Match Report

SUMMARY: Altrincham's poor home form continued, despite a perfect start when Chris Senior scored a goal little more than two minutes after kick off after a long ball forward was helped into his path by an opponent. But, ultimately, Vics were good value for their win, levelling after 17 minutes when Little undid his own good interception by giving the ball away which led to Akins firing a shot at goal which Coburn was unable to hold. When Aspinall was harshly penalised on the edge of the box, Brown drove a low freekick past the wall into the bottom corner to Coburn's right to give the Vics a half-time lead (42 mins). Alty created little in the way of goalscoring chances in the second period but the game had a sting in the tail when Alty's Senior and Vics' former Woodley winger Horrocks were sent off for violent conduct after going head to head. Little almost rescued Alty when his fine turn and shot came back off the bar but the Vics rode out the closing stages and so closed the gap on their Cheshire rivals to just two points.

SCORERS

REFEREE: Mr D Richardson

Alty drafted in youth-team striker Tom Bailey into the league squad for the first time as they went into this game with only 15 fit players with BSP experience. Gareth Whalley was back after illness and Karl Munroe returned after injury. Manager Graham Heathcote made a surprise tactical switch, selecting Steve Aspinall and Gary Scott as his central midfield pairing with Warren Peyton reverting to left-back and Jake Sedgemore dropping to the bench.

With Wilson and Kerr suspended, Vics were also below full strength under new boss Dino Maamria.

Alty went into the game in 21st place whilst Northwich were bottom, so the game was vital to both teams as they sought to escape the relegation zone. The gate was Alty's biggest league attendance of the season. A number of Alty fans were sporting chef's hats as a topical allusion to a recent incident when a chef stole the takings from a Victoria Stadium restaurant.

Referee Richardson has officated at Moss Lane earlier this season, when he handled Alty's defeat by Aldershot Town.

LINE-UPS ALTRINCHAM (Red and white striped shirts, black shorts and red socks) 1. Stuart COBURN; 15. Chris LANE, 5. Darren TINSON (capt), 4. Karl MUNROE, 11. Warren PEYTON; 7. Robbie LAWTON, 2. Steve ASPINALL, 3. Gary SCOTT, 22. Carlos LOGAN; 19. Chris SENIOR, 9. Colin LITTLE. Subs: 6. Jake SEDGEMORE, 12. Joe O'NEILL, 14. Tom BAILEY, 18. Pat McFADDEN, 21. Gareth WHALLEY

Alty Subs:

NORTHWICH VICTORIA (Green shirts, white shorts and green socks) 13. Scott TYNAN; 15. Richard BATTERSBY, 14. Ryan BROWN, 8. Michael CARR (capt), 4. Michael WELCH; 7. Michael BYRNE 2. Simon RUSK, 29. Danny WILLIAMS, 27. Luke HORROCKS; 24. Lucas AKINS, 26. Nick FARQUHARSON. Subs: 1. Ben CONNETT (gk), 28. Adam MORNING, 17. Brad MAYLETT, 5. Greg STRONG, 9. Jake SPEIGHT..

After Mr. Richardson had surprisingly delayed the kick off to allow the visitors to have a prolonged "bonding" huddle, Northwich kicked off towards their travelling supporters and they enjoyed the better of the opening couple of minutes. But then an Alty punt up the middle of the field seemed to be nodded back from the centre of the field towards his own goal by a Vics’ head and it fell perfectly for Chris Senior, putting him clear of the defence. He kept his head well before driving the ball, low, past Tynan to give Alty the lead as the game went into its third minute. However, Alty almost conceded an equaliser straight from the restart but Farquharson missed badly, lifting his attempted lob over the bar as well as the advancing Coburn (3 mins). Northwich continued to enjoy more of the ball and won a succession of throw-ins in the Alty half before Williams got behind Aspinall only to fire over the bar from right of goal (8 mins). Another lapse by Alty again left Williams in plenty of space but his low cross from the by-line, left of goal, went behind his team-mates and was cleared.

Alty won a freekick when Lawton was tripped by Horrocks near half way (12 mins). An Alty throw and then a corner followed this, with Steve Aspinall taking the latter. Carlos Logan was showing some good endeavour on the Alty left, making good challenges on three occasions in the opening stages but then he got the ball he was being surrounded by covering players to prevent him embarking on any of his mazy runs. After Alty had lost possession, Colin Little did well to win it back inside his own half but then played a poor ball, intended for Senior, but which went to an opponent. Northwich played the ball forward but when Akins shot, low to Coburn's right, it looked as if the keeper might stop it but it somehow got past him and into the net to level the scores (17 mins). After the restart, Lawton won Alty a corner, taken short by Aspinall to Logan from whose cross the ball ended up in the keeper's arms when he took it off Tinson's head. Logan was then the victim of a very crude hack by Battersby who was rightly booked (20 mins).

