Match Report


AFC WIMBLEDON (1) 3 ALTRINCHAM (0) 1

FA Trophy Round 2 match
played on Tuesday, 19 January 2010, at 7.45pm


SUMMARY:

The final score flattered Wimbledon who benefitted from two weak decisions from referee Kinseley. Firstly he showed a yellow to AFC keeper Brown as Senior raced past him. The man in black presumably gave him the benefit of the doubt as a defender ran back but the foul itself was crude and cynical; then in the second half Senior got clear again only for the last man, Conroy to rugby tackle him from behind with both hands in front of the linesman and referee - no offence was detected by the officials.

Wimbledon went ahead after 40 minutes when Wellard drove a low shot home after a good run by Adjei. After 49 minutes Main made it 2-0 as the Alty defence parted before him. The introduction of Nicky Clee lifted Alty's performance and Danylyk scored a fine goal from 25 yards after a Clee throw (59 mins). Alty went for a leveller but were not helped by numerous poorly taken corners. Judge wrapped it up at 3-1 after 72 minutes after pinball in the Alty box, including a seeming hand ball on the line from an Alty defender. Altrincham's second half performance might have earned them a better reward on another night.


SCORERS

  • 40 mins: Ricky WELLARD (AFC Wimbledon 1 Altrincham 0)
  • 49 mins: Jon MAIN (AFC Wimbledon 2 Altrincham 0)
  • 59 mins: Anthony DANYLYK (AFC Wimbledon 2 Altrincham 1)
  • 72 mins: Ben JUDGE (AFC Wimbledon 3 Altrincham 1)


    REFEREE: Mr N Kinseley


    ATTENDANCE: 1,456


    TEAM NEWS

    With McAliskey cup tied, Denham started. Coburn remained injured and therefore Saunders continued in goal but Doughty, who limped off on Saturday, was able to start on the left of midfield. Bennett and Pearson came onto the bench. Wimbledon had four players cup-tied or ineligible.

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    BACKGROUND:

    This match had been arranged from 9th January when an icy pitch had caused its postponement. So it was a 400+ mile round trip on a Tuesday evening for Alty's part-time players and supporters.

    Altrincham's last visit to this ground - aptly described by one Altrincham supporter as a slightly larger version of Wincham Park - was to play the Kingstonian in 1999. The Ks now share the ground with AFC Wimbledon.

    The pitch was worn in places before tonight's game and there were some residual heaps of snow along the side of the pitch, which impeded Nicky Clee's long throws!


    LINE-UPS

    AFC WIMBLEDON (Blue shirts, yellow trim, blue shorts & socks): 13. Seb Brown, 2. Jay Conroy, 16. Brett Johnson, 4. Kennedy Adjei, 22. Paul Lorraine, 6. Ben Judge, 7. Samuel Hatton,17. Ricky Wellard, 9. Danny Kedwell, 10. Jon Main, 19. Ross Montague, SUBS 1. James Pullen, 14. Derek Duncan, 35. Matt Harmsworth, 36. Ryan Jackson, 37. James Stenning.

    ALTRINCHAM (Red and white striped shirts, black shorts, red socks): 13. Russell SAUNDERS, 6. Shaun DENSMORE, 2. James SMITH, 12. Robbie WILLIAMS, 5. Greg YOUNG; 7. Robbie LAWTON, 16. Anthony DANYLYK, 4. Tom KEARNEY, 3. Matt DOUGHTY; 19. Chris SENIOR, 10. Chris DENHAM. SUBS: 11. Nicky CLEE. 18. Michael WELCH, 9. Colin LITTLE, 21. Andrew PEARSON, 20. John BENNETT.


    REPORT

    The referee brought the teams out late and so the game got under way more than two minutes late with Altrincham kicking off, defending the away end. An early offence by Main set a surprising first half pattern of the home side, who have recorded the fewest bookings in the BSP this season, conceding regular freekicks for foul challenges. From Densmore's freekick an unnecessary corner was conceded to Alty on their left. From this, Young rose superbly at the near post and his header was heading for the goal when a defender headed it off the line (2 mins). Main then went down for some treatment before the game went through a fairly uneventful period with Altrincham making more of the attacking movements. From another Alty freekick a Senior header went comfortably to goalkeeper Brown.

    Wimbledon continued to stutter whilst Altrincham themselves were not able to create any more clear openings. Indeed, Denham was spending as much time tracking back to help the defence, leaving Senior as the lone threat up front at times. From yet another Alty freekick, Doughty's ball skidded across the Wimbledon goal to safety. Wimbledon's first threat of note was a 21st minute header which ran easily to Saunders. Young now had to leave the pitch for treatment to a head injury and he was to return some minutes later with a large head bandage. Next, leading scorer Kedwell, who was deployed behind the front two for Wimbledon, fired very wide from 25 yards (24 mins). Alty then threatened through Doughty and Senior but former Woking defender, Lorraine, saw off the danger.

