Match Report

REFEREE: Mr R Wigglesworth

ATTENDANCE:456

Alty were without the injured Simon Richman whilst Duncan Watmore was only fit enough to be on the bench. Simon came off midway through the first half in last Saturday's game, whilst Duncan had been unable to participate at all in that match. For manager Lee Sinnott it was a return to a club he once managed, whose boss is John Deacey, Lee's former assistant at Farsley Celtic.

BPA had Aiden Savory suspended.

LINE-UPS: BRADFORD PARK AVENUE (White shirts, black socks and shorts): 1. John Lamb, 2. Michael Duckworth, 3. Jamie Price, 4. Richard Marshall, 5. Tim Ryan, 6. Adam Clayton, 7. Jamie Jackson, 8. Nathan Hotte, 9. Ross Daly, 10. Jordan Deacey, 11. Paul Walker. Subs: 12. Adam Baker, 14. Danny Holland, 15. Matty James, 16. Alex Davidson, 17. Mark Hume ALTRINCHAM (Red & white striped shirts, red shorts & socks): 1. Stuart COBURN, 2. Scott LEATHER, 3. Matt DOUGHTY, 4. Carl RODGERS, 5. Gianluca HAVERN, 6. Danny HALL, 7. Shaun DENSMORE (capt), 8. Danny BOSHELL, 9. James LAWRIE, 10. Damian REEVES, 11. Nicky CLEE. Subs: 12. Pat LACEY, 14. JAKE MOULT, 15. Duncan WATMORE, 16. Ryan BROOKE, 18. Tony McMILLAN (gk).

BACKGROUND:

Mike Garnett has the statistics on previous encounters between Altrincham and Bradford PA.

This was a crucial match between fifth and sixth in the table, with Alty six points ahead of their play-off rivals.

A strong gusty wind was to dominate the match, making it difficult for both sides on a surface which was playable but far from perfect. BPA won the toss and allowed Alty to kick off into the wind.

Not surprisingly the home side adapted the better to the difficult conditions and it was BPA who won an early corner after a good Duckworth run. A second corner followed but it was cleared (3 mins).

A BPA freekick soon followed from a central position on the edge of the box but it struck the Alty wall. The visitors were hemmed into their own half as they battled to come to terms with the wind.

At last Alty got forward but Lamb came out to kick clear ahead of Lawrie. Likewise, Coburn had to kick clear when the wind took a ball over Havern's head (10 mins). Alty were reduced by the conditions to using hopeful long balls whilst, at the other end, Walker forced a Coburn parry at the near post.

After Ryan had manhandled Lawrie, the freekick was wasted. Densmore was now lectured for a lunge before an error by Walker allowed Densmore a left-foot shot which was saved but gave Alty a corner on the right. Before Clee could take it the ref stopped play to sort out some pushing between a BPA man and Hall. But as Clee took the corner, Mr. Wigglesworth blew for a penalty as Hall was pulled by a defender.

Lamb in the home goal then trotted off 50 yards to the home dug out, for which he should have been cautioned. When he condescended to return to his line, Doughty continued Alty's woeful sequence of spot kicks, missing the team's ninth penalty of the season as his shot was comfortably blocked by Lamb, going to his left (24 mins).

However, the miss did seem to stir Altrincham to improve their performance but when Reeves did well to bring a ball down, Lawrie's resulting shot was weak and wide (27 mins).

Either side of a bizarre moment when the BPA bench displayed a substitution board but made no change of personnel, play continued fairly uneventfully with the conditions the only winner. However, after 35 minutes, Rodgers was booked for a foul near half way.

On the left, Walker looked to be BPA's main threat and they soon won a corner but messed it up with a miskick. Clee, then Boshell, prompted Alty attacks but there was no end product. Indeed, as half time approached it was Coburn who had to punch clear.

After Leather had been penalised, Coburn tipped a curling freekick over the bar for a corner. In the two added minutes of time, Havern conceded a corner, which BPA overhit out of play.

So, half time arrived goalless. After a slow start against the wind, Alty had improved but BPA had finished the half attacking.

Early in the second half Leather and an opponent collided, both being hurt but recovering soon afterwards. But BPA were awarded a freekick, left of Alty's box, and the young defender was booked (47 mins). the BPA freekick hit one of his own players.

Soon Leather went down for treatment before hobbling off and being replaced by Moult. So, Densmore moved to right-back (51 mins).

Lamb now did well to save an Alty freekick from 35 yards out on the left by Lawrie, which was helped on by the strong wind. A corner resulted on the right. But when Boshell was fouled, Clee overhit that freekick. Next, Boshell won the ball but Lawrie mis-hit his shot wide from 25 yards out (55 mins).

BPA now took the lead when a long ball seemed to be controlled by Marshall's hand but he was allowed to continue and stroke his shot past Coburn (56 mins).

After this, a corner by Clee just evaded Rodgers in the box after which Alty saw off a Bradford corner. Alty was on the back foot and soon a Duckworth cross led to a header, which was saved by Coburn (61 mins).

Alty were still struggling to adapt to the conditions and having to rely on hopeful punts forward as the game drifted into the final twenty minutes. Things improved when a Lawrie run saw the ball move via Boshell to Moult, whose shot was tipped over the bar for a corner. At this point, Watmore came on for Clee (72 mins).

As Lawrie attempted to take the corner from the left, the wind kept blowing it from its spot. So he took a short corner, and got the ball back. He then curled an impressive shot past the keeper from 25 yards or more out on the left to make it 1-1 (73 mins).

Jake Moult's foul then saw him booked (76 mins) before BPA introduced Baker instead of Daly (77 mins). Watmore soon had an effect as he put Reeves in on goal. The keeper saved his effort, but offside had been given anyway.

After 82 minutes, Watmore was fouled and Hotte booked but Hall's resulting freekick ran to the keeper. Moments later Altrincham allowed Deacey to run unchallenged from well outside the box before the manager's son impressively scored his side's second goal (83 mins).

But Altrincham showed impressive character as they responded with an equalizer inside two minutes of falling behind. The second Alty goal arrived when Havern headed a freekick from the left by Lawrie and the ball went in off the post (85 mins).

BPA now brought on Holland for Price as protests at a refereeing decision by the BPA bench ended with one of its members seemingly booked. Altrincham had a chance to gather all three points when Watmore broke forward and, via Lawrie, the ball was squared to Reeves who shot wide (88 mins).

But Bradford finished strongly and drew a foul from Hall foul 30 yards out, which Avenue wasted with a high shot over the bar. Four added minutes were announced and in the second of these it took a good Coburn save on the line to halt a shot after a right-wing attack by the hosts. At the other end, Lamb blocked Reeves, before a final Bradford corner was won in the fourth added minute and even goalkeeper Lamb came up into the Alty box for it. But Altrincham held on to record a vital point from a game in which they could have taken all three, had they converted their penalty but, equally, could have left empty-handed had they not shown character to come back twice from a deficit in poor weather conditions on an indifferent surface.