Match Report

SUMMARY

With Ryan Crowther and Andy Parry added to the injury list before kick off, and Rankine only fit enough to start on the bench, Alty were nevertheless the better side for the opening twenty minutes. But they ended up comfortably beaten.

They fell behind when defender Saville headed home a right-wing freekick near the corner which had been conceded by Moult (33 mins).

The visitors still looked capable of taking something from the game until a mishit, underpowered back pass from Griffin allowed Browne to score past the exposed Deasy in the 63rd minute.

Altrincham then looked shaky at the back and their cause was not helped by a 68th minute injury to Densmore.

Despite a good share of the ball, Altrincham rarely threatened a goal and now entertain Kidderminster on Tuesday looking to put some space between themselves and the relegation places.

SCORERS:

• 33 mins: Jack SAVILLE (Aldershot Town 1 ALTRINCHAM 0)
• 63 mins: Rhys BROWNE (Aldershot Town 2 ALTRINCHAM 0)

Rankine came back into the squad after injury but Crowther and Parry were both ruled out, injured. Densmore started as Sinnott moved to the bench. Goalkeeper Callum Williams joined the squad for the first time, on the bench.

LINE-UPS:

ALDERSHOT TOWN (Red and Blue)  1 Phil Smith (capt), 5. Jack Saville, 14. Omar Beckles, 12. Cheye Alexander, 4. Damon Lathrope, 8. Jim Stevenson,  15. Rhys Browne, 10. Charlie Walker, 11. Tom Richards, 17. Richard Brodie, 19. Dan Walker.  Subs: 13. Dan Thomas, 6. Luke Oliver, 21. Nathan Mavila, 9. Matthew Barnes-Homer, 18. Chris Barker.

ALTRINCHAM (Yellow and blue shirts, black shorts, yellow socks): 17. Tim DEASY, 2. Shaun DENSMORE (capt), 6. Scott LEATHER, 5. Luca HAVERN, 3. Adam GRIFFIN, 4. Jake MOULT, 8. Simon RICHMAN, 7. James LAWRIE, 11. Nicky CLEE, 18. George BOWERMAN, 10. Damian REEVES. Subs: 14. Josh O'KEEFE, 9. Michael RANKINE, 20. Jordan SINNOTT, 23. Callum WILLIAMS, 25. Ioannis STOUPPIS.

BACKGROUND:

Mike Garnett's statistics summarise the history of matches between the two clubs:

• Home - p.4-w.2-d.1-l.1-f.7-a.3
• Away - p.5-2-1-2-6-6
• Overall - p.9-4-2-3-13-9

The Shots kicked off down the slope and as they had done in their midweek game against FGR, a player ran straight at goal and got in a shot, which ran comfortably to Deasy.

After that an Alty move ended with a Moult ball which was just too long for Densmore (5 mins). Following an Alty freekick near half way, Clee did well against Beccles but the move ended in a Shots' throw. Next, Smith just got in to kick clear ahead of Reeves as the home side looked to be lacking in confidence after a poor run of home form (9 mins).

Alty got forward again as a Densmore cross led to a Reeves nod onto the roof of the net but he was flagged offside anyway. Alty again had Reeves as the lone front man with Lawrie on the right and Bowerman on the left but, after 12 minutes, the two wide man swapped flanks.

Clee now harried Alexander into conceding a throw, following which a first time-shot by Moult went over the bar after a decent move on the left (14 mins).

The hosts finally got forward as Brodie evaded two challenges and shot wide from 20 yards. When Havern was harshly penalised against Charlie Walker, 25 yards from his goal, Walker's freekick cleared the bar. As the 20 minutes' mark passed, the Shots were improving and, soon, they won a corner off Havern from a Brodie cross (22 mins).

Two minutes later, Browne earned another corner on right and Alty struggled to complete a clearance with all eleven men behind the ball. At the other end Beckles and two other defenders got into a mess in their own box as Reeves threatened but the ball ran to keeper Smith (26 mins).

