Match Report

REFEREE: Mr G Hart

ATTENDANCE: 816

Shaun Densmore remained sidelined by injury and Michael Twiss was out injured. New loan signing, midfielder Kieran Walmsley from Kendal Town, joined the squad.

For Bay, Danny Meadowcroft was unavailable, due to his daughter's illness. But the visitors had signed 40 year-old former Chelsea and Wrexham defender, Frank Sinclair, on the eve of the match and he started. However, Bay's veteran striker, Lee McEvilly, was suspended so watched the match from the directors' box. Like Alty, Bay have made use of the loan system and today's starters included Jack Cudworth (from Macclesfield), Matty Hughes (from Fleetwood), whilst on the bench was Dan Parkinson (Morecambe loanee).

BACKGROUND:

Before kick-off, Mike Garnett's statistics revealed the following about previous games between these two sides...

LINE-UPS

ALTRINCHAM (Red and white striped shirts, black shorts and red socks): 1. Stuart COBURN, 2. Matt FLYNN, 5.Adrian HAWES, 6. Adam FLYNN (capt), 3. Adam DODD. 7. James LAWRIE, 8. Liam TOMSETT, 4. Chris LYNCH, 11. Nicky CLEE, 9. Jack REDSHAW, 10. Damian REEVES, Subs 12. Mark LEES, 14. Simon RICHMAN, 15. Kieran WALMSLEY, 16. Brian SUMMERSKILL, 18. Adam REID (gk).

COLWYN BAY (Sky blue & claret shirts, claret shorts, sky blue socks): 1. Jack Cudworth, 2. Luke Denson, 3. Mike Lea, 4. Matty Hughes, 5. Frank Sinclair, 6. Fraser McLachlan, 7. Lee Davey, 8. Gareth Evans,9. Rob Hopley, 10. Jon Newby, 11. Karl Noon, Subs: 12. John McKenna, 14. Dan Parkinson, 15. Liam Benson, 16. Chris King, 17. Andy Metcalf (gk).

REPORT

Colwyn Bay won the toss and elected to change ends, presumably on the basis of the breezy conditions. So, Alty kicked off towards the away end. Inside three minutes, both sides had gone close. Good work from Tomsett in midfield fed Reeves but as he got his foot to the ball to shoot, Cudworth arrived to smother it almost off his boot-end. Bay counter-attacked swiftly and got behind the Alty defence on the right before a cross went dangerously across the Alty goalmouth.

Defender Hughes went down off the ball and received treatment but he soon hobbled off and after a slight delay, Bay's numbers once more were made up to eleven as substitute McKenna came on after only nine minutes. In the brief period when they only had ten men, the lively Tomsett got in a decent shot from right of goal, which Cudworth saved.

Play was going through a fairly nondescript patch, enlivened only by the regular booing of Frank Sinclair by a section of the Altrincham crowd which had not forgotten his last appearance against Alty, when his tackle whilst playing for Wrexham, had left Tom Kearney with a broken leg, which ended his career.

Soon a long freekick from Adam Flynn just evaded Reeves's head by the back post but then a clearance from Adam Flynn to Karl Noon led to a shot from the left-winger which Coburn saved. Then, in keeping with the tone of the whole afternoon, another error, this time by Lynch who gave the ball to Noon, produced more danger to the Alty goal which Coburn blocked (15 mins).

Next, after a good run by Redshaw, it was Clee's turn to make a mistake as he miscued his team-mate’s feed when well placed. The errors just kept coming as the ball came off Hawes to Hopley who fed Newby on the left. His cross back across goal led to a header from Davey, which Coburn beat out, but Hopley was on hand to drive the loose ball into the net to give Bay the lead and record their first league goal in four matches (17 mins).

The lead lasted barely four minutes. Good work up the inside left channel from Tomsett led to Reeves getting the ball to Redshaw who made it 1-1 (21 mins). Goalkeeper Cudworth protested vehemently, claiming a hand-ball in the build-up, and was cautioned for his pains.

Within a minute, Altrincham had conceded again, as Bay scored a "route one" goal, a long punt up the middle saw Evans reach the ball just ahead of the exposed Coburn as he raced from his goal. The Bay midfielder poked the ball past Alty's keeper to make it 2-1 to the Welshmen (22 mins).

Alty continued to look very fragile at the back but, at the other end, a fine volley from Redshaw, following more good work from Tomsett, gave the home side some hope. It was a surge forward from Adam Dodd which produced Altrincham's second equalizer. He fed Redshaw, who got to the by-line, left of goal, and got in a fine cross to the back post. There, Damian Reeves executed a perfectly placed looping header which went into the net at the back post for his 25th league goal of the season (29 mins).

