Match Report

SUMMARY:

Above: Joe O'Neill fights for possession against Manchester United.

In a very entertaining game, which was amazingly played in sunshine throughout after the recent deluges, Altrincham went down narrowly despite a strong second half performance. A magnificent move between substitutes Potts and Berkeley almost brought an equalizer but United were good value for their win, playing plenty of swift, attractive football. Altrincham went behind after just 8 minutes to what was announced as an own goal but which was arguably more of a deflected shot from the United left. When Hewson made it 2-0 after 32 minutes it looked as if Alty might be on the end of a sizeable defeat. But, on the hour mark, an excellent goal against his employers, from 25 yards, by Thornley made it 2-1. Numerous substitutions were made by both sides but United retained their narrow lead to the end

SCORERS

REFEREE: Mr Anthony TAYLOR

Altrincham fielded most of their first-team squad though Darren Tinson was a notable absentee and Chris Senior, only just signed, was also not involved. The bench comprised a mix of last year's players (McFadden, Aspinall) and trialists (Coo, Potts, Berkeley and Baguley).

With United's first-team abroad, this was a young squad which faced Altrincham tonight but it included at least four players with first-team experience (Adam Eckersley, Jones, Rossi and Shawcross) whilst others had played for Royal Antwerp, United's feeder club in Europe.

After a month of almost incessant rain, the game was played in bright sunshine throughout, until the shadows began to fall in the final stages but the floodlights were not needed at all. The pitch again stood up well despite the downpours it has suffered recently.

ALTRINCHAM:(Red & white striped shirts, black shorts and red socks) 1. Stuart COBURN; 2.Chris LANE, 3. Warren PEYTON, 4. Stephen ROSE, 5. Karl MUNROE, 6. Jake SEDGEMORE, 7. Robbie LAWTON, 8. Val OWEN, 9. Colin LITTLE, 10. Rod THORNLEY, 11. Joe O'NEILL. Subs: 12. Steve ASPINALL, 14. Cavell COO, 15. Matthew BERKELEY, 16. Chris BAGULEY, 17. Colin POTTS, 18. Pat McFADDEN.

Altrincham substitutes:

MANCHESTER UNITED XI: (All white). 1.Ron Robert ZIELER (gk), 2. James CHESTER, 3. Adam ECKERSLEY, 4. Michael LEA, 5. Ryan SHAWCROSS, 6. Ritchie JONES, 7. Kieran LEE, 8. Sam HEWSON, 9. Fraizer CAMPBELL, 10. Giuseppe ROSSI, 11. Sean EVANS. Subs: 12. Craig CATHCART, 13. Gary WOODS (gk), 14. Febian BRANDY, 15. Rick ECKERSLEY.

Before kick off Warren Peyton formally received his Tom Earley Clubman of the Year award on the pitch. The trophy is named in memory of a longstanding Altrincham FC supporter.

Alty kicked off towards the 20/20 End, with Rod Thornley deployed on the Alty left against the club which employs him as its masseur. Both sides put together some neat passing in the early stages and it was Alty who had the first real goal effort. This came after Thornley had been scythed down just outside the box. From a fairly central position, Sedgemore sent in a dipping freekick which German keeper Zieler did well to hold at the foot of his right post (4 mins). But it was United who actually first broke the deadlock. Their opening goal arrived after Rose had done well to get a head on a cross from the right but the ball dropped, to the left of goal, to a United player whose shot was deflected into the net, an own goal (off Rose) being the harsh judgement of the press box, though others credited Evans with the goal (8 mins).

Rossi began to show his quality and United went close when he set up Campbell, but the no.9 shot too high. The United back line was not afraid to exert itself and conceded another freekick about 5 yards outside its own penalty area after 11 minutes. Alty's rehearsed freekick routine ended with Lawton's drive narrowly wide from 20 yards. Another freekick came Alty's way a few minutes later, this time 40 yards out but this came to nothing. United should have done better soon afterwards when Campbell was set free but he pulled his shot badly wide from the edge of the box (14 mins).

