Match Report

GRIMSBY TOWN (2) 5 ALTRINCHAM (0) 0

Vanarama National League match
played on Saturday, 23 January, 2016 at 3pm

SUMMARY

Altrincham fielded all three of their recent loan-signing forwards but went down to their heaviest defeat of the season. Reeves, Lawrie and O'Keefe were all on the bench as Margetts, up front, Ginnelly on the left and Mottley-Henry on the right, all made their league debuts for The Robins.

Captain Luca Havern was sidelined with his broken nose but Simon Richman and Adam Griffin returned to the starting eleven.

It started badly for Alty as Grimsby scored inside two minutes of the kick off. The ball was played into the goalmouth from the right and Monkhouse netted from close range.

When Heathcote was harshly punished by a freekick, the ball was played in for Bogle to head home unchallenged at the back post to make it 2-0 (19 mins).

Simon Richman suffered a blow to the head in the first half and did not appear after the interval.

Eight minutes into the second half the score became 3-0 and, again, Alty conceded from a freekick when Rankine was penalised against Gowling and was booked by a referee who did not impress throughout the game. From the freekick the ball was played in from the right and Monkhouse scuffed a low shot into the bottom corner.

The fourth goal also emanated from a dead ball as a Grimsby corner was headed in by Amond on 62 minutes. And goal number five arrived in the first minute of added time after Alty had half cleared their lines only for the ball to be thumped into the roof of their net from the edge of the box by Arnold.

The one bright point from the game was an impressive performance from Burnley loanee Josh Ginnelly on the left, though he moved to the right after the introduction of Crowther. A late O'Keefe header did hit the bar and a blatant handball in the box by Gowling went unpunished by a penalty but the defeat was comprehensive.

SCORERS:

REFEREE: Mr Tom Nield
ATTENDANCE: 4,323 (53 in away end)
TEAM NEWS

Although Adam Griffin and Simon Richman returned to the starting eleven after missing the midweek game at Bognor, Alty had been struck another injury blow as Luca Havern's broken nose kept him from playing today and possibly for several weeks.

Manager Lee Sinnott played all three new loan signings from the start; wingers Josh Ginnelly and Dylan Mottley-Henry and striker Jonny Margetts were all making their league debuts for the club. So James Lawrie, Damian Reeves and Ryan Crowther dropped to the bench.

LINE-UPS:

GRIMSBY TOWN (Black and white) 1. James McKeown, 2 Richard Tait, 3 Gregor Robertson, 6. Josh Gowling, 8. Craig Disley, 9. Omar Bogle, 10. Padraig Amond, 11. Andy Monkhouse, 16. Craig Clay, 20. Nathan Arnold, 22. Aristote Nsiala. Subs: 5. Shaun Pearson, 14. Marcus Marshall, 18. Jon-Paul Pittman, 28. Conor Henderson, 31. Jon Nolan.

ALTRINCHAM (Yellow and blue shirts, blue shorts, yellow socks): 17. Tim DEASY, 20. Jordan SINNOTT, 12. Sam HEATHCOTE, 6. Scott LEATHER, 3. Adam GRIFFIN, 4. Jake MOULT (capt), 8. Simon RICHMAN, 15. Josh GINNELLY, 6. Dylan MOTTLEY-HENRY, 27. Jonny MARGETTS, 9. Michael RANKINE. Subs: 23. Callum WILLIAMS, 7. James LAWRIE, 19. Ryan CROWTHER, 10. Damian REEVES, 14. Josh O'KEEFE.

BACKGROUND

Before kick off Alty lay 21st whilst Grimsby were third-placed in the National League.

Mike Garnett provides the record between the two clubs, which shows Altrincham unbeaten in five meetings to date...

REPORT

It took Grimsby just 115 seconds to open the scoring. They worked the ball on the right and from a low cross Monkhouse had a simple job to convert from close range (2 mins).

After the restart Ginnelly, who was looking lively, had a shot saved from the left of goal. Referee Nield made the first of several questionable decisions as he allowed Nsiala to use his hands on Rankine but it was mostly Grimsby dominating possession in the early stages.

After 13 minutes, Bogle got past Griffin on Grimsby's right but fired over the bar. Apparent fouls on Leather and Rankine were not given before Heathcote was harshly penalised, right of the box, as his opponent backed into him. From the freekick from the Grimsby left, an unchallenged Bogle headed home at the back post from three yards, to make it 2-0 after just 19 minutes.

