Match Report
GRIMSBY TOWN 0 ALTRINCHAM 0
played on Tuesday, 7 October 2014, at 7.45pm
SUMMARY
Altrincham were put under a lot of pressure by a Grimsby side which moved the ball well but lacked composure in front of goal. Altrincham were indebted to goalkeeper Stuart Coburn for several excellent saves. Considering illness had affected Alty's squad, with Lawrie absent and Williams, Clee, Leather and Reeves all playing despite recent ailments, the performance was all the more praiseworthy. The point lifted Alty to 18th in the table.
SCORERS:
- None
REFEREE: Mr Ross Joyce
ATTENDANCE: 2,535
TEAM NEWS
Greg Wilkinson started his first game of the season as James Lawrie's illness ruled him out.
Grimsby brought in Thomas, Clay and Neilson.
LINE-UPS:
GRIMSBY TOWN (Black and white): 1. James McKeown, 3. Aswad Thomas, 19. Daniel Parslow, 5. Shaun Pearson, 6. Carl Magnay, 7. Jack Mackreth, 4. Scott Brown, 11. Scott Neilson, 16. Craig Clay, 26. Patrick McLaughlin, 14. Lenell John-Lewis, SUBS 10. Ross Hannah, 2. Paul Bignot, 3. Rhys Oates, 24. Paul Walker, 25. Caine Winfarrah
ALTRINCHAM (Blue and yellow) 1 Stuart Coburn, 2. Shaun Densmore (c), 6. Scott Leather, 5. Gianluca Havern, 3. Adam Griffin, 8. Simon Richman, 18. Sean Wiliams, 4. Jake Moult 15. Greg Wilkinson, 10. Damian Reeves, 11. Nicky Clee. SUBS 9. Steven Gillespie, 16. Tom Marshall, 14. Kyle Perry, 19. Ryan Crowther, 25. Peter Cavanagh,
BACKGROUND
Mike Garnett's record of games between the clubs shows the following:
- At Altrincham: P1-W0-D1-L0-F2-A2
- At Grimsby P1-W1-D0-L0-F1-A0
- All: P2-W1-D1-L0-F3-A2
REPORT
Grimsby started the game on the front foot and dominated the early stages. Their first effort on goal was a McLaughlin shot from 20 yards, which went just wide. The visitors remained on the back foot but Grimsby were unable to convert attacking pressure into anything like a clear opening as Alty defended resolutely.
Gradually, Alty got a toehold in the game (11 mins). Alty's first half chance came with a good and pacy Densmore cross, which Richman headed over the bar (14 mins). Town were not now having it all their own way as a Reeves feed allowed Wilkinson a shot, which deflected for a corner (18 mins).
For Grimsby, Mackreth was keeping Griffin busy on the Alty left but his good run in the 19th minute was let down by a poor final ball. Next, he fired over at the end of a good move. Grimsby were certainly causing Alty more problems than Halifax had done last Saturday.
After John-Lewis had shot wide, a counter by Alty faltered. Next, John-Lewis's dramatic fall won a freekick on the front edge of Alty's box, right of centre but this came to nothing. But Town remained on top as a shot deflected to Coburn before, first, Griffin and, then, Leather cleared their lines.
After Havern had cleverly shepherded a ball back to Coburn, Moult was fouled which relieved the pressure briefly. But it now took an impressive Coburn save to keep Grimsby out after an attack up their right (32 mins).
Alty responded as a Williams ball flew across the face of the Town goal before a good run by Wilkinson led to Reeves being caught offside (36 mins). Reeves was now booked for moving the ball back at a Town freekick (38 mins).
Next, Neilson's shot deflected over the bar for a corner after a cross from the right.As play went into added time, Clee was felled and won a freekick but half-time was reached with the game goalless after an impressive display from an Alty side which had had to absorb a lot of pressure.
| Half-Time: GRIMSBY TOWN 0 ALTRINCHAM 0 |
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At the break Cavanagh came on for Williams, who had been under the weather before the match. After some initial Town probing, from half way Moult tried to chip the keeper, who was out of position, but he got back in time.
A Magnay 30 yarder was saved by Coburn at the cost of a corner to Town, from which a second corner followed, which was caught by Coburn (50 mins). Clee won Altrincham a corner after 53 minutes but Wilkinson sent it to McKeown (53 mins).
Wilkinson did better with a 25 yarder, which was saved before some Grimsby pressure ended with a header over the bar. Then, Coburn had to beat out a fierce shot from Thomas from the Town left but the resulting corner was cleared. Alty counter-attacked as Reeves fed Clee, but he dragged his shot wide (57 mins).
On the hour, Perry replaced Wilkinson, after which Cavanagh was booked for a foul (61 mins). After Neilson had been fouled on the edge of the box, Magnay's freekick went into the wall (63 mins). Town pressure continued as Alty weathered a siege until a Reeves counter attack was undone by a poor Cavanagh pass (69 mins).
There was some bad feeling when Densmore put the ball out for a Town injury but the hosts simply kept the ball after the resulting throw and won a corner as a result of their bad sportsmanship (70 mins).
Another Alty counter-attack ended before Town made two changes as John-Lewis was replaced by Hannah and McLaughlin by Oates (72 mins). Now Coburn came out to clear as Town resumed their pressing. For Alty, Clee was replaced by Crowther (76 mins).
Following an Alty throw on their right, a Moult cross was cleared before a long Leather effort was caught on the line by keeper McKeown. An 82nd minute break by Densmore faltered before Cavanagh was penalised 35 yards out.
From a Richman cross, from the right, Reeves headed over the bar (88 mins). As Alty cleared a corner, the game went into two added minutes, which Alty saw out fairly comfortably to clinch a hard-earned point. Some of the home crowd expressed disappointment at the final whistle but their side had played well but been undone by a combination of good defending by Alty and poor finishing.
| Full-Time: GRIMSBY TOWN 0 ALTRINCHAM 0 |