Match Report
ALTRINCHAM (0) 0 HISTON (0) 3
played on Tuesday, 15 February, 2011, at 7.45pm
SUMMARY
An Alty side lacking five first-choice players, through both injury (Coburn, Densmore, Denham) and suspension (Smith and Piergianni), sank to a heavy defeat as Histon cruised to a comfortable double against the Robins. It was two incidents either side of half-time which set the tone for an abject second half for Altrincham. Alty had put in a decent twenty minutes in the middle of the half and, just before the interval, Wedgbury appeared to have scored from a Clee cross, following a corner, only for the linesman to raise a very late flag. Seemingly, Twiss, in an offside position, had helped the goalbound shot into the net to justify the official's decision.
Then, less than a minute into the second half, the ball was driven against Marc Joseph, who could not conceivably have got out of the way, but handball was given. From the resulting freekick routine, Dootson did well to save a Histon shot, only for Attwood to tap in the rebound. In the 74th minute, Riza made it 2-0 from the edge of the box as Greg Young backed off against the pacey Histon forward. Histon made it 3-0, ten minutes from time, when Clerima headed in following a corner. Misfiring Alty never looked like getting back into the game as the visitors deservedly left with three points.
SCORERS:
REFEREE: Mr B Khatib
ATTENDANCE: 621 (17 in away end)
TEAM NEWS
Alty's cause was not helped by the suspension of defender James Smith, whilst Shaun Densmore wass also out following his injury at Kidderminster. Carl Piergianni was also suspended tonight whilst goalkeeper Stuart Coburn and Chris Denham remained injured. Consequently, Alty had only four players on the bench tonight.
BACKGROUND:
The original fixture had fallen victim to bad weather on 18 December.
Mike Garnett informed us that our record against Histon before tonight's game was poor - one win in seven attempts and just four goals scored by Alty.
LINE-UPS
ALTRINCHAM (Red & white stripes, black shorts, red socks): 30. Craig DOOTSON, 5. Robbie WILLIAMS, 4. Marc JOSEPH, 22. Greg YOUNG, 7. Robbie LAWTON, 28. Sam WEDGBURY, 20. Sam HEWSON, 17. Wes BAYNES, 8. Damian REEVES, 9. Michael TWISS, 11. Nicky CLEE Subs: 1. Stuart COBURN, 19. Mark BEESLEY, 16. Anthony DANYLYK, 15. Ryan BROWN
HISTON (All blue): 1. Joe Welch, 2. Lanre Oyebanjo, 17. Zac Mills, 5. Remy Clerima, 18. James Stevenson, 9. Antonio Murray, 8. Lee Wootton, 19. Lewis Taaffe, 7. Omer Riza, 25. David Livermore, 14. Zac Attwood, Subs: 4. Erkan Okay, 11. Daniel Sparkes, 22. Lee Smith, 16. George Lawton, 26. Max York
REPORT
Rain started to fall steadily about 15 minutes before kick off, prompting a decision to allow Histon's away support to move under cover. Given it was a 334-mile round trip on a Tuesday night, (the original fixture fell victim of the weather on Saturday, 18 December), the 17 travellers from Cambridgeshire are to be applauded for their dedication to attend this relegation haunted clash.
The visitors kicked off with the early exchanges characterised by three long throws in the first eight minutes from Nicky Clee. The second throw won a corner for Wes Baynes to take, which came out to Clee whose well struck half volley curled narrowly wide (6 mins). After the third throw, Baynes put a 35-yard effort wide of the target (8 mins). A foul on Reeves by Clerima gave Baynes a freekick from similar range to his shot and that went wide, too (10 mins).
Rob Williams then had to make a vital block at the Alty end as the rain continued to pour down. Some good skill from Twiss took him past the last defender but, from right of goal, he could not find Damian Reeves in the goalmouth to his left (17 mins).
