Match Report

ALTRINCHAM (1) 2 WORKINGTON (0) 0

Skrill North match
played on Saturday, 1 March 2014, at 3pm

SUMMARY

After an unconvincing first half performance, Alty led 1-0 thanks to an excellent freekick routine. Densmore shaped to shoot but laid the ball, left, to Clee, who hammered the ball past Jamieson (29 mins). But Workington belied their lowly position and almost equalised when May's header cannoned off the crossbar.

Clee went off injured early in the second half as Alty continued to labour. However, just after Joe Mwasile (right) had lifted a shot 40 feet over the bar, he met a Richman cross well to make it 2-0 in the 73rd minute. Late on, a tremendous shot from Fernandes came back off the post to underline the visitors' misfortune. For Alty, it was a win but not an impressive one.

SCORERS:

REFEREE: Mr S Lucas
ATTENDANCE: 859
TEAM NEWS

Altrincham were unchanged for this game, but Workington included their three new signings.

LINE-UPS:

ALTRINCHAM

(Red & white striped shirts, red shorts and socks) 		1. Stuart Coburn, 2. Shaun Densmore (capt), 3. Adam Griffin, 4. Jake Moult, 5. Gianluca Havern, 6. Scott Leather, 7. James Lawrie, 8. Simon Richman, 9. James Walshaw, 10. Damian Reeves, 11. Nicky Clee. Subs: 12. Matt Doughty, 14. Tom Marshall, 15. Carl Rodgers, 16. Kyle Perry, 17. Joe Mwasile

WORKINGTON

(Green and black striped shirts, black shorts and socks)		 1. John Jamieson, 2. Valter Fernandes, 3. Kyle Brownhill, 4. Kyle May (capt), 5. Lee Andrews, 6. Stephen Hindmarch, 7. Conor Tinnion, 8. David Lynch, 9. Josef Jackson, 10. Anthony Wright, 11. Ben McKenna. Subs: 12. Scott Allison, 14. Bruno Fernandes, 15. Daniel Wordsworth, 16. Ben Hoskin

BACKGROUND:

Mike Garnett reminds us of previous encounters between the two clubs:

This was Workington's first game for six weeks and, since then, three new players (Alex Salmon, Ben Hoskin and John Jamieson) had joined the club. The sides have not met previously this season following the late postponement of the reverse fixture recently. Workington arrived in bottom place.

Teams

REPORT

On a sunny afternoon at the J. Davidson Stadium, Workington kicked off towards the away end. Today's referee was Mr. S Lucas, who reffed Altrincham's away games with Vauxhall Motors in August and Barrow in December.

An early Clee cross just evaded Walshaw's head before right-back Fernandes won Workington a corner on their right. Fernandes was to prove an early threat on further occasions. Next, he got in a cross which May headed over the bar and then he got in another cross but the ball was missed in front of goal by Jackson (5 mins).

Fernandes had a less happy time on defensive duties as Clee got past him but his firm cross was held by Jamieson (7 mins). Though Altrincham were far from fluent, so far, they did now win a corner on their right, after putting together a neat move following a throw-in (11 mins).

Following the corner a Moult 35-yarder went to the keeper. Workington were not looking like a bottom-placed team but soon neat play from Walshaw and Clee almost got Lawrie in on goal (16 mins). Neither side produced a goal threat over the next few minutes but after 23 minutes a Griffin cross yielded a corner on the left. But this was poorly taken by Lawrie.

When Richman conceded a freekick, 28 yards out, Workington overhit it. But Coburn was soon in action, making a flying catch from Tinnion's cross from the Reds' left (27 mins). Moments later, Richman was brought down 25 yards out from the visitors' goal in a fairly central position.

Densmore shaped to fire the freekick at goal but slipped the ball left to advancing Clee, who hammered the ball into the net to give Altrincham the lead (29 mins).

Soon, another Alty attack ended with the ball in Jamieson's hands whilst at the other end, a Jackson effort likewise ran to Coburn. The pacey left-winger McKenna now made a good run and got in a cross, but this was cleared (34 mins).

Next, from a Reeves nod on, Walshaw twisted past a defender but his shot was blocked. Workington continued to show good spirit and now won a corner on their right, off Leather, following which a May header thumped against Coburn's crossbar (37 mins).

Workington continued to go forward and now a McKenna cross from the right gave Tinnion a header, which prompted a flying save by Coburn to push the ball away. Then another shot had to be saved by Coburn as Alty laboured, despite their lead (41 mins.)

With Lee Sinnott irate at his players, Alty's best player, Luca Havern, avoided punishment for a robust challenge on Jackson as the striker threatened to get free. Just before two added minutes started, Walshaw turned well but shot just wide from 30 yards.

Half time arrived with Altrincham's lead intact from a far from convincing performance.

Half-Time: ALTRINCHAM 1 WORKINGTON 0

The interval ended with Rodgers coming on for Moult in Alty's midfield. Soon after the restart, Reeves harried Fernandes into an error and Clee nearly scored at the end of a neat move involving Walshaw and Clee. The resulting corner was cleared (46 mins).

Next Walshaw played in Clee who somersaulted over keeper Jamieson but landed awkwardly. Though he resumed after lengthy treatment to his right leg, he was limping badly and went down again (53 mins). So Joe Mwasile, Alty's loanee from Morecambe, replaced Clee on the left wing (54 mins).

Workington were now getting forward as Jackson volleyed wide from a cross and then a May freekick ended up with Coburn. Densmore now had to cover well against McKenna as the visiting fans remained in good voice.

As the hour mark passed, Griffin won a corner. From Lawrie's kick, Jamieson punched the ball out to Mwasile, whose volley went back to the keeper (62 mins). After Walshaw had overhit a pass for Lawrie, Reeves won a corner on the left, from which Leather's header was saved as Alty’s performance improved a little.

Allison came on for Tinnion for The Reds (67 mins). Next, Mwasile battled well and, via Richman, Walshaw saw his shot blocked (70 mins). After Rodgers and Richman had conspired to get the ball to Mwasile, the wingman's shot cleared the cross bar by at least 40 feet. But within a minute, the ball was played out to Lawrie on the right. Mwasile met his cross well with a first-time, low shot from the edge of the box, left of centre. The ball flew into the net to make it 2-0 (73 mins).

Altrincham brought on Perry for Walshaw (74 mins) and soon the big striker had a shot saved. Perry was then penalised twice in a minute before Mwasile fed Richman and Perry crossed the ball to Lawrie whose well-struck shot forced Jamieson to tip the ball out for a corner (79 mins). From the corner Leather nodded the ball on to Reeves, whose back header cleared the bar.

Next, Workington's Hoskin replaced Hindmarch, after which Mwasile lifted a shot over the bar from 18 yards as he got in his fifth shot since coming into the game. The second goal had deflated Workington and now Perry shot wide from a Reeves feed before Havern's good work led to Jamieson coming out to clear.

But the visitors suffered their second piece of bad luck when they again hit the woodwork. This time it was a tremendous 35-yard shot from Fernandes which left the Alty framework vibrating as his effort came back off Coburn's right upright (88 mins). That was to be the last really meaningful action before Altrincham celebrated a win but not an altogether convincing performance against a spirited Workington side. Although they have games in hand, they need to claw back 13 points to reach safety. Meanwhile, Altrincham rose to sixth place with between two and four games in hand on the five clubs above them.

Full-Time: ALTRINCHAM 2 WORKINGTON 0
Link to ARCHIVE INDEX