Match Report

SUMMARY:

As they did against Farsley earlier in the week, Altrincham underperformed in the first half only to dominate the second period. But after conceding a 13th minute goal, when Rankine was allowed a free header from a right-side corner, Altrincham could not convert possession into an equalizing goal. Little's flashing volley across goal was the nearest they got in the second half. So, Alty remain firmly involved in the relegation battle, with Farsley now just two points behind with two games in hand.

SCORERS

REFEREE: Mr S Procter-Green

Robbie Lawton was fit to start despite picking up an injury in midweek against Farsley. So the replacement of Chris Senior up front by Tom Cahill was the only change to the starting line-up.

BACKGROUND:

Altrincham's away form has been better than their home this season but they had not taken as much as a point at Nene Park in four previous league visits.

LINE-UPS

RUSHDEN AND DIAMONDS (White shirts, shorts and socks): 30. Dale ROBERTS; 2. Curtis OSANO, 4. Phil GULLIVER, 26. Michael CORCORAN, 24. Dean HOWELL, 11. Andy BURGESS, 16. Tom SHAW, 8. Curtis WOODHOUSE, 18. Marcus KELLY; 14. Michael RANKINE, 9. David BROWN. Subs: 1. Paul BASTOCK, 7. Jon CHALLINOR, 15. Lee TOMLIN, 17. Andy GOODING, 27. Abdou el-KHOLTI.

ALTRINCHAM (Pale and dark blue shirts, pale blue shorts and socks): 1. Stuart COBURN; 16. Ryan SHOTTON, 5. Darren TINSON (capt), 10. Greg YOUNG, 24. James JENNINGS; 23. Ryan TOULSON, 7. Robbie LAWTON, 25. Liam KING, 11. Warren PEYTON; 9.Colin LITTLE, 14. Tom CAHILL. Subs: 3. Gary SCOTT, 12. Joe O'NEILL, 15. Chris LANE, 17. Richard BATTERSBY, 19. Chris SENIOR.

Alty Subs:

Right; Alty's Tom Cahill competes with Rushden's white-clad captain, Phil Gulliver.

After changing ends, it was Rushden who played into the bright, low sun in the first half. Altrincham started quite brightly with Cahill doing well inside the box before Diamonds could clear the ball (4 mins). Play continued past the 10 minute mark with a half-full bottle of water still escaping the attention of the keen-eyed match officials as it lay on the pitch, 10 yards inside the touchline, having been left there in the warm-up by an Alty player. But then Rushden won a corner, following a Jennings miskick and a low cross by Burgess. Kelly's corner from the right appeared to come off a home player and Mr Procter-Green seemed uncertain what to award before unconvincingly giving a second corner from the right. Alty left Rankine, a former Moss Lane trialist, unmarked and from the centre of the goalmouth, he headed firmly past Coburn with his side's first serious attempt on goal (13 mins).

The goal put an end to Alty's promising start and, soon, professional boxer Curtis Woodhouse -an Ivan Campo lookalike - lashed a shot well over the Alty bar (15 mins). At the other end, Alty were repeatedly being caught offside. The visitors were fortunate not to concede a second goal in the 18th minute. This happened when Coburn mis-punched a Burgess cross, before a defender mis-kicked the ball towards Brown at the back post. But with an open goal, Brown made a poor connection, allowing an Alty defender to clear off the line.

Rushden were now on top but play was pretty scrappy overall. In the 24th minute Alty got to the other end and from Jennings's cross from the left, Howell headed the ball narrowly over his own bar, under pressure from Little. However, Jennings wasted the corner, putting it into the side-netting (24 mins). When Jennings then pushed over Rankine, he was cautioned for the fourth time this season (27 mins). The resulting freekick came off Tinson's head for a corner. Play continued almost entirely in the visitors' half, with Alty struggling to string any sequence of passes together. Jennings, who has been impressive since arriving on loan at New Year, was having an unhappy afternoon as he lost possession and then, moments later, sliced the ball out of play (34 mins).

Young then headed Howell's cross clear for a corner (35 mins) before Woodhouse escaped a booking for a waist-high challenge on Lawton. Jennings then did well to clear for a Rushden corner as he covered for Shotton. Following the corner, Coburn came out smartly to smother the ball. Alty lifted their game before the break as, firstly, Cahill got into the box from King's feed, and then a good cross from Jennings was cleared (43 mins). As the half ended, Tinson needed treatment after being caught by Rankine's elbow (45 mins). So, after a bright start, Alty had put in a disappointing display and could not complain at trailing at the interval.

Things looked up for Alty after the break, as King surged forward but saw his shot saved in the first minute. At the other end, Gulliver shot wide but it was Alty who were now on top, with Lawton winning a corner (51 mins). After Cahill had seen his cross cleared, a fine tackle from King halted the Diamonds' counter-attack. The under-performing Rushden now brought on Tomlin for Brown, the former Accrington man (57 mins). Cahill's last involvement was to be pulled up for handball before being replaced by Senior (61 mins)

After Coburn had smartly gathered the ball, ahead of Howell, Alty went to the other end where Lawton seemed to be clearly pushed in the penalty area but Alty once more got nothing out of Mr Procter-Green. Now Battersby replaced Toulson on the Alty right (64 mins). Alty continued to take the game to their full-time opponents but without creating clear openings. After Rushden had been mis-awarded a throw-in, Young made a rare mistake, allowing Tomlin a shot, which he put wide (67 mins). Soon, Coburn was again quickly out to smother the ball, before the referee himself blocked a King pass to annoy the visitors even more about his performance. An Alty corner soon followed, with another arriving three minutes later (72 mins). This corner arose after Lawton had fed Senior, who opted to dummy, rather than shoot. Alty's pressure produced another corner from Little's blocked shot (74 mins).

Challinor now replaced Kelly for Rushden (75 mins), with O'Neill coming on for Peyton soon afterwards (77 mins). Next, O'Neill got in a good cross from the right and then Joe fired over from 20 yards (81 mins). Jennings's freekick, following a foul on Senior, went to the keeper as time ticked away (83 mins). Five minutes from time, Gooding replaced Shaw for the Diamonds and soon afterwards Rankine made a poor attempt to chip Coburn as it looked as if his side had ridden Alty's second-half pressure. Indeed, Rushden won a late corner before Burgess was inexplicably not booked for kicking the ball away at a freekick (89 mins). In the three added minutes, King's well-taken freekick was volleyed across goal by Little (90+2 mins). Challinor was then booked for a foul just before time ran out on Altrincham. With Farsley and Stafford winning, Alty remain dangerously placed just above the bottom four, having failed to find the net for the second successive game.