Match Report
ALTRINCHAM (0) 1 EBBSFLEET UNITED (3) 3
SUMMARY:
Above: Colin Little's penalty was the only bright spot for Alty against Ebbsfleet.
Alty's poor home form continued as calamitous defending saw them ship three goals to a far from world-beating Ebbsfleet United side in just eight minutes during the first half. The game turned on Carlos Logan's excellent shot against the Fleet cross bar in the 28th minute for the visitors went straight to the other end where Purcell was allowed too much space and hammered a shot at goal, which Coburn parried briliantly. But the striker reacted the quickest and drove home the loose ball from left of goal (29 mins). Nade was then allowed an unchallenged header from a corner to make it 2-0 after 35 minutes. Then, two minutes later, from a cross from the Ebbsfleet right, Chris Lane looped a header over Coburn from 12 yards to record an own goal (37 mins). Alty had conceded three goals in eighteen minutes at Salisbury last Saturday and had now leaked another three in less than half that time. Alty, who had lost captain Darren Tinson to injury just over a minute before conceding the first goal brought on Colin Little and Gareth Whalley at the interval and did better in the second half. They got back into the game when Little was felled inside the box and he got up to score from the spot after 66 minutes but despite the sending off of Bostwick for a second yellow card after 72 minutes, Altrincham were unable to get past a solid Ebbsfleet defence.
SCORERS
REFEREE: Mr. R Merchant
ATTENDANCE: 861
TEAM NEWS
Stuart Coburn replaced Richard Acton in goal and Joe O'Neill gave way to Carlos Logan but these were the only changes from last Saturday's 3-3 draw at Salisbury. However, on the bench Gareth Whalley returned from injury to displace Pat McFadden. So, once again, the on-loan James Dean was preferred up front to Colin Little.
Ebbsfleet were without the injured Eribenne but Ricketts returned, on the bench.
BACKGROUND:
Ebbsfleet were amongst the lowest scorers in the division but were still in the top ten in the table. Alty had lost just once in their last five league matches but their home form had been poor, with just four points taken from eight games. It was Moss Lane's second lowest gate of the season, a statistic not aided by Manchester City being at home and United live on TV at tea-time.
LINE-UPS
ALTRINCHAM (Red & white striped shirts, black shorts and red socks) 1. Stuart COBURN; 15. Chris LANE, 5. Darren TINSON (capt), 16. Ryan SHOTTON, 3. Gary SCOTT; 7. Robbie LAWTON, 6. Jake SEDGEMORE, 11. Warren PEYTON, 22. Carlos LOGAN; 19. Chris SENIOR, 20. James DEAN. Subs: 13. Richard ACTON, 4. Karl MUNROE, 9. Colin LITTLE, 12. Joe O'NEILL, 21. Gareth WHALLEY.
Alty Subs:
EBBSFLEET UNITED (Yellow shirts, white shorts, yellow socks): 1. Lance CRONIN; 12. Chris McPHEE, 26. Warren GOODHIND, 2. Peter HAWKINS, 3. Sasha OPINEL (capt); 18. Luke MOORE, 25. Michael BOSTWICK, 14. Neil BARRETT, 8. Stacey LONG; 9. Raphael NADE, 17. George PURCELL. Subs: 21. Sam MOTT (gk), 15. Mark RICKETTS, 5. James SMITH, 24. Luke COLEMAN, 23. Lee MASKELL.
REPORT
In front of a disappointing gate on a bright, sunny afternoon, Ebbsfleet kicked off towards their small contingent of fans at the Carole Nash End. Alty had the first decent crack at goal, a thirty-yarder from Peyton from Dean's lay-off, which cleared the bar (2 mins). But play in the first period was generally pretty uninspiring from both sides, with no flow to it and too much head-tennis. Alty again had half a chance in the eighth minute when a long throw by Shotton on the left was nodded onwards by Dean to Senior. He elected to try and lob the keeper from left of goal but got his effort wrong and it dropped harmlessly wide. Then Lawton got injured by what, from the other side of the pitch, appeared to be a ball in his face from a Lane header. Lawton came off and had to change into the so-called "blood shirt" whilst his nose was treated (9 mins).
Dean was then harshly punished when Hawkins ducked into a header and was caught by the Alty player's boot. The Fleet soon threatened, however, and it took a good recovery from Scott to see off Moore at the cost of the game's first corner on the Ebbsfleet right (12 mins). Shotton cleared Long's corner kick. Logan was beginning to look the most lively player on the pitch, playing on the Alty left but overall it was scrappy fare that was being served up to the spectators with little or no goalmouth incident. After 20 minutes, following a free-kick by Lane, the ball came out for a 25-yard effort from Sedgemore, which went narrowly wide. Logan continued to trouble McPhee and the visitors' defence in general and when the Alty winger was felled on the very edge of the box, Bostwick was booked (22 mins). The resulting freekick by Sedgemore was well hit but straight at keeper Cronin.
