Match Report

SUMMARY:

Above: Jake Sedgemore's freekick hits the back of the net to make it 1-1. Jake is just off the picture, to the right.

Altrincham twice came from behind to win this match though the Millers almost equalised near the end. The visitors started the more brightly and went ahead after Coburn had saved superbly from Peter Holmes but was unable to hold the shot, Newsham nipping in to score from the rebound (10 mins). A superb freekick from Sedgemore from 20 yards made it 1-1 (13 mins) only for Derek Holmes to score immediately after the restart for Rotherham to restore their lead. Baguley made it 2-2 when he rifled home a low shot following good build-up play from Little and O'Neill (18 mins). There was then a fifth goal in an eleven-minute spell as Newsham netted after the Alty defence had stopped for an offside appeal (21 mins). Chris Senior made it 3-3 after 28 minutes when he hooked the ball home after Lane had headed on Sedgemore's corner from the right. In the second half O'Neill was barged over in the box and Little put Alty ahead from the spot (51 mins). Then, Little finished well to make it 5-3 to Alty after substitute trialist from Bury, Jimmy Gaysham, had charged down a clearance immediately after entering the game (52 mins). A bizarre episode occurred when Rotherham made ten substitutions all at once (59 mins) but, though O'Grady made it 5-4 with a header (70 mins) and Taylor hit the post (88 mins), Alty held on for a 5-4 win.

SCORERS

Above: Colin Little makes it 4-3 from the penalty spot.

REFEREE: Mr Anthony TAYLOR

Of the 15 players currently signed on for next season, Alty were without Robbie Lawton, Steve Aspinall, Val Owen, Darren Tinson and Rod Thornley today, whilst a sixth of these fifteen, ex-Rotherham player Gary Scott, remained sidelined by injury. So, with Pat McFadden again on the bench, today's starting team included two trialists (Potts and Baguley). The rest of the bench included youth team graduates Ben Deegan and Adam Walker, trialists Cavell Coo and Matt Berkeley, goalkeeper Richard Acton and a new trialist Jimmy Gaysham, a youngster formerly at Bury.

The Millers had played a game behind closed doors against Halifax, which they lost 1-0, but this was the first opportunity for their fans to see their side this summer and with ten new signings, many of the players in the 21 man squad were unfamiliar even to the sizeable contingent of visiting fans. For Alty supporters there were a couple of familiar faces in the Rotherham team in goalkeeper Andy Warrington, who had kept goal for Doncaster Rovers in the famous "Siege of Belle Vue" in 1999 when Alty has stolen a win at Rovers' ground thanks to a very late own goal after being outplayed for the 90 minutes. And, making his debut for the Millers was Andy Todd, who had played against Alty for Worksop Town and Hucknall, and latterly had been at Accrington Stanley.

These two sides had met twice in the FA Cup in the 1970s with a win apiece to each side. More recently, Alty fans had followed the fortunes of their former player Nicky Daws, who spent many years at Millmoor during his league career. Nicky is now back with Rotherham as a fitness coach and was with the team today at Moss Lane.

Once again Anthony Taylor was the referee, having officiated in midweek at Moss Lane for the match against Manchester United.

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. Colin POTTS, 8. Chris BAGULEY, 9. Colin LITTLE, 10. Joe O'NEILL, 11. Chris SENIOR. Subs: 9* Adam WALKER, 13. Richard ACTON (gk), 14. Jimmy GAYSHAM, 14*. Ben DEEGAN, 15. Pat McFADDEN, 16. Matthew BERKELEY, 17. Cavell COO.

ROTHERHAM UNITED XI: (Dark blue shirts with gold trim, dark blue socks and white shorts). 1. Andy WARRINGTON, 2. Dale TONGE, 3. Paul HURST, 4. Danny HARRISON, 19. Ian SHARPS, 20. Graham COUGHLAN, 7. Andy TODD, 8. Peter HOLMES, 21. Derek HOLMES, 10. Mark HUDSON, 14. Mark NEWSHAM. Subs: GK. Steven CANN, 6. Ryan TAYLOR, 9. Jamie YATES, 11. Stephen BROGAN, 15. Craig FLEMING, 18. Sam DUNCUM, 19.Liam KING, 22. Chris O'GRADY, 23. Simon HARRISON, 24. Jamie GREEN.