After a Histon attack had been repelled, the speedy Riza forced a decent save from Dootson and, so, won a corner after Joseph had cleared the loose ball (23 mins). Next, Attwood fired wide for Histon. Alty then backed off too easily to allow Histon to win another corner on the half hour mark as the home crowd began to get a little restless with their own team's slow build- ups. The visitors continued to enjoy the better of things past the half-hour mark, emerging with another corner in the 37th minute after Young had covered well.
So, after a decent start Alty were now on the back foot until a foul by Oyebanjo on Wes Baynes gave Alty a 25-yard free kick which Nicky Clee took but which was saved comfortably by Welch (38 mins). Greg Young was then left exasperated as what looked an excellent tackle in the left-back position prompted the linesman to indicate a foul. Young himself headed the freekick over the bar for a corner, which Joseph cleared.
But after showing a lack of spark for the previous ten minutes, Hewson's lob set Reeves running at goal only for him to be tackled by Oyebanjo in the act of shooting inside the box, an Alty corner resulting. Baynes, on the left, took this fairly short to Clee, whose excellent cross found Wedgbury arriving from the right of the back post. His well struck shot found the net or so it seemed. Wedgbury turned to the linesman whose flag was down and then started to celebrate, only for the official to show a very belated flag which ruled the goal out - correctly, as it emerged, as Twiss had touched the goalbound shot into the net from an offside position (43 mins). It was to prove the turning point in the game.
After a minute of added time, the players went off, during a lull in the rain, for their half-time team-talks.
| Half-Time: ALTRINCHAM 0 HISTON 0 |
Just as a decision immediately before half-time had disappointed Altrincham, a decision less than a minute into the second half had even more drastic effect. Marc Joseph was judged to have handled a ball struck at him from very close range. Following the freekick, Dootson did well to stop a fierce shot, only for the loose ball to fall to Attwood, who netted the opportunity (46 mins).
After 51 minutes a well-taken freekick by Baynes, from the right, narrowly evaded everyone in box but two minutes later Altrincham were fortunate not to concede a second goal when it took a fine block from Young to stop a goalbound effort (53 mins). With Altrincham now showing signs of nervousness, Ryan Brown prepared to come on and, after Alty had won two corners, he finally replaced Sam Hewson (57 mins). The second corner had left Young with a presentable chance but he skewed the ball well off target from eight yards.
Reeves then chased a ball to the edge of the box, left of goal, where the out-rushing keeper, Welch, and Oyebanjo combined to knock the Alty man over so that he was unable to take advantage of the goal being open. Surprisingly, neither Histon player was booked for the foul.
Alty won another corner, which Baynes wastefully drove into the side netting (64 mins). With rain again falling steadily, Histon continued to be a danger on the break and were fortunate when Riza got the better of Young on the Alty left and fed Murray, whose shot was blocked by Williams. Beesley now replaced Baynes (69 mins).
Next, as Riza advanced towards the box in the inside right position, Young stood off from a challenge, and the experienced Riza took advantage, firing a shot past Dootson to make it 2-0 (73 mins). Alty were now on the ropes as Histon dominated the next few minutes. Then Reeves almost got in but Welch came out smartly to kick clear of the Alty striker (76 mins).
After an Alty corner had been and gone, Histon took off Taaffe for Lee Smith and Omer Riza also departed, being substituted by Erkan Okay (85 mins). Alty continued to labour, seeming to lack the guile and ideas to get behind the opposition and trouble the Histon keeper seriously.
It got worse when Clerima headed in a third goal, four minutes from time. In the final minute of normal time Histon introduced York in place of Wootton, before four minutes of added time were announced. Though Alty won a late corner through Clee, one of the few Alty players to emerge with any credit tonight, even a consolation goal was beyond the lacklustre hosts.
On the basis of this game, Histon look a good bet to defy relegation but, sadly, the same could not be said of Altrincham. Yet, the evidence of Saturday's spirited performance shows that the capability is there, provided some of the missing first -choice players can return to action and their spirits can be raised by the hard-working management duo.
| Full-Time: ALTRINCHAM 0 HISTON 3 |