    Though a 410 mile return trip for Alty fans on a Tuesday night, which also clashed with a televised Manchester Derby on TV, was not a recipe for a strong away showing on the Kingsmeadow terraces, they nevertheless turned up in decent numbers and gave a good vocal account of themselves, reinforced by the "London Alty" contingent. Slowly, the hosts raised their game with Kedwell firing narrowly wide just before the half-hour mark but Wimbledon were still making too many mis-passes with Adjei a major culprit. Alty must have fancied their chances of taking something from this game at this stage.

    Soon after Senior had been felled by Lorraine, the Alty forward was caught offside. Then, out of nothing, Wimbledon went ahead when Adjei, who had been having a poor game, suddenly produced a surge which took him between Kearney and Denham inmidfield. He fed Kedwell who played the ball inside, to his right, for Wellard. From just outside the box in a central position, Wellard fired a well-placed shot into Saunders's bottom right-hand corner to give the Dons a 1-0 lead (40 mins).

    Then came controversy as Senior got free up the middle and hared towards goal. Goalkeeper Brown raced 30 yards out from goal and made no effort to do anything other than bring down the Alty striker by kicking his legs away. A defender was attempting to rush back from the left back position towards goal but a red card seemed to be a formality; after all, had the roles been reversed and the defender had brought down Senior leaving the goalkeeper alone to keep out a shot, the defender would certainly have been dismissed. But to the amazement of even many of the home fans, Mr Kinseley flourished a yellow card. Needless to say the resulting freekick came to nothing for Altrincham (43 mins).

    In the three added minutes of the first half, the referee did show a degree of consistency when Alty left-back Young clearly pushed a Wimbledon player in the box but no decision was forthcoming from the man in black. As the players left the pitch, Altrincham's squad and management had a discussion with the referee and it was clear what the subject was.


    Half-Time: AFC WIMBLEDON 1 ALTRINCHAM 0

    An early second-half Alty corner led to Densmore firing wildly over the bar before Alty failed to stop a move involving Adjei, Montague and Main which ended with the defence standing off as the last-named slotted the ball into the bottom corner of Saunders's net (49 mins). 2-0 was a generous margin for the home side who had been far from as good as on their earlier visit to Moss Lane, where they had given the best performance from any team visiting Altrincham this season.

    Wimbledon now threatened to run away with the game as they won three successive corners, the last being scrambled away by Alty. However, the visitors had a couple of half chances before they made a double swap witn Clee and Little coming on and Doughty and Kearney going off (56 mins). Clee immediately made an impact with a fine run and cross from the left. This produced an Alty throw and, from Clee's throw-in the ball was half-cleared out of the box to Danylyk who met it with a superb drive stright back into the net from 25 yards (59 mins).

    With the score now 2-1, the sides traded corners. Adjei then emulated Young by sustaining a head injury and likewise needing a head bandage. Altrincham's frequent corners in this match were generally poorly taken but, when they won a series of three more flag kicks, the second was superbly taken by Little on the right. Curling to the back post it found Lawton unmarked but the Alty captain failed to hit the target from 5 yards (67 mins).

    The corners underlined Altrincham's spirit but Wimbledon stood firm until they relieved the pressure with a corner. From this the ball seemed to be goalbound from Main till Densmore pushed it out with his hand but, before the referee had to make a decision, he was no doubt relieved to see Judge put the loose ball into the net to restore his side's two-goal lead (72 mins).

    Altrincham still refused to lie down but when a Clee long-throw was nodded on by Young, Little punched it into the net and was justifiably booked (77 mins). Mr Kinseley having now found his card, used it again to book Kedwell for a professional foul on Clee (79 mins). But he failed to see an elbow in Smith's face soon afterwards which the Alty defender protested about to no effect. Young then surged upfield but was undone by his poor final pass. However, soon the big defender won his side a corner which was wasted by Densmore.

    Soon after this a defensive error by Conroy allowed Senior to get past him. Conroy, the last defender then clearly pulled down Senior from behind with a two-handed rugby-style tackle, which amazingly neither the nearby red and yellow flagged linesman nor the Isle of Wight referee managed to see.

    Alty continued to press forward with Denham becoming more prominent but despite a corner in added time, the visitors were unable to retrieve the game. Ultimately Wimbledon deserved their win as Alty's defensive lapses had cost them two of the three goals. But it might have been a much different story had both Brown and Conroy been dismissed as they should have been.


    Full-Time: AFC WIMBLEDON 3 ALTRINCHAM 1