Alty's two evening matches this midweek had been played in sunshine and without floodlights but for this afternoon's game at Moss Lane, the lights were on for the full 90 minutes and, bang on cue, it started to rain as the players came out to start the match. Alty deployed Chris Senior on the left as Joe O'Neill partnered Colin Little up front. After Alty had kicked off, the first minute witnessed a wide shot from Peter Holmes as the visitors began to set the pace. A Rotherham corner came and went before a nice interchange between O'Neill and Little ended with the latter's effort blocked by a defender (7 mins). But the Alty defence looked especially jittery soon afterwards when a cross was allowed to bounce in the goalmouth and it took the retreating Chris Senior to clear the danger. However, Rotherham's early pressure paid off when Peter Holmes's fine shot was brilliantly saved, low down and one-handed by Coburn, diving to his left, but he was unable to stop Newsham seizing on the rebound to put the Millers ahead (10 mins).

Some further desperate defending from Alty followed before Colin Potts exchanged passes with O'Neill and won a freekick just outside the front right of the box for handball. Alty's new signing Jake Sedgemore strode up and planted an excellent freekick into the top corner of the net, with Warrington's dive to his left unable to stop it (13 mins). But parity lasted less than a minute as Rotherham's Todd got to the Alty by-line right of goal and laid the ball inside into the goalmouth for the unmarked Derek Holmes to score with a header from close range (14 mins). Manager Heathcote was less than pleased with his defence's performance up to this point. But the goals were to continue to come at regular intervals. The next came when Senior harried an opponent near half way and this distraction allowed Little to nick the ball from Rotherham's former Barnsley defender, Tonge. Little found O'Neill who executed a clever back-flick to Senior from whom the ball came to Baguley who drove it home, low into Warrington's bottom left corner from 20 yards. It was the former Oldham Athletic player's first goal for Alty, for whom he is on trial this summer (18 mins). Again it did not take Rotherham long to gain the lead - for the third time in the match. This time a ball over the top of the Alty defence arrived at the feet of Newsham and, as the Alty backline stopped expecting an offside decision, the Rotherham man strode on to round Coburn and slot the ball home as Alty defenders belatedly raced back, in vain, to cover the net (21 mins). This time Alty almost repeated Rotherham's act of scoring immediately after their opponents when Little, Senior and O'Neill linked up and the move ended with a firm left-foot shot by Senior from left of goal, which Warrington did well to beat out. However, the ball came back into the centre from the Alty left and Warrington had to save his side for a second time, this time from Little (22 mins).

As his defence again looked less than solid, Graham Heatcote shouted at them to "Try defending!". But this had little effect as Todd cut in from the right and fired a fierce low shot at Coburn which the Alty keeper stopped brilliantly with one hand, diverting the ball in the process from ground level to over his own cross bar for a corner. The corner led to ping-pong in the home goalmouth but eventually the ball was cleared. With the rain still falling steadily, Alty threatened at the other end with a fine shot on target from Sedgemore which forced Warrington into tipping the ball over the bar for an Alty corner. Senior was now playing up front having swapped positions with O'Neill. From Sedgemore's corner, from the right, Chris Lane arrived near the penalty spot to head the ball forward to Chris Senior who hooked the ball right-footed past the keeper from six yards to make it an incredible 3-3 after just 28 minutes, the first ten of which had been goalless!

