Match Report

SUMMARY:

Right: Darren Tinson receives his team-mates' congratulations after scoring for Alty whilst goalkeeper Nikki Bull rues his error.

Altrincham were very unfortunate to take nothing from their best sustained performance over ninety minutes this season. After Alty had had the better of the opening period they allowed Harding to surge up the middle unchallenged and his pass to the left found Dixon who curled the ball over Coburn from the edge of the box, the Alty keeper being caught off his line (24 mins). But Alty maintained their record of not yet being behind at the interval this season, though in a slightly fortuitous manner.

When Alty debutant Carlos Logan was fouled, Aspinall's freekick from five yards inside his own half was allowed to bounce in the goalmouth and, though keeper Bull clawed it away from under the bar, he seemed to deliberately drop the ball in fear of his momentum carrying it behind the line. A grateful Darren Tinson was on hand to poke the loose ball into the net (45+1 mins). With Logan continuing to look dangerous on the Alty left, it was a big blow when he limped off injured after 58 minutes. However, Alty continued to play well and it was against the run of play when Harding again provided a team-mate with a goal, as his cross from the left was driven past Coburn at the back post by Soares (77 mins). Despite a couple of strong penalty appeals, Aldershot rode out the Alty threat to emerge with all three points but Altrincham had played well in defeat.

SCORERS

REFEREE: Mr D Richardson

Colin Little remained suspended as manager Heathcote made four changes to his starting line-up. Goalkeeper Richard Acton and defender Stephen Rose were replaced by Stuart Coburn and Karl Munroe, whilst in midfield the injured Val Owen was missing and Gareth Whalley dropped to the bench. Carlos Logan, a deadline signing before the closure of the transfer window was making his debut on the left flank. Carlos had most recently been on Darlington's books but started his career as a Manchester City trainee. He had been recommended to Alty boss Graham Heathcote by Alty's former Reserves' boss, Neil Brown, who had known him and his brother Shaleum (still at Man. City) since their junior football days. Warren Peyton moved to partner Sedgemore in centre-midfield and Joe O'Neill returned up front. Alty's other new signing, Sean Clancy, remained on the sidelines awaiting international clearance after playing in the USA. The injured Gary Scott was able to take part in the warm-up but remained unfit to play.

Facing Alty was former youth team product Lewis Chalmers who moved to The Shots last summer in a move which netted Altrincham nothing.

BACKGROUND:

This was Alty's third home game of the season but they had yet to take a point at Moss Lane. Today's opposition, Aldershot Town had never beaten Alty, though the goalless draw in the last game of last season had seemingly doomed Alty to relegation before the virtue of playing by the financial rule book allowed Alty a reprieve at the cost of Boston United. .

ALTRINCHAM: (Red & white striped shirts, black shorts and red socks): 1 Stuart Coburn; 15. Chris Lane, 5. Darren Tinson (capt), 4. Karl Munroe, 2. Steve Aspinall; 7. Robert Lawton, 6. Jake Sedgemore, 11. Warren Peyton, 22. Carlos Logan; 12. Joe O'Neill, 19. Chris Senior. Subs: 13. Richard Acton; 14. Stephen Rose, 17. Colin Potts, 18. Pat McFadden, 21. Gareth Whalley.

Altrincham substitutes:

ALDERSHOT TOWN: (Dark blue shirts and socks, red shorts): 1. Nikki Bull; 20. Rob Gier. 5. Rhys Day (capt), 6. Anthony Charles, 3. Anthony Straker; 7. Louie Soares, 16. Scott Davies, 8. Lewis Chalmers, 19. Ben Harding; 12. Jonny Dixon, 10. Rob Elvins. Subs; 4. Ricky Newman, 14. Danny Hylton, 17. Kirk Hudson, 18. David Winfield, 33. Michael Jaimez Ruiz.