A mis-pass from Reeves then led to Brodie having a shot saved at full length by Deasy, diving to his right. The resulting corner came to nothing (27 mins).

The pacey Browne got past Griffin but his low shot was saved by Deasy. Both sides were commiting errors in a game which had endeavour rather than quality.

After 32 minutes Deasy dived to make a stop and Brodie went down as the ball ran loose but there was no foul committed. However, moments later, by the corner flag on the Shots' right, a Moult foul did give Aldershot a freekick. From this, Saville headed home unchallenged to make it 1-0 (33 mins).

After a good start Alty were now on the back foot. However, next, Brodie got himself booked after grabbing Deasy round the waist and holding on when the keeper had already caught the ball (36 mins).

Alty were not threatening and a Bowerman run ended up a blind alley. At the other end, Browne got past Densmore then barged into Havern after slipping.

On 45 minutes Bowerman, on the right, fed Lawrie and his low cross was netted at the back post by Reeves but he was given offside. In added time Charlie Walker was caught offside but Deasy had saved well anyway. There seemed to be a bit of a scuffle as the players went into the tunnel.

Presumably in reference to the scuffle at the interval, before play resumed Clee and C. Walker were called over by the referee to make their peace.

Alty kicked off down the slope, defending the away end. Saville fouled Reeves in the back but Densmore's freekick ended up with Smith (49 mins). After another freekick, for a Browne foul on Griffin, a Lawrie shot was saved.

Leather's mis-header to Charlie Walker led to the same player firing over the bar from 18 yards (54 mins). Next Walker got past Leather but Havern, Alty's best player today, saved the day. Next Lawrie dived in on an opponent and was booked with Clee also getting some words from the referee (56 mins).

A pass from Bowerman to Lawrie saw the latter's cross win a corner, after which a Clee cross was tipped over for another corner which Smith punched clear. A third corner, won by Griffin, arrived on the hour mark. Leather nodded this wide.

After 63 minutes, disaster struck. An underhit back pass by Griffin allowed Browne to score past the exposed Deasy from right of centre.

Already waiting to come on, Rankine and Sinnott immediately replaced Bowerman and Clee (64 mins).

The goal unsettled Alty and now Dan Walker was allowed to stride through the middle but he wellied his shot well over the bar from 18 yards. Then Alty were all over the shop as Browne fired wide from the right (66 mins).

Just after Densmore gathered a long cross field pass from Rankine, the Alty captain went down just off the pitch (68 mins). As the captain received treatment, Alty played on with ten men. And they nearly conceded again when Deasy palmed a shot away only for Brodie to make an air shot when he should have scored.

The home pressure continued as Deasy smothered the ball just ahead of Stevenson. Now O'Keefe replaced Densmore (70 mins). Sinnott moved to play at right back with Rankine on the left wing.

A Sinnott run and cross now went just ahead of O'Keefe in the box before Barnes-Homer came on for Brodie (77 mins).

Alty continued to see plenty of the ball as a Griffin cross bounced across the Shots' box. But Alty's fragility at the back continued as Charlie Walker advanced through the centre but hit the inside of the post with his shot before Lathrope shot over the bar (84 mins).

Rankine now moved into a central position, with Lawrie on the left. A Sinnott shot which flew wide and a Leather header which also went wide from a freekick were all Alty could muster before the three added minutes commenced. A late freekick and booking for Stevenson the offender, gave Alty a freekick but nothing came of it.

Two defeats in a week have pushed Alty back towards the danger zone with, now, just a two point buffer between them and twentieth. And with Densmore now injured the injury jinx continues.

This was a decidedly winnable match in which a failure to convert early dominance had been compounded by the concession of two goals which were, from a defensive viewpoint, poor. With struggling Kidderminster the next opponents, Altrincham will be desperate to return to winning ways on Tuesday night to avoid being sucked into the relegation dogfight.