Next, an excellent through-ball set Evans free into the box but Coburn came out to make an excellent block at the cost of a corner. After this, Rossi sliced an effort a good 30 feet over the bar as he cut in from the right. One of the entertaining features of the midfield play was to see the experienced Val Owen's tenacity ruffle the feathers of some of the United youngsters. But when Val unsubtly got hold of Rossi, the Italian imperiously kept possession whilst still having time to appeal to the referee for a foul! Play was waved on.

United were not having it all their own way and soon O'Neill fed Little who made a good turn and shot firmly at the target but saw Zieler pouch his effort (23 mins). However, Alty fell two goals behind after 32 minutes when Campbell did superbly to get round Peyton on the by-line to the right of goal. He then laid the ball into the path of Hewson who had no trouble in sweeping the ball into the net from close range. A United corner followed soon afterwards before Alty came back into the game. A neat Alty move involving O'Neill and Lawton ended with Little's firm header, narrowly wide, from Lawton's cross from the right (37 mins). At the back Munroe was playing well for Alty and again he was working well with Rose in a partnership which enjoyed some success last season till broken up by injury to Rose. New signing Jake Sedgemore was having an effective game in midfield whilst fellow newcomer Chris Lane, at right-back, was unruffled and tidy in all that he did. Alty repelled both a United corner and a freekick, which struck the wall, as half-time approached but the interval came with United good value for their two-nil lead though Altrincham themselves had contributed plenty to an entertaining first period.

At the break Val Owen gave way to trialist Chris Baguley, recently released by Oldham Athletic. Alty went nearest to scoring in the opening stages as Little fed O'Neill who turned brilliantly but saw his shot elicit a smart tip over the bar from Zieler. Following Sedgemore's resulting corner, Little volleyed over the bar. But moments later a superb ball forward from Rose set Little in on goal again but he was seen off by the defence (51 mins).

Alty continued to press and when O'Neill was felled, 20 yards out to the right of goal, Sedgemore's freekick yielded a corner. But as United brought on Brandy for Sean Evans and a minute later, Alty replaced Peyton by Coo (58 mins), the score remained 2-0. However, out of nothing, Alty got back in the game when Rod Thornley rifled home a 25-yard shot to make it 2-1 (60 mins). At this point Rick Eckersley came on for United in place of his brother Adam. Soon afterwards Colin Potts and Matt Berkeley (ex-Gretna striker) came on in place of Joe O'Neill and Robbie Lawton (69 mins). Almost immediately the two subs made an impression. First of all Berkeley did well to hold on to possession in midfield before surging forward up the middle and feeding Potts to the right. Potts's excellent cross into the goalmouth was met by Berkeley who arrived fractionally ahead of the out-rushing keeper but Zieler did enough to force Berkeley to lift his chip narrowly over the bar (70 mins).

After 72 minutes, Cathcart replaced United's Chester and a minute later Rod Thornley gave way to Steve Aspinall. After Little had had a shot blocked at source and a United corner had come and gone, Berkeley made another strong surge up the middle but was headed off by defenders. With twelve minutes left, Pat McFadden came on to replace Jake Sedgemore (78 mins). Alty were now playing well and some more smart work from Potts took him past Lee and with Little's help, a corner was won. United went to the other end after the Alty corner and Rossi was fortunate to get a corner for his side when his misdirected shot took a fortunate, very slight deflection. Alty almost paid for their attacking play when a United player was left free against Coburn but the Alty keeper made an excellent one-handed save (83 mins).

Play swept to the other end again and Little was unfortunate when his low shot was tipped out by Zieler but the referee awarded a goalkick (84 mins). With play switching from end to end, Alty won a corner when Coo's low cross flashed across goal. Though a second corner followed Alty could not find an equaliser. Their last effort at goal came from Baguley, who had again shown good promise in midfield, but his ambitious volley from 35 yards was well off target.

Although the United side tonight was generally lacking in "big names" the side which came to Moss Lane provided very entertaining opposition and a good test for Altrincham. Alty's trialists generally did not have very long to prove themselves as manager Graham Heathcote possibly had one eye on keeping them fit for his side's match at Trafford FC 24 hours after this one. Nevertheless, Berkeley will have done his case no harm with his determined running at the defence, Potts as usual showed some skilful play, Baguley confirmed the promise of his debut last week and Coo did little wrong.

Alty's next home test will be against a Rotherham United side on Saturday (3pm).