After the toss-up, Aldershot elected to change ends, presumably so that they could attack the away end in the second half. The game was started in cloudy conditions which favoured neither one end nor the other. They had brought a decent number of supporters on a day when, throughout the BSP, attendances were low. Aldershot started brightly but Alty held their own before play stopped six minutes into the contest for Day to receive the physio's attention. After the restart, an attempted ball forward by Chalmers was charged down by O'Neill and the ball went out of play. From Lane's throw, Senior executed a good overhead shot which Bull saved comfortably (8 mins). Alty went closer after 9 minutes when Lawton beat Straker and his low cross from the right only just evaded Senior inside the box. Alty were now doing well and enjoyed more of the possession over the next period of the game. Debutant Logan was beginning to look a danger with his pace on the Alty left and when he fired in an excellent half-volley at goal, Bull appeared to do well to tip the shot over the bar but a goalkick followed (13 mins). Alty were now setting the agenda but both sides were still not keeping possession as well as they should have done. Following a Lane freekick near half-way, Sedgemore volleyed wide from 25 yards. Aldershot continued to concede freekicks with regularity, another arising when Munroe was held in the centre circle. Munroe himself got on the end of Lane's kick and a corner resulted, which Bull punched emphatically clear (22 mins). But Alty continued to press. Just after a spat between Senior and Davies over a throw-in on the Popular Side, which referee Richardson resolved with a lecture to both players, Alty lost concentration and allowed Harding to advance unchallenged up the middle from halfway. He fed Dixon, to his left and, from just outside the box, the striker curled a shot into the net over Coburn, who had come off his line. So, as the BBC said, "Aldershot took the lead with their first real attacking move" (24 mins).

Apart from a couple of long throws, Lewis Chalmers was having surprisingly little effect on the game on his return to Moss Lane. But after their goal, Aldershot were transformed and began to take the game to Altrincham. Soon, Coburn had to save a shot from Davies. But when Senior was blatantly blocked off by a Shots' defender, Alty had a freekick on the very edge of the Shots' box. However, Sedgemore's resulting effort cleared the bar (30 mins). Referee Richardson was awarding regular freekicks against Aldershot but was also allowing a few things to go which he should not have done. However, when Chalmers committed an offence in midfield he became the first name in the referee's book (31 mins). Graham Heathcote was less than impressed by the referee telling him to "Stop being so naive".

Soon, Logan did well for Alty and the ball came to Senior who did very well to get to the by-line then jiggle past a defender to the right of goal, to lay an inviting low cross into the goalmouth where Peyton seemed certain to score but somehow missed the ball which then came to a startled Lawton who could not capitalise and vented his anger at his team-mate's lapse in front of goal (37 mins). A home corner followed which curled out for a goalkick from Sedgemore's kick, to the annoyance of his manager. But Alty were now pressing well and won three succcessive corners in a minute, the last of which, from Sedgemore, clipped the bar. At the back Tinson and Munroe were doing well for Alty but after a foul by Peyton, Davies's freekick produced a corner off Tinson's misheader. Coburn was fouled as the corner came in before Alty had a great escape. Harding played a ball to set Elvins clear, but looking suspiciously offside. No flag went up but the striker poked his shot badly wide of the goal (42 mins).

A blatant obstruction by Gier on Logan, as the speedy left winger pushed the ball past the man, earned the former Cambridge United man a deserved yellow card as the game went into two added minutes of play at the end of the first half. Gier paid a higher price still when the resulting freekick from Apspianll, from five yards inside his own half on the Alty left, drifted into the visitors' box and was allowed to bounce forcing keeper Bull to retreat and catch the ball under the bar. But to everyone's amazement, he then let go of the ball, presumably feeling that his momentum was carrying him back over his own line, and the ball dropped invitingly for centre-back Tinson to poke it home from a couple of yards out to give Alty a deserved equaliser.

The goal also preserved the Robins' record of not going into the interval this season other than ahead or on level terms (45+1 mins). If only games finished after 45 minutes! There was still time for another chance when Logan fed O'Neill and the striker was blocked as he shot from inside the box (45+2 mins).

Aldershot got the second period underway but an Alty goalkick followed within seconds. The home side then went at the visitors and after Peyton had been felled, Aspinall's freekick was cleared to Peyton whose rasping 25-yard right-footed shot was brilliantly beaten out by Bull (48 mins). Another Alty freekick from Aspinall from 65 yards out came to nothing but the visitors continued to concede fouls as a cynical block by Day on Logan earned him a lecture. Sedgemore's kick was then fumbled by the uncertain Bull but Senior snatched at the loose ball and volleyed over the bar from right of goal (55 mis).

