Match Report

REFEREE: Mr Wayne BARRATT (Halesowen)

With the ill Warren Peyton on the bench, Alty were down to the bare bones. Colin Little was out with a rib injury, joining Potts, Owen and Whalley on the casualty list.

A familiar face in the Histon squad, was former Alty keeper Lance Key who played for us on loan in 2000. But missing from the Stutes' line-up was the suspended leading scorer Cliff Akurang.

BACKGROUND:

This was Altrincham's first ever visit to the compact Glassworld Stadium. As on our visits to nearby Cambridge United it seems to be a local constabulary custom to send visiting supporters' coaches away from the ground to an obscure location a quarter of a mile away, from where the fans have to find an unsignposted route to the ground and then reverse their trek in the dark after the game. At least, unlike at the Abbey Stadium, there was no field with cows, and their deposits, to negotiate. However, once inside Histon's ground, the welcome was a friendly one.

LINE-UPS

HISTON (Red shirts, black shorts and socks): 21. Danny NAISBITT; 24. Craig POPE, 5. Matthew LANGSTON, 30. Patrick ADA, 25. Gareth GWILLIM; 3. Erkan OKAY, 7. John KENNEDY, 6. Adrian CAMBRIDGE, 18. Nathaniel KNIGHT-PERCIVAL; 10. Antonio MURRAY, 23. Danny WRIGHT. Subs: 1. Lance KEY, 4. Mathew MITCHEL-KING, 8. Neil ANDREWS, 11. Jamie BARKER, 17. Robbie NIGHTINGALE.

ALTRINCHAM (Pale and dark blue striped shirts, pale blue shorts and socks): 1. Stuart COBURN; 15. Chris LANE, 5. Darren TINSON (capt), 16. Ryan SHOTTON, 3. Gary SCOTT; 12. Joe O'NEILL, 7. Robbie LAWTON, 6. Jake SEDGEMORE, 22. Carlos LOGAN; 19. Chris SENIOR, 20. James DEAN. Subs: 13. Richard ACTON, 2.Steve ASPINALL., 4. Karl MUNROE, 11. Warren PEYTON, 18. Pat McFADDEN, .

Alty Subs:

On a very dull afternoon Histon kicked off and, following the first of Adie Cambridge's trademark long throws, they won an early corner which was badly wasted, the ball being kicked behind the goal. After a fairly even and uneventful few minutes, Tinson conceded another corner to Histon (8 mins). Referee Barratt was not helping the flow of the game with constant whistles for freekicks but this could not disguise the disappointing quality of the game, which was epitomised by Sedgemore's shot which missed the left corner flag by inches (15 mins). However, Sedgemore soon made amends with an astute, quickly taken short freekick which got Senior to the by-line, left of goal, from where his cross was half-cleared to Shotton, whose shot was blocked (16 mins). The stalemate continued for another five minutes or so. Then 25 yards out from his own goal, Lawton lost the ball to Cambridge, who fed Wright ahead of him. The striker lashed an unstoppable drive from 18 yards past Coburn, giving the Alty keeper no chance of making a save as it entered the net off the post to the keeper's right (23 mins).

When Knight-Percival elbowed Lane in the ribs in an aerial challenge the Alty player needed lengthy treatment but the referee gave Histon a throw rather than awarding an Alty freekick (27 mins). With the floodlights now on, Alty were caught sleeping at a Histon freekick when Cambridge mimicked Sedgemore's earlier short, quick kick, to set Murray free, but his shot, from left of goal, ended in the side-netting (29 mins).

Histon were now enjoying the better of the game but were denied by two stupendous saves in succession by Coburn to beat out Histon efforts. First he clawed away a goalbound header from Wright before instantly recovering to block Okay's drive by the foot of the post. But Histon maintained the pressure by winning another corner but this came to nothing. After 37 minutes Alty had a narrow escape when Okay's cross from the right found Murray beyond the back post and he played the ball back across the Alty goalmouth but could not find a team-mate. Tinson was doing well for Alty but had to concede a corner, for which once again all eleven players were massed in the visitors' box.

But as half-time approached, Alty produced their best move of the game, which ended with Logan feeding Senior and from left of goal, he laid the ball off for O'Neill, whose shot forced a fine point-blank save by Naisbitt (40 mins). Then, as the game went into added time, another good Alty move ended with Dean's pass for Lawton, whose firm shot was beaten out at the near post by Naisbitt (45 mins). Though a surprisingly short one minute of added time was indicated, three were actually played but without the score being changed.

The first significant incident of the second half was the booking of Logan, who jumped in on Kennedy, who reacted aggressively, and with Lawton then steaming in, referee Barratt opted to resolve the sitaution by issuing a caution to the original offender (47 mins). Next, after Alty had scrambled away a Histon attack, Murray shot wide, following Knight-Percival's cross (52 mins). Histon went close again when Knight-Percival's header at the back post landed on the roof of the net, after Logan had lost the ball (58 mins).

Controversy arose when Senior chased a ball up the middle which keeper Naisbitt got to first but, after he had gathered the ball he raised his foot, catching Senior in the ribs and laying the Alty man low (59 mins). Referee Barratt gave no foul to the annoyance of Graham Heathcote. Senior resumed after lengthy treatment with Logan's "friendly" throw-in to the opposition restarting play.

Following yet another long throw from Cambridge, a Histon header found the side netting (63 mins). Soon afterwards Shotton, who had been hobbling, went down for treatment before the game continued its generally uneventful course. From Gwillim's cross, Wright headed badly wide (72 mins). Altrincham did then get forward and from Shotton's long throw, Tinson nodded the ball on, but Logan's shot on the turn went comfortably wide. At this point, each side made a change, Aspinall replacing the ineffective Dean and Barker coming on for Histon's goalscorer, Wright. O'Neill now pushed up front for Alty as Lawton moved to the right to accommodate Aspinall in centre-midfield (75 mins). O'Neill was soon getting some change out of the aerial challenges which previously had almost uniformly gone Histon's way.

The change of personnel had an almost immediate effect when Aspinall fed Senior for a rare Alty shot, which Naisbitt saved comfortably, low down. But Adie Cambridge missed a clear chance at the other end when he headed badly over the bar from Barker's cross (79 mins). Alty pressed forward in the closing stages but a promising move ended with Lawton's poor cross from the left, from Logan's feed, the ball going behind the net (85 mins).

At the other end, Knight-Percival headed a cross from the right by Kennedy across goal from the back post, to Altrincham's relief (86 mins). After Shotton had dwelt on the ball, Histon won a corner, after which Munroe replaced the ailing Shotton (87 mins). Alty created a good opening with an incisive attack after 89 minutes, but though Logan gathered Senior's cross from the right, and evaded the advancing Naisbitt, he was driven too far left to get in a shot. O'Neill then won a corner before a signalled 3 added minutes started. This turned out to be 5 minutes and in the third of these, Cambridge conceded a freekick 25 yards out in a central position for handball. His protests earned the Stutes' captain a booking. Sedgemore's freekick appeared to be handled by a defender in the wall but Alty's appeals were to no avail. And with that decision went Alty's last chance to take a point from the game. Histon had not played particularly well but given the chances they created, Altrincham could not complain too much at the outcome.