Yet still the chances came as Todd created danger again, sending a fine, low cross across the Alty goalmouth with two unmarked and incoming team-mates only just unable to make contact towards the back post (29 mins). O'Neill continued to work hard for Alty in his new left-flank position and Alty began to play some steadier passing football after the frantic first half hour of the game. Soon a Little cross narrowly evaded Potts who was arriving beyond the back post but then Alty almost conceded a fourth goal when Newsham got past a combination of Lane and Munroe and from left of goal beat Coburn, only to see his shot rebound off the far post to safety for Altrincham. Peyton who had suffrered a jarring tackle moments earlier, now needed treatment to his knee after which he was removed from the fray, with trialist Cavell Coo replacing him a couple of minutes later (41 mins). Next, a great turn by Little fed Senior but the move was thwarted. Just before the interval Potts intercepted the ball well but was then dispossessed himself and so half-time arrived with the score an incredible 3-3, a very creditable position for an Alty team including only six players who had started more than 20 games last season for the Robins against a Rotherham first-team squad.

Drizzle continued to fall as the second half started, with Alty attacking the away end. Rotherham soon won a corner but the game then went through a few minutes of unexceptional play until a cross from the right was missed by the Rotherham defence and landed at the feet of O'Neill deep inside the box, left of goal. He was uinceremoniously bundled over by Tonge and referee Taylor had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. With regular penalty-taker Steve Aspinall not playing, Colin Little took the spot kick and sent Warrington the wrong way to give Alty the lead for the first time in the match (51 mins).

Immediately Alty brought on Jimmy Gaysham, a youngster formerly at Bury, for his first appearance of pre-season. Immediately, he charged down an attempted ball up the Rotherham left flank, some 40 yards from goal on the Alty right. The ball came forward to Little who advanced on goal and neatly chipped Warrington to give Alty a two-goal cushion (52 mins). As happened so often in this match, a goal at one end immediately signalled danger at the other, as now Rotherham won a corner. But Rose cleared this and set Coo going up the left but at the end of a neat passing move, Little was judged offside. Gaysham looked lively on the Alty right wing but there then came a bizarre spectacle as play stopped for a Rotherham substitution - or rather, ten substitutions, as a busload of players crowded along the touchline to replace the team that had started the game (see adjacent picture). Only Tonge survived the cull to play the full ninety minutes (59 mins)

So now Alty were faced by a team with ten pairs of fresh legs. After a cheeky dribble up the left wing goalkeeper Coburn returned to his net and soon afterwards Alty won a freekick 25 yards out to the right of goal. Sedgemore's kick was cleared and then, at the other end, the lively O'Grady fired wide for Rotherham. Altrincham now made a change as trialist Matt Berkeley came on for Chris Senior up front (63 mins). For the first time in the match, play had passed for 15 minutes without a goal when Alty made another change, McFadden coming on to play on the left as Baguley was withdrawn. So, O'Neill moved again, this time to centre-midfield (68 mins). Rotherham then closed the gap on Alty when Yates's cross from the right was met by a well-timed leap from O'Grady who headed firmly past Coburn and into the bottom right-hand corner of his net to make it 5-4 (70 mins).

Alty responded with two successive freekicks but these came to nothing before Rotherham, cheered on by some vociferous fans at the Golf Road end, won a corner on their left. This was cleared but the visitors continued to press against Alty's tireder legs. Another Millers' corner came and went but they almost went further behind when Harrison made a hash of a clearance and, the ball cannoned off Berkeley who, had he not been moving so fast, would have been able to get clear on goal. With five minutes left Ben Deegan came on up front in place of Little for Alty. The home side survived an appeal for a penalty after a Rose challenge in the box. Rotherham then came close to snatching a draw when a measured shot from Taylor beat Coburn but struck the post (88 mins). With young Adam Walker set to come on as an Alty substitute, Mr Taylor blew the final whistle before he could get onto the pitch.

This remarkable game will have given both managers concerns about their defences but Alty's boss will have been the happier to see his mixed side of last year's players, trialists and new signings overcome a team from a step further up the pyramid of English football. Knocks to the fullbacks Peyton and Lane were hopefully not serious as Alty move on to their next pre-season game, this Thursday at Kidsgrove Athletic.