splint and being attended by the Altrincham doctor as well as the team's physios, the unfortunate midfielder was stretchered off and taken to hospital where a double fracture was diagnosed. The referee then booked Gary Scott, who was substituted by the waiting Gary Talbot, before play resumed with a bounce-up after a five-minute delay for the injury (88 mins).

Almost immediately Alty had another strong penalty appeal when Bull seemed to foul an Alty player as he came and failed to gather a cross. But referee Waugh gave a freekick to the keeper. Bull was in difficulties again a minute later when he was confronted by a back pass which he could not pick up and the ball ran to Little, right of centre, barely six yards out and with an open goal in front of him. Inexplicably Little put the ball into the side netting (90 mins). It was a miss that will haunt Little and Alty fans alike but it should not be forgotten that without the goals of Little, the leading scorer for the last three seasons, Alty would not even have been competing in the Conference National. Not surprisingly six minutes of added time were announced. And still the chances came for Alty to snatch a win. From Chalmers's throw two headers from defenders ended with the ball kissing the crossbar and going out for a corner. After Bull had received treatment for colliding with the post, Alty's corner came to nothing (90+3mins). Yet another plausible penalty appeal went unheard when Munroe was fouled in the Aldershot box. But Alty soon won another corner as the atmosphere grew to a crescendo of excitement. But Alty were nearly underdone as they pressed forward as Aldershot counter-attacked and Barnard got the ball to the unmarked Hudson who thankfully shot over the bar from 12 yards (90+5 mins). There was still time for yet another Altrincham corner but a goalkick resulted off Gary Talbot. The final whistle went to end Alty's two years back at the National Level and Alty's Robbie Talbot was named the home Man of the Match, a fitting award for the only player to start all 46 league matches this season, a great tribute to the part-time player's fitness levels.

So history had repeated itself as Alty had suffered a goalless draw in their last match just as they had in 2000 and in both cases, relegation was the outcome. But Altrincham could not have made more of an effort to win this game. If only they had shown a little more composure in front of goal it could have been so different an outcome.

As it is Alty now face their sixth change of division in a decade (Conference to UniBond (1997), to Conference (1999), to UniBond (2000), to Conference North (2004), to Conference National (2005) and, now, to Conference North (2007)). All is not gloom though at Moss Lane. We have a well-run club which has sensible financial policies and whilst this may not allow us to compete with the profligacy of some of the Conference National clubs, we have a solid base on which to go forward in Conference North.