Match Report
ALTRINCHAM (4) 7 BOSTON UNITED (1) 1
played on Tuesday, 29 January 2013, at 7.45pm
SUMMARY
Alty went one better than last season, when they beat Boston 6-1 at Moss Lane. But with the score in this match only 1-1 after 34 minutes, the eventual margin of victory did not look likely at that stage. Despite the parity, Altrincham had been the better side from kick off and went ahead when in the 12th minute when Reeves rounded the keeper to score after a slick move started by Leather and Doughty. But Boston levelled with virtually their first attack of note when Smith hooked the ball into the net off the underside of the crossbar (19 mins).
It was Man of the Match, Duncan Watmore, who helped make Altrincham convert their superiority into goals. His fine run up the left saw him cut smartly between two defenders and feed Simon Richman who scored with a firm shot (35 mins). Four minutes later Watmore himself scored after a smart interchange with Richman. And, as half time neared, Richman's excellent looping header from a Doughty cross made it 4-1.
Left-back Scott Leather advanced upfield to score with a fine shot from the edge of the box, four minutes into the second half. Leather got forward again after 69 minutes and from the resulting cross by Clee, Reeves scored his second, and the team's sixth, goal. Five minutes from time Reeves fed Densmore up the right wing and his low cross was poked in by Ryan Brooke to make it 7-1.
The game ended with fireworks on and off the pitch. First Gary Silk was sent off after a mass brawl, with Nicky Clee being cautioned. And then Patrick Lacey's challenge prompted another melee and he got a booking. And, as the final whistle sounded, one of the floodlight pylons blew a fuse with a puff of smoke.
SCORERS:
REFEREE: Mr S Lucas
ATTENDANCE: 561
TEAM NEWS
James Lawrie was missing again with his foot injury and Danny Mitchley was also out injured. But Nicky Clee had recovered from his dead leg to start on the bench. Youth team midfielder Callum Mooney and goalkeeper Stepehen Bullen were also on the substitutes' list.
BACKGROUND:
Mike Garnett advises us of the historical record of games between Altrincham and Boston United...
This was the third meeting between the teams this season, with Alty having won at York Street both in the FA Cup in October (3-1) and in the BSBN in December (3-2). The game had already been postponed twice before tonight's hastily rearranged meeting.
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. Simon RICHMAN, 8. Jake MOULT, 9. Duncan WATMORE, 10. Damian REEVES, 11. Matt DOUGHTY. Subs 12. Patrick LACEY, 14. Nicky CLEE, 15. Ryan BROOKE, 16. Callum MOONEY, 18. Stephen BULLEN.
BOSTON UNITED (Amber shirts, black shorts and socks): 1. Danny Haystead, 2. Gary Silk, 3. Gareth Jelleyman, 4. Ian Ross, 5. Tom Ward, 6. Phil Hall, 7. Stephen Spriggs, 8. Anton Foster, 9. Marc Newsham, 10. Spencer Weir-Daley, 11. Jordan Smith. Subs: 12. Connor Marshall, 14. Nathan Stainfield, 15. James Reed, 16. Ben Milnes, 17. Ben Fairclough
REPORT
After the hiatus caused by the winter weather, football action returned to Moss Lane with the Robins seeking to extend a run of four games without defeat which had propelled them in to the last play-off position. Boston, under new manager Graham Drury, also had their eye on the play offs and started the game just a point behind Alty but having played four additional games.
In front of a disappointingly low gate, Alty's lowest league attendance of the season, the visitors kicked off, attacking the away end. After just two minutes Jake Moult fed Duncan Watmore, who beat an opponent with an impressive feint but shot just over the bar. Alty had the better of the opening stages and goalkeeper Coburn encouraged his team-mates by shouting to them that they had made a "good start".
When Simon Richman was dispossessed, a fine tackle by Leather led to Doughty getting the ball and playing an excellent pass forward for the advancing Reeves. Despite being fouled by keeper Haystead, Reeves rounded him, kept his feet and scored (12 mins). Reeves almost doubled the score two minutes later when he got free in the box but, uncharacteristically, shot wide. United were looking shaky at the back with a couple of misunderstandings between the keeper and his central defenders not inspiring much confidence in the away supporters who were to be applauded for making the 250-mile round-trip on a damp Tuesday night.
After Moult had won a free-kick on the edge of the box, Moult himself struck the resulting loose ball just over the bar. But then, against the run of play Boston equalized as Smith, falling as he shot, hooked the ball in off the crossbar from the edge of the box (19 mins).
Play was fairly even before a 27th-minute Richman shot won a corner off Ward, which was cleared off the line. Two shots from Moult, both well off target, followed in the next few minutes before a Doughty cross was just reached by the hesitant keeper. Finally, Altrincham made their superiority tell as a great run by Watmore up the left saw him smartly jink between two defenders and feed Richman, to his right. He thumped the ball home to make it 2-1 after 35 minutes.
It soon became 3-1 as Doughty prompted another fine Watmore run on the left, which led to an interchange of passes with Richman, before Watmore himself scored from 12 yards (39 mins). Boston were finding it difficult to cope with Alty's impressive forward play, with Watmore particularly prominent.
Two minutes before half time was due, Richman was floored amd Boston's Watt was lectured. Densmore played a shortish freekick sideways to Doughty, whose excellent cross was met by an impressive leap by Richman whose looping header made it 4-1 (43 mins). But moments later it should have been 4-2 as Boston's best move of the game got Newsham free but he dragged a "sitter" wide of goal. As three added minutes were played out, the Boston bench were already deep in conversation with the substitutes as they planned their second-half strategy.
| Half-Time: ALTRINCHAM 4 BOSTON UNITED 1 |
And, indeed, Boston made a double swap at the interval as Connor Marshall and Nathan Stainfield came on and Ward and Spriggs departed. After a quiet start to the half, Alty won a freekick, left of their own goal near the by-line. They impressively played the ball forward and it culminated with the advancing left-back, Scott Leather, firing his first Altrincham goal past the keeper from outside the box (49 mins).
On 53 minutes Paddy Lacey came on in midfield, with centre back Danny Hall going off; Rodgers moved to central defence in his place. After a Boston corner had been cleared, a measured pass by Richman got Watmore free but he dragged his shot just wide. Two more Boston corners came and went before Watmore was scythed down by Watt, who was booked (60 mins). Now Reed came on for Foster, followed, on 64 minutes by Clee's replacement of Doughty on the Alty left.
Following Leather's good work, Clee's cross soon laid on another goal for Reeves who did well to hook the ball home at the back post (69 mins). At another Boston corner Alty brought on Brooke for Watmore, who left the field to a deserved ovation. With Boston clearly beaten the game went through a quiet spell before an important block deprived Richman of a potential hat-trick, an Alty corner resulting, which was followed by a second corner (83 mins).
In the 85th minute Reeves held off a challenge to feed the overlapping Densmore, whose low cross from the right was poked home by Ryan Brooke.
With the game winding down there was an explosive scene after 87 minutes when Silk and Clee clashed and other players waded in. After consulting his assistants, Mr Lucas showed Silk a straight red card and Clee a yellow. And there were further fireworks when Lacey's rash tackle led to a smaller scale melee at the other end of the pitch; the Alty sub was cautioned for his foul (90 mins).
So, Altrincham had gone one better than last season when they won this fixture 6-1 and had given one of their best performances of the season. Their forward play was a constant danger to the Boston defence whilst at the other end the back four ensured that Stuart Coburn was barely tested.
| Full-Time: ALTRINCHAM 7 BOSTON UNITED 1 |