After treatment for Robertson, Grimsby brought on Pearson (22 mins). From a Margetts lay off, Rankine caught Gowling as the Alty man swung his boot to shoot and he was penalised. When the referee again penalised Rankine the Alty man was lectured alongside his captain (26 mins).

Just before the half hour Leather needed treatment after a collision. The visitors were not threatening the Town goal before Bogle shot just wide (32 mins).

However, following an Alty freekick there was a melee in Grimsby's box before they cleared the danger. On 36 minutes, Disley was booked for a foul as Alty enjoyed a better spell.

After another Bogle foul, this time on Griffin, a wild lunge on Ginnelly won Alty another freekick on the left touchline. From Ginnelly's freekick, Rankine knocked the ball down but Sinnott hit the ball over the bar from 25 yards (39 mins).

Alty just managed to clear from their own box after being opened up before Arnold shot narrowly wide from eight yards, following a throw-in.

AS half time approached, Ginnelly took a corner after which Moult was unlucky to be booked for foot up as he went to shoot (43 mins).

Just before four added minutes started, Deasy saved an Arnold shot. Then Richman and an opponent suffered a clash of heads. Richman was treated for a facial injury but resumed afterwards (45+1 mins).

Not for the first or last time, Ginnelly was tripped but nothing came of the freekick.

Half-Time: GRIMSBY TOWN 2 ALTRINCHAM 0

Four minutes into the second period, Ginnelly went down in the box under a dubious Nsiala challenge but it was no surprise that Mr. Nield waved play on. Two minutes later, Sinnott fired across goal from 25 yards.

Rankine was now penalised against Gowling and was booked as the referee pointed to alleged other offences around the pitch (52 mins). Alty again failed to deal with a freekick as the ball was then played in from the right and Monkhouse scuffed a low shot into Deasy's bottom corner to make it 3-0 (53 mins).

Fouls on Griffin and, yet again, Ginnelly preceded one by Margetts. Ginnelly again impressed and found Rankine but he miscontrolled the pass. Moments later a Henry cross was cleared after Rankine had done well (57 mins).

Just as Alty seemed to have stabilized their performance, they conceded a corner on Town's left off Sinnott. This was headed in by Amond at the back post to make it 4-0 (62 mins).

Next, Grimsby brought on Nolan for Clay and a minute later Altrincham brought on Crowther for Mottley-Henry (65 mins). Crowther's arrival forced Ginnelly to switch to the right (65 mins). Soon, Ginnelly got the ball into the box but it was cleared by Grimsby. Belatedly, Bogle was booked after multiple offences, the latest being against Griffin (68 mins).

Altrincham were denied any consolation when a cross from the right into the box prompted as blatant a handball as you could see when, with his arm above his head, Gowling punched the ball away as Rankine challenged. Despite protests from Alty, only a corner was awarded (70 mins).

Next Leather was booked as the referee saw a foul and two minutes later, Pitman came on for Monkhouse (73 mins). After Rankine had been fouled in the air, the freekick led to Margetts glancing a header goalwards but McKeown saved it (75 mins).

With ten minutes remaining O'Keefe replaced Rankine, after which a 25 yarder flew just wide from Arnold. Next, a Lawrie effort deflected to the keeper (83 mins) but the freekicks kept coming as Lawrie then O'Keefe were penalised before Ginnelly was fouled. From the freekick, O'Keefe's header hit the bar (88 mins).

Just before four added minutes were proclaimed, Deasy beat out a shot from the right for a corner. This was half cleared before it was thumped into the roof of net from the edge of box by Arnold. So it was 5-0 (90+1 mins).

Now Deasy made a block to prevent a sixth goal, after which a shot from the left just evaded both the Alty keeper and the net (90+3 mins).

So, Alty had fallen to their heaviest league defeat since September 2014 at Barnet. The only real bright spot was a promising and hardworking performance from Josh Ginnelly. The biggest disappointment was that so many of the goals came either directly or indirectly from freekicks or corners. Tuesday sees Woking the visitors to Altrincham as, after five successive away league matches, Altrincham start a sequence of six home games in their next seven fixtures. The results of these games will do much to determine the season's outcome.

Full Time: GRIMSBY TOWN 5 ALTRINCHAM 0
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