More good work from Logan led to a cross which seemed to be handled by a defender but play was waved on. Alty then had to make a swap as Darren Tinson came off, indicating a groin problem, and he was replaced by Karl Munroe at centre-back. Almost immediately more good work from Logan saw him turn superbly outside the box and fire a shot past Cronin which unluckily cannoned back off the cross bar. The ball fell for a diving header by Lawton but he did not connect firmly and the effort went wide in any case. In retrospect this was to be a decisive moment for, within a minute, Ebbsfleet had scored. Purcell was allowed time to advance in the inside-right channel and, though Coburn produced a magnificent save to beat out his shot, the ball ran to the keeper's right and as he dived back towards his line, Purcell reacted more quickly than the defence and hammered the ball into the net (29 mins).
This goal seemed to dishearten Alty but when, soon afterwards, Nade headed over from a Goodhind freekick after Peyton's foul on Moore, the referee surprisingly awarded a corner. Long's kick, from the right corner, found Nade completely unmarked and he powered home a header from 12 yards to make it 0-2 (35 mins). More jitters appeared in the Alty defence when Coburn deliberately allowed a ball to run out for what he thought was a goalkick but which was, in fact, a corner on the Fleet left after it had come off an Alty defender. This corner was only half cleared and when Barrett played the ball back into the box from the right, Lane rose to head it into his own net from 12 yards or so out (37 mins). So, two corners had cost Alty dear in as many minutes and they had now conceded three times in a disastrous eight minute period. "Are you trying to get me the sack?" was the laconic comment of Alty boss Graham Heathcote. Having conceded three goals in 18 minutes last Saturday, it was a case of déjà vu.
The errors continued as play continued towards half time, with Lawton giving the ball away and then Coburn mis-controlling a back pass but just recovering in time to clear (41 mins). There was a glimmer of hope whe Cronin dropped an aerial ball but the keeper recovered to smother Dean's resulting shot (43 mins). With the home crowd now subdued by their team's performance over the previous ten minutes half time arrived with Alty in deep trouble.
Half-Time: ALTRINCHAM 0 EBBSFLEET UNITED 3 |
Two substitutions were made by Altrincham at the interval. Little replaced Peyton and Whalley came on for Lane, so Alty now had three attackers on the pitch and just three defenders at the back. The switch had a beneficial effect as Alty now got forward and soon won a corner, their first of the match (47 mins). From this Sedgemore found Little whose header missed the target but found Munroe at the back post. The defender missed the target by some distance to underline the difference between the home and away side. The Fleet had had three chances and taken them all (48 mins). Next, a fine ball forward from Sedgemore set Senior free and, though he did well to beat a defender, Cronin made a good save from the resulting one-on-one situation, at the cost of a corner (50 mins). But this came to nothing. Next, Dean just failed to get on the end of a ball from Lawton before Nade was caught offside at the other end (56 mins).
The game now drifted through several minutes of nondescript play before Bostwick fired wide, from a long distance, soon after the hour mark. But when Dean fed Little inside the box, the Alty striker elected not to shoot but to try and dribble instead. He was brought down in the process by the peroxide blond Opinel for a clear penalty which Mr Merchant duly awarded. He then brandished a yellow card which seemed to be aimed at Hawkins. Little drove the penalty past Cronin, though the keeper guessed the right direction (66 mins).
Nade continued to prove a handful at the other end though a number of his challenges went unpunished. After Logan appeared to have been fouled Ebbsfleet went to the Alty end where a lack of communication between Munroe and Coburn saw the defender concede an unnecessary corner when he kicked the ball out of play with the keeper behind him (67 mins). Alty had an escape after 71 minutes when Long was given space and Coburn made a fine save, only for Bostwick to put the loose ball in the net but see the goal disallowed for offside. Moments later Bostwick came in very late on Whalley and saw his second yellow card, folowed by the inevitable red, to reduce his side to ten men (72 mins). After handball by Hawkins had gone unpunished, Alty's next chance arrived when Sedgemore had his shot well saved after a Whalley cross had been half cleared to him on the edge of the box (75 mins). Ebbsfleet then brought on Ricketts for Purcell (76 mins). After some more scrappy play, Little won his side a corner which ended with Munroe's header to Cronin (80 mins). With time ticking away, Alty failed to create any clear openings against the well organised ten men from Kent. However, another Alty corner arrived when Logan's cross from the left was deflected out of the frame of the Ebbsfleet goal. Two more corners followed in as many minutes and before the latter of these, Smith came on up front for Ebbsfleet in place of Nade (88 mins) and was soon to be booked for a foul on Munroe.
Four minutes of added time were awarded, during which another Alty corner materialised but the visitors survived the extra time withoiut too much alarm. On a day of indifferent performances, Little, who had only come on at half time was awarded the Alty Man of the Match award, presumably for scoring the Robins' only goal. Logan might have been a more deserving winner judged over the full ninety minutes. Nade won the award for the visitors.
So Alty's very disappointing home form continues. Had they just gained a point a game at home they would have been out of the relegation spots but they remain marooned in 21st place as the bottom four find themselves now five points adrift of the safety of 20th position.
Full-Time: ALTRINCHAM 1 EBBSFLEET UNITED 3 |