< Altrincham FC Match Report

Match Report


ALTRINCHAM (5) 12 ALSAGER TOWN (0) 1

Cheshire Senior Cup Semi-Final
played on Tuesday, 8 February, 2011, at 7.45pm


SUMMARY

Altrincham reached the final of the Cheshire Senior Cup, where they will meet Northwich Victoria, with this high-scoring performance against Alsager Town. The visitors had been rocked recently by the departure of their manager and most of the first team but they kept going for 90 minutes and matched Alty in the corner-kick count.

Alty, giving debuts to goalkeeper Craig Dootson and midfielder Mohamed Coly, opened their account after 12 minutes when Robbie Williams sidefooted home after a short corner by Baynes was played into the box by Brown. Nicky Clee made it 2-0 with a low freekick from outside the box after 22 minutes. Baynes then dribbled through three challenges to score a fine third goal four minutes later. Beesley made it 4-0 after 35 minutes when a Baynes shot deflected to him, left of goal. A minute later, Beesley scored again from a Brown feed to leave Alty 5-0 ahead at the interval.

Twiss replaced Beesley at the break and then youth team captain, James Smart came on for Clee nine minutes into the second half. Next, a Baynes shot was deflected into the net to make it 6-0 (57 mins). Sam Hewson got two goals in three minutes (64 and 67 mins), the second a tap-in after Wedgbury's shot had been blocked.

Despite an injury to Smart reducing Alty to ten men from the 73rd minute, the ninth goal was hammered home by Baynes in the 77th minute and, three minutes later, Wedgbury scored after his first efort had been parried (80 mins). Two superb long-range, lobbed efforts completed Alty's dozen; Baynes netted from 50 yards and Wedgbury from 40 yards (82 & 86 mins).

But Alsager got a deserved consolation goal in the ninetieth minute when the prostrate substitute Hart managed to head the ball in at the near post after a corner.


SCORERS:

  • 12 mins: Robbie WILLIAMS (ALTRINCHAM 1 Alsager Town 0)
  • 22 mins: Nicky CLEE (ALTRINCHAM 2 Alsager Town 0)
  • 26 mins: Wes BAYNES (ALTRINCHAM 3 Alsager Town 0)
  • 35 mins: Mark BEESLEY (ALTRINCHAM 4 Alsager Town 0)
  • 36 mins: Mark BEESLEY (ALTRINCHAM 5 Alsager Town 0)
  • 57 mins: Wes BAYNES (ALTRINCHAM 6 Alsager Town 0)
  • 64 mins: Sam HEWSON (ALTRINCHAM 7 Alsager Town 0)
  • 67 mins: Sam HEWSON (ALTRINCHAM 8 Alsager Town 0)
  • 77 mins: Wes BAYNES (ALTRINCHAM 9 Alsager Town 0)
  • 80 mins: Sam WEDGBURY (ALTRINCHAM 10 Alsager Town 0)
  • 82 mins: Wes BAYNES (ALTRINCHAM 11 Alsager Town 0)
  • 86 mins: Sam WEDGBURY (ALTRINCHAM 12 Alsager Town 0)
  • 90 mins: Jonathan HART (ALTRINCHAM 12 Alsager Town 1)


    REFEREE: Mr J Dowd


    ATTENDANCE: 233


    TEAM NEWS

    Marc Joseph returned after suspension and, in the absence of Lawton and Coburn from the starting eleven, he captained the side - though the team sheet indicated that the honour had gone to James Smith. Wes Baynes also returned to action, after being unable to play against his employers at Wrexham in midweek. Alty gave debuts to recent signing, goalkeeper Craig Dootson, and to Mohamed Coly, a tall Senegalese player from Radcliffe Borough, who played in midfield. Though present, Alty's top scorer, Damian Reeves, was not in the squad tonight for a game watched by new loan signing Greg Young.

    Alsager had been rocked recently by a managerial and player walk-out amidst so their line-up was an unknown entity to Altrincham before kick-off.


    BACKGROUND:

    Altrincham's last match had been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch but the surface was in excellent condition for this match.


    LINE-UPS

    ALTRINCHAM (Red & white striped shirts, white shorts, red socks) 30. Craig DOOTSON, 2. James SMITH, 4. Marc JOSEPH (capt), 5. Robbie WILLIAMS, 28. Sam WEDGBURY, 20. Sam HEWSON, 29. Mohamed COLY, 15. Ryan BROWN, 17. Wes BAYNES, 11. Nicky CLEE, 19. Mark BEESLEY, Subs: 9. Michael TWISS, 1. Stuart COBURN, 6. Shaun DENSMORE, 7. Robbie LAWTON, *. James SMART.