Logan continued to look menacing on the Alty left but his next ball into the box saw Senior opt to check his advance rather than outpace the defence and, though he found Peyton, the midfielder lost the ball. But Aldershot looked dangerous on the counter attack and Day should have hit the target when the Alty defence allowed him a free header from Chalmers' long throw from the right. "He's 6ft 4inches tall and we allowed him a free header. That can't be right" shouted the Alty boss to Warren Peyton, suggesting that such an obvious danger to the Alty goal should have been nullified.

A turning point arrived after 58 minutes when Logan limped off for treatment to his right leg. Alty continued with ten men until physio Sean Riley decided Carlos could not continue and Colin Potts eventually came on for him (62 mins). Altrincham continued to press forward but Aldershot still carried a threat on the counter-attack. Senior forced Bull to a full-length save (67 mins) before O'Neill had a shot blocked after a neat exchange with Senior.

At the other end, a Soares shot deflected off Munroe to Coburn. But Alty responded with a fine ball from O'Neill with which Senior only just failed to make contact. Aldershot made a swap after 69 minutes as Hylton replaced Elvins up front. His first action was to commit a foul on Munroe. Play swept from end to end as Straker's shot was deflected to Coburn (72 mins). Munroe then got in a excellent covering tackle, as he continued to have a fine game on his recall at the back. After a good interception from Aspinall, a Shots' corner arrived (75 mins). A second corner followed a minute later but then, against the overall run of play in the second half, the visitors scored. Harding fired in a low cross from the left towards the back post where Soares converted the chance with a firm, low shot past Coburn to make it 1-2 (77 mins).

Before the goal Alty's McFadden had been waiting to come on and now he duly did, replacing Senior (77 mins). Hylton was then booked after stupidly kicking the ball away after he had tripped Lane. Then each side made a change; Newman came on for Aldershot's Dixon, whilst Whalley replaced Peyton in midfield for Altrincham (79 mins). Alty were understandably deflated by the goal after their good football in the preceding 30 minutes. Potts, on the Alty right, continued to look the most likely source of an Alty goal at this stage and McFadden also got in a couple of decent crosses from the other flank. But when Whalley looked about to get on the end of another telling cross from the right by Potts he went down under a challenge at the back post inside the six-yard box but referee Richardson showed no interest in a penalty appeal (83 mins). Potts soon got past two defenders and won a freekick but this was cleared. The Visitors' manager, Gary Waddock mysteriously shouted at his charges to "Remember Histon!", which presumably meant something to them if not to the bemused Altrincham supporters in the adjacent stand.

Lawton then played in a good ball from the right which skimmed off McFadden's head, wide of the target before another impressive tackle at the Alty end by Munroe saw off an Aldershot response (89 mins). Alty then had a stong penalty appeal for handball rejected with the offender falling to the ground as if poleaxed by the ball - only to get up as soon as the decision went his way. Bull then punched clear from a Potts freekick as Alty continued to attack the Shots' goal with the game going into three minutes of extra time.

Another penalty appeal followed for handball and a further appeal for a similar offence also went unheeded in the third added minute, as Whalley's cross hit Charles's hand. Karl Munroe earned a booking for passing some comment about this decision (90+3 mins). There was just time for a very late Alty corner but Potts underhit this to the first defender at the near post and the match soon ended with Alty very unlucky to have no reward for a very spirited effort against their full-time opponents. Whilst Darren Tinson was named as Alty's Man of the Match, and Soares took the visitors' award, strong alternative candidates would have been Munroe and Harding respectively. And if he had managed to last the full ninety minutes, Logan looked to be capable of lifting the award and of ensuring an Alty win on his debut.

Before we get too despondent at Alty's start to the season, which has seen us winless after six games, we should follow Gary Waddock's mantra but instead of "Remember Histon", Graham Heathcote should tell the players to "Remember 1998-99", when we started the campaign with eight games without a win yet went on to win the UniBond Premier League by a comfortable margin by the end of that season!