This heralded a few minutes when it looked as if Alty might belatedly impose themselves. Firstly, a good shot from Lawrie was deflected narrowly over the bar for a corner, followed by a second flag-kick. But then Adam Flynn got booked for a foul (32 mins).

The next few minutes, however, were still a bit of a mixed bag as Altrincham showed some encouraging signs offset by unforced errors. Play stuttered towards half time but during the three added minutes it took a last ditch stretch from Hawes to see off Newby as he got behind the Alty back line . Soon, the interval arrived with the sides level after forty-five minutes of error-strewn football which seemed to guarantee more goals in the second half.

Altrincham were out early for the second half and soon had The Bay on the back foot. Firstly, Clee was tripped earning Davey a yellow card (48 mins). After the freekick had been cleared, Bay pumped a long ball at Altrincham. Adam Flynn expertly chested this down on the fringes of his own penalty area before playing an accurate long ball back towards the visitors' end. Jack Redshaw latched on to it as the Bay defence showed the same degree of laxness as Alty's had in the first half. The young Alty striker kept his head before finding the back of the net to put Altrincham 3-2 up (49 mins).

There was then a bit of a spat involving Lynch, who reacted to a kick from Evans. Both players were lucky to escape with no more than a lecture (51 mins). Next, Evans almost put the Bay back ahead with a shot which went narrowly wide as Alty's defence was opened up again.

Jon Newby was booked for dissent before Redshaw won his side a corner. Cudworth punched this clear, leading to a good shot from Tomsett which hit a body in the goalmouth. The Bay counter attacked and Newby, on the right, fed Davey, who had been left in oceans of space inside him. Coburn saved his shot but Hopley made it 3-3 after yet more poor defending from Altrincham (56 mins).

Alty were now distinctly off the boil until a run and cross from Clee livened things up a bit, but the cross just evaded Reeves at the back post. Alty did not learn the lesson of the Bay third goal when Dodd left Davey free once more and his shot forced a good stop at the near post from Coburn, who soon after needed treatment for a knock picked up in making the stop. Bay's next threat came ironically from a promising Altrincham attack. Clee fed Redshaw who found Lynch but the midfielder opted to play the ball back rather than forward, to Matt Flynn on the right inside the Alty half. The on-loan defender lost possession and it took a fine block from Coburn to stop Noon, who really should have scored (64 mins).

Things did not improve as Lynch was booked after a challenge on Evans, for a accumulation of offences (65 mins), As the midway point of the half was passed, the visitors were decidedly on top. A scything tackle from behind by McKenna on Clee earned the substitute a booking, after which Altrincham brought on Kieran Walmsley, their new loanee from Kendal Town, who became the eighteenth player to make his league debut for Altrincham this season. He replaced Matt Flynn at right-back (70 mins).

Altrincham’s hopes were raised when Lawrie got in a good left-footed shot which forced a fine save from Cudworth at the cost of a corner to Altrincham. Alty now improved for a while with Reeves almost getting on the end of a Tomsett pass. But the unforced errors just kept surfacing as Denson fed Hopley who fluffed his lines with only Coburn to beat. And soon afterwards Adam Flynn was caught out leaving Newby one on one against Coburn but Coburn produced a good stop to keep the scores level (82 mins).

Next, Evans committed a rugby tackle on Clee and was added to the referee's notebook (84 mins). Play went from end to end as the mistakes continued from both sides. In the final minute Bay brought on Parkinson for Davey (90 mins). Four minutes of added time were declared and in the third of these, Bay won a corner after Hawes had cleared up another defensive mix-up in the Alty back line. Coburn gathered the corner, from the Bay right, but the ball slithered from his hands. Though the first Bay attempt to convert the loose ball into a goal was blocked, the ball came out to Sinclair, who drove it into the net to clinch the win on his Colwyn Bay debut (90+3 mins).

And so, Altrincham slumped to their second successive defeat, and once again it was against a team which they had beaten comfortably earlier in the season. Only the form of man of the match Jack Redshaw and a 25th goal from Damian Reeves were to be savoured by Altrincham’s supporters; otherwise, this was a performance to be forgotten. With four of their next five games away from Moss Lane, these are testing times for the Altrincham management as they try to instil some consistency in a squad which veers from good to bad performances with worryingly regularity.