    ALSAGER TOWN (Blue) 1. Matthew Hollinshead, 2. Lucas Wood, 3. Matthew Smith, 4. Matthew Walker, 5. Jonathan Davies, 6. Richard Birchall, 7.Callum Westray, 8. Alex Bradford, 9. Carl Boughy, 10. Martin Moran, 11. Philip Wooton, Subs: 12. Daniel Mounsey, 14. Jonathan Hart, 16. Daniel Bradford, 15. Matthew Birt, 17. Lee Newell

    REPORT

    After fifty seconds Altrincham won the game's first corner through Clee but, from this, their first effort at goal was a high one from Hewson (2 mins). Altrincham set the early pace but apart from another two corners they had nothing to show for their efforts. From the latter of these two corners, on the left, Baynes fed the ball diagonally to Brown and his cross was sidefooted home from 12 yards or so by Rob Williams, who had gone forward expecting to use his height rather than his feet to score (12 mins).

    Alsager kept the game open and won themselves a corner before Beesley shot well wide from a promising opening, right of goal (16 mins). Clee, Baynes and Wedgbury were all using their pace to get forward at every opportunity but the second goal came from a set-piece. Hewson was fouled in the "D" of the opposition box and Nicky Clee drove a low freekick into the keeper’s bottom left hand corner (22 mins).

    Despite their reverse, the visitors’ young supporters were giving their side great vocal support but they were momentarily silenced when Wes Baynes scored Alty's third in the 26th minute. After Coly had won the ball impressively in the air, Wes picked up the ball 30 yards or more from goal before dribbling into the box and scoring a fine solo goal.

    A surging run and shot from Clee ended with Beesley smacking the parried ball against the post (27 mins). Wedgbury then fired over the bar before Hollinshead saved another Beesley effort. But Alsager went to the other end and won another corner (30 mins) before Alty got their fourth goal. Baynes's fierce shot deflected off a defender to Beesley who slotted it into the net (35 mins). And a minute later Beesley scored a fifth, from a Brown feed (36 mins).

    The one-way traffic continued and Alsager may have suffered a further blow had the referee pointed to the spot when Hewson seemed to be tripped in their box (41 mins). Half time arrived just after Marc Joseph had got on the end of an Alty move but had shot wide (44 mins).


    Half-Time: ALTRINCHAM 5 ALSAGER TOWN 0

    Referee Dowd was unable to continue after the break and one of his assistants took over in the middle. Alty also made a change, as Twiss replaced Beesley, whilst Alsager brought on Hart. James Smith won Alty an early corner (48 mins) which was followed a few minutes later by a second from which Coly had a clear header but put it wide.

    After 54 minutes Alty Youth captain James Smart came on for his debut, wearing a numberless shirt as he slotted in on the left of the back line. He replaced Nicky Clee with the fourth official's board uniquely showing number "00" replacing number "11"!

    Baynes made it 6-0 when a shot of his was deflected off a defender into the net (57 mins). A minute later, Newell replaced Wood for the visitors and, just after the hour mark, Robbie Lawton came on for Mohamed Coly in the Alty midfield (61 mins).

    After an Alsager corner, Westray got in a shot at the underemployed Dootson but, soon, Sam Hewson made it 7-0 when his initial shot was well saved but the Alty midfielder converted the rebound (64 mins). Hewson added another goal three minutes later when Wedgbury's firm shot from right of goal was parried out and Hewson tapped it in (67 mins).

    There was then a stoppage after Smart came off worse going for a 50-50 with Alsager substitute, Newell, who was booked for his challenge. Though Smart returned to the match a couple of minutes later he was unable to continue and suffered the disappointment of being unable to complete his first-team debut (73 mins).

    Despite being down to ten men, Baynes hammered in Alty's ninth goal from a Wedgbury feed (77 mins) and then Alsager rocked to concede two more goals in quick order. Firstly, Wedgbury made it 10-0 after his first shot had been saved (80 mins) and then, out of nothing, Baynes scored with a brilliant lob from, inside the centre circle, some 50 yards out to make it 11-0. Had Alty fans not been spoiled by Michael Welch's 74-yard goal a couple of years ago, Baynes's effort would have been hailed as the longest range goal at Moss Lane for many a year.

    Sam Wedgbury completed the Alty scoring as he too lobbed the keeper from 40 yards to make it 12-0. Goalkeeper Hollinshead had unfortunately thrown the ball out to the Alty man but it was harsh on him to be punished by such a clinically executed lob from the on-loan Macclesfield midfielder (86 mins).

    But to underline how Alsager kept going and did not resort to negativity, they had the final say, scoring a deserved consolation goal in the 90th minute. This came after their sixth corner of the evening when Hart, already prostrate at the near post, somehow managed to head the ball along the ground into the net - to produce the biggest cheer of the night.

    Though they did not match the record 14-2 home win in their inaugural season as Altrincham FC, against Sale Holmfield in 1903-04, (coincidentally, that was also in the Cheshire Senior Cup), tonight Altrincham may well have recorded their highest ever score at Moss Lane as the 1903 game will have been played at their previous Pollitt's Field ground.


    Full-Time: ALTRINCHAM 12 ALSAGER TOWN 1