Match Report

REFEREE: Mr M Walsh

ATTENDANCE: 889

Nicky Clee was again sidelined by his hamstring injury but he was fit enough to make several laps of the ground as his team-mates warmed up. Once again Scott Leather was selected at left-back in preference to Matt Doughty, as Alty started unchanged from the team which had drawn at the Bower Fold on Boxing Day.

BACKGROUND:

The pre-match statistics of Mike Garnett showed:

LINE-UPS:

ALTRINCHAM (Red & white striped shirts, red shorts & socks): 1. Stuart COBURN, 2. Shaun DENSMORE (capt), 3. Scott LEATHER, 4. Carl RODGERS, 5. Gianluca HAVERN, 6. Danny HALL, 7. Jordan SINNOTT, 8. Jake MOULT, 11. James LAWRIE, 10. Damian REEVES, 9. Duncan WATMORE. Subs: 12. Patrick LACEY, 14. Matt DOUGHTY, 15. Simon RICHMAN, 16. Ryan BROOKE, 18. Adam REID (gk)

STALYBRIDGE CELTIC (Blue and white): 1. Alex Cairns, 2. Kelvin Bleau, 3. Callum Warburton, 4. Tim Ryan, 5. Kristian Platt (capt), 6. Prince Haywood, 7. Tom Buckley, 8. Greg Wilkinson, 9. Jack Laird, 10. Jamie Mullan, 11. Mitchell Austin, Subs: 12. Mark Lees, 14. Lewis Hatch, 15. Corey Gregory, 17. Jordan Barrow, 16. Joel Bembo-Leta

Before kick off, club chaplain Andy Barclay-Watts recited the names of those supporters and others connected with Altrincham FC who had sadly died over the previous twelve months and he then led the stadium in a minute's applause for them all.

As Celtic kicked off in dry and reasonably bright conditions, the pitch was in an excellent state despite the incessant rain of recent weeks. The opening stages were largely uneventful with Watmore's run at the opposition being the best that Alty could muster, but after floating past Platt he was halted by the recovering Celtic captain.

Following their clearance of an Altrincham throw, Stalybridge counter-attacked and won a freekick 30 yards out from the Alty goal, left of centre. Platt took the freekick and Coburn was unable to hold his fierce low drive, the ball rebounding off him, seemingly to safety on the Celtic left wing. From this unpromising position, Greg Wilkinson scored a fine goal with a well-struck shot into the top, far corner of the net (13 mins).

After this Celtic intercepted Sinnott's ball, intended for Densmore, following which Laird shot just wide of the Alty net (16 mins). At the other end, Reeves got clear but his shot from the right went wide across the face of goal.

Stalybridge's lead might have been doubled when Laird put Mullan completely clear but his shot drifted across goal from the right (18 mins). Next, Havern did well to clear at the back for Alty before Watmore went down in the Celtic box, to no avail. Mullan continued to look the visitors' greatest threat but, next, his cross from the right drifted out of play.

The Robins continued to misfire and now conceded two fouls in quick succession, committed by Reeves and Moult, before Lawrie lost possession allowing Laird, from 25 yards, to force a smart tip over for the bar for a corner by Coburn (24 mins). With their one-goal lead, Celtic were looking comfortable and also the more dangerous in attack.

Things got worse for Altrincham when Watmore got forward on the Alty right and was brought down by a seemingly poor challenge from Prince Hayward. However, referee Walsh saw nothing wrong with the tackle and play continued with Watmore still down, injured. When play was belatedly halted, Alty physio Alan Ainsley tended the injured Watmore; bizarrely, Celtic's Tim Ryan and not Alty physio Alan Ainsley made a substitution signal to the bench. But Watmore now hobbled off for further attention as play resumed with Alty reduced to ten men.

A few minutes later Watmore came back on but within a minute had gone down again as keeper Cairns spilt a Lawrie cross before Celtic cleared the ball. Now Ryan Brooke replaced Watmore (31 mins).

Following an Alty freekick, 45 yards out on their right, a Brooke nod led to a Reeves overhead effort which gained his side a corner. From this the ball came out to Moult, who lashed his shot miles over the bar from 25 yards (34 mins). Then came a decisive moment as an Altrincham attack produced a melee in the box with Cairns bringing down Lawrie in the goalmouth. A penalty was awarded and Celtic's keeper was dismissed (36 mins). With no keeper on their bench, defensive midfielder Jordan Barrow donned the gloves.

After the inevitable delay as the new keeper was installed and Austin was taken off, Damian Reeves, who had missed several spot kicks this season, made no mistake this time as he blasted the ball past Barrow (38 mins). The game was turned on its head a minute later when a well struck long range effort from Moult was well saved by Barrow, only for the ball to rebound to the Alty midfielder who, this time, drove the ball into the net to give Altrincham a 2-1 lead which had seemed improbable a few minutes earlier (39 mins).

It could have been 3-1 soon afterwards when excellent work by Reeves, chasing down the keeper, saw him poke the ball back to Brooke, who forced a fine save from the stand-in keeper (41 mins). Next, Danny Hall picked up his seventh yellow card of the season for a foul on Mullan near the by-line, to the right of goal (42 mins). Celtic now won two successive corners, the second arising from a mix-up between Densmore and Coburn (43 mins).

But Altrincham reached the interval with a 2-1 lead.

At the break, one former Alty defender replaced another as Mark Lees came on for Tim Ryan in the back line. The first significant action saw a Lawrie freekick from the left narrowly evading Danny Hall (47 mins). Next a fine Densmore ball just failed to reach Lawrie but an Alty corner on the left soon followed.

Barrow again did well as stand-in keeper when he saved from Brooke (50 mins) but Alty were to play a patient game against the ten men, though a corner was soon won by Moult. After 54 minutes Scott Leather picked up his fifth caution of the campaign before Lee Sinnott shouted "Raise the tempo" to his charges. As the hour mark approached, Alty were labouring despite their one-man advantage.

Altrincham were making little forward progress, lacking in invention and pace as they played the ball largely sideways and backwards. Celtic proved they were still a danger when Mullan ran upfield but, again, his shot let him down as he dragged his shot wide (69 mins). The home crowd was getting restless as Alty failed to impose their man advantage and were unable to test the outfield player in the Celtic goal.

Alty made a change as Richman came on for Sinnott (71 mins). After Bleau had won a corner, Wilkinson fired over the bar as the visitors' ten men pinned back Altrincham's eleven. And when Densmore conceded a corner from a cross by Mullan, all eleven men still came back into their own area for Alty.

As the game went into the final ten minutes, Brooke got clear and cleverly lifted the ball over his marker, only to slice his shot wide with the outside of his foot (80 mins). Now Celtic brought on striker Joel Bembo-Leta for Laird, who had looked less lively than he had on Boxing Day.

Just after Leather had lost possession, he was replaced at left-back by Doughty (83 mins). Having failed to test Celtic, a foul on Hall near halfway led to an Alty corner on their left. This was half cleared to Moult whose shot was wildly off target (85 mins). As the game went into added time the visitors looked the more likely to score of the two sides. But Alty held on to take a three-point haul that they scarcely deserved. At a post-match fans' forum, manager Lee Sinnott readily admitted that Altrincham had not played well, describing it as "Probably our worst performance of the season" and few would argue with that.

Without Clee for the whole game and Watmore for three quarters of the game, Altrincham lacked their customary attacking bite and can count themselves very fortunate to have won the game.