Match Report

After an undistinguished opening few minutes, Alty keeper Stuart Coburn was soon in action, first smothering a ball in the six-yard box before having to stop an under-powered Morison shot from 20 yards (4 mins). Alty were then at sixes and sevens as the Alty keeper had to save at the foot of the post (6 mins) before Coburn had to take the ball off Boylan's head. With Chris Lane playing in the hole in front of the back four, Alty were concentrating on keeping Borough at bay rather than getting forward much but they appeared to have weathered the early storm when Stevenage won a throw on their left, a quarter of an hour into the game. From this the ball came to McMahon, who fed Laird, whose cross towards the back post looked to be covered by Coburn but the keeper stayed on his line as Young and Morison arrived at the back post. The big striker got in ahead of the Alty defender and poked the ball into the top of the net from very close range (16 mins). It was a poor goal to concede.

Above: Stuart Coburn remonstrates with his defence as Steve Morison (in the net) turns after scoring the first goal of the match from a left-wing cross at the back post. The other Alty players in the foreground are (l. to r) Warren Peyton, Greg Young and Mark McGregor.

At last Alty got forward but after Elam had done well to get past his man he inexplicably ran the ball into touch. Apart from a couple of Alty freekicks, which Coburn curiously took from the centre of goal, Lane was booked for a foul on McMahon, who was unable to play on (29 mins). Former Grays man Cole came on as his replacement (31 mins). Soon, Coburn was making a fine block after good play from Cole (32 mins). Next, a Boro' header cleared Alty's bar as the home side continued to set the pace. But then Elam had a great chance, getting clear and beating the keeper but rolling his shot wide of the open goal, from the right (34 mins). It was to be a costly miss. Soon afterwards Elam lost possession 30 yards from his own goal on Alty's left. The ball was worked into the box, with a couple of defenders and Bostwick going down near the penalty spot, the ball broke to Cole, who threaded a low shot across Coburn into the keeper's bottom left corner (36 mins).

But, almost immediately after the goal, Denham got in a fierce shot at the other end, which Day beat out well (37 mins). However, Stevenage were soon pressing again as Morison got the better of Peyton and Young, forcing a block from Coburn (40 mins). Alty were again indebted to their keeper when he diverted a low Morison shot over the bar for a corner. Alty continued to misfire as Elam ran the ball into touch (42 mins) and then Battersby sent a freekick straight to an opponent. After 3 added minutes, half-time arrived with Alty receiving some booing from a section of the travelling support, frustrated at seeing their side outclassed in the first 45 minutes.

Alty kicked off the second half, immediately conceding a goal-kick before Little, who had a quiet game, sliced an effort wide and Elam played a pass into touch. And when Battersby overhit a freekick for Little, it underlined the visitors' poor performance in this game so far. Alty then survived a penalty appeal and, a few minutes later, saw off a freekick conceded by McGregor just outside the box (52 mins). Henry's elbow in Denham's face in the Boro box was missed by the officials as Alty now enjoyed their best attacking spell of the game. Indeed, the visitors continued to press. But after Boylan had had to change his bloodstained shirt, Morison burst into the Alty box but his cross was missed by both Coburn and an attacker (57 mins).

Denham then won Alty a corner from which Lane's header hit team-mate Young. Denham was looking lively for Alty, and he soon had another run at the defence before he was blocked, the ball falling for Elam, who was also blocked off. After a Stevenage corner, Morison then threatened and, after this, another Boro cross produced another flag-kick. Following this, Boylan went down sufficiently dramatically just inside the box under Denham's challenge to convince the ref to award a penalty. Morison drove the spot-kick past Coburn, who almost got to it (73 mins).

With the game effectively over at 3-0, Alty made a swap, Senior coming on up front for Lane (74 mins). Two minutes later, a double substitution saw Johnson and Tierney replace Elam and, surprisingly, Denham, who looked Alty's most potent threat (76 mins). Following the third goal, Stevenage again gained the upper hand though Bostwick was booked for fouling Lawton (80 mins). Senior did get in a shot for Alty before Anaclet replaced Bostwick (83 mins). Three minutes later, Thomas replaced Boylan.

When Senior was fouled just outside the box, it was symptomatic of Alty's afternoon that Little, standing near the ball, was taken completely by surprise as the ball was played short to him (90 mins). Senior's blocked shot was Alty's last effort of the game before Peyton had to race back to stop the marauding Morison. And so, Altrincham's winless run was extended to seven games. Lack of goals has become a major concern but the malaise ran deeper than that today as Stevenage threatened to overrun Altrincham in the first half. The second half saw an improvement in the Alty performance but next Saturday's game against Lewes now assumes major importance in helping to restore some confidence in the side. of the few positives to be taken from the game, Danylyk and McGregor again performed well and Denham had a lively second half before being substituted, whilst Stuart Coburn prevented an even bigger defeat with several excellent saves.