Aspinall's resulting freekick was caught by Tynan. But soon Aspinall had to execute a fine tackle on Farquharson on the edge of the Alty box after he had got behind Tinson. It was Northwich who continued to play the ball about the better of the two sides and, indeed, they went on to enjoy 60% of the possession according to the BBC statisticians. Next, Vics won a corner when Tinson had to tidy up at the back post from a freekick and they soon threatened again when Williams shot from the right but Coburn held the ball well, low down (28 mins). But then Alty had a glorious chance to go ahead when Aspinall took advantage of a rebound and advanced upfield, exchanging passes with Little and finding himself with only Tynan to beat. But the midfielder lifted his shot over the bar when he should have hit the target (29 mins). Alty were to struggle to create another clear chance in the remaining hour of the game but for the moment they did enjoy some possession.

It then took a great tackle from Lane to stop the dangerous Farquharson, who is on loan for Huddersfield Town to the Vics. A very cynical foul by Williams on Logan earned him the Vics' second yellow card of the game (35 mins). Carr was then lucky when he appeared to catch an Alty player with his elbow for the second time in the game but though Alty won their share of freekicks they made no capital from them. Next a Byrne freekick went narrowly wide for the visitors before a neat interchange between Senior and Lawton, saw the latter shoot wide of the keeper’s left post (37 mins).

But the Vics were continuing to have the better of the game, belying their position at the foot of the league table. The turning point of the match came when Aspinall seemed to make a good tackle on Farquharson on the front edge of the Alty box only to be penalised by Mr. Richardson after the striker went down over Aspinall's leg. Brown drove the freekick from the inside-right channel, low, past the end of the Alty wall and the ball went on to evade Coburn's dive to enter the corner of the net and give Northwich the lead (42 mins). The travelling fans taunted the home supporters and their side soon threatened again when Williams was again left unmarked. In the two added minutes Alty had a strong penalty appeal rejected by Mr. Richardson when both Little and Senior went down in the box but few could argue at the interval that the Vics did not deserve their lead.

Brown (14) sees his freekick beat Coburn.

Altrincham had an early escape in the second half when Farquharson missed a sitter. From very close range and totally unmarked he shot tamely at Coburn to Alty's relief (49 mins). After a poor pass from Little, who was far from the only Alty player guilty of such a thing this afternoon, Aspinall received a booking for a foul on Byrne (51 mins). After some uneventful play comprising throw-ins and freekicks, the midfield experiment was abandoned and both Steve Aspinall and Gary Scott were withdrawn, to be replaced by Gareth Whalley and Jake Sedgemore respectively (58 mins). Yet again that complex state-of-the-art piece of electronics, the fourth official's indicator board, quite defeated the official in question and he ended up first displaying Aspinall’s number twice and then giving up, waving Sedgemore on without displaying Scott's number (58 mins).

The change perked Alty up for a while but without their creating any serious chances. At the other end, shots by Farquharson and Byrne came and went and then Horrocks shot wide from an offside position. Lawton was then given a freekick which was not a foul but Sedgemore wasted this, putting the ball out of play beyond the far post (66 mins). Logan then cut in well but shot badly wide (68 mins) before Peyton's cross was headed away from goal by Senior, trying to find a team-mate to no effect. At last Alty were applying pressure of a kind (70 mins). Farquharson then committed a crude challenge on Munroe which left the defender immediately signalling that he might have to come off. No booking resulted, as Joe O'Neill got ready to come on for the home team. Munroe was treated and resumed gingerly before playing an awkward back pass to Coburn which led to a Vics' corner on their left (73 mins). When Senior was clearly pushed over soon afterwards, Mr. Richardson further annoyed the home crowd when he gave a Vics' throw instead of an Alty freekick. But then, out of the blue, Colin Little almost got Alty an equalizer. the striker swivelled superbly 20 yards out but saw his fine shot come back into play off the cross bar (75 mins). At this point Joe O'Neill came on to add to the attacking force as Karl Munroe hobbled off leaving Alty with three at the back. Shortly afterwards Senior won the ball before clashing with Horrocks and both players went head to head . Referee Richardson first brandished a red at Senior and then the same colour card at Horrocks (77 mins). Senior who had earlier become the first Alty player to reach double figures of goals this season will be sorely missed by the stretched Altrincham squad.

Byrne then committed a very poor challenge on Lawton and was duly booked (79 mins). Morning now came on to replace Farquharson for the Vics (80 mins). Alty then pressed for an equalizer but the next corner came at the other end when Byrne's shot hit Lane (82 mins). Alty continued to try to get forward but the Northwich defence prevented any serious threats to Tynan's goal. O'Neill did win a corner (88 mins) but Sedgemore’s kick from the left failed to clear the first defender. And a minute later Peyton sliced a shot very wide.

As five minutes of added time were announced, Lane was booked for a foul after the referee had initially allowed play to continue to Northwich's advantage. Though Alty kept going to the end, they did not look likely to get a second goal and so went down to their ninth home league defeat of the season. This was a result to send alarm bells ringing as it was the first home defeat to a side currently lower than Alty in the table. With two more games before the transfer window reopens, Altrincham are now reduced to only 13 registered outfield players (12 if Karl Munroe's injury today is serious) who have ever played at Blue Square Premier level, so youth team players Tom Bailey and Danny Browne may well figure in the squad on Saturday.