ALTRINCHAM FC MATCH REPORTS

Return to News Page

ALTRINCHAM (0) 1
FC UNITED OF MANCHESTER (0) 2

Vanarama National League North match
played on Tuesday, 14 August 2018, at 7.45pm

SUMMARY

Bottom club FC of Manchester condemned Altrincham to their first defeat of the season as the Robins for the second time this week failed to capitalise on a winning position, having conceded goals three times after taking the lead at Spennymoor on Saturday. In the first half Altrincham enjoyed more of the attacking momentum without causing the visitors' keeper, Crellin, any serious trouble. The hosts took the lead after 54 minutes when Hulme netted from close range after a Hampson shot had been beaten out by Crellin. But Alty failed to press home their advantage and after a good spell for the visitors, they equalised when veteran striker Liam Dickinson headed home a corner in the 65th minute. And when Harrison stood off the advancing Willoughby, the FC man drove a fine shot high into the net from outside the box to win the game (81 mins).

SCORERS:

REFEREE: Mr Scott Simpson
ATTENDANCE: 1,704
TEAM NEWS

With knocks to White, Richman, Jones and Goulding, Alty started the game with three of their back four, (Densmore, Harrison and Hannigan), making their first start of the season as they returned from injury. In addition, Hancock was sidelined by a toe injury and Poole, likewise, was not yet fit enough to be involved. Following the warm-up, Simon Richman also had to drop out of the squad and he was replaced on the bench by Bay Downing.

LINE-UPS:

ALTRINCHAM (Red & white striped shorts, black shorts, red socks): 1. Tony THOMPSON, 2. Shaun DENSMORE, 3. Connor HAMPSON, 4. Tom HANNIGAN, 5. Ben HARRISON, 6. Jake MOULT (c), 7. John JOHNSTON, 8. Max HARROP, 9. Jordan HULME, 10. Sean WILLIAMS, 11. Brendon DANIELS. Subs: 12. Tom PEERS, 14. Bay DOWNING, 15. James JONES, 16. Liam GOULDING, 20. Elliot WYNNE.

FC UNITED OF MANCHESTER (Blue shirts and socks, white shorts): 1. Billy CRELLIN, 2. Sam TATTUM, 3. Steve O'HALLORAN (capt), 4. Scott KAY, 5. Sam BAIRD, 6. Chris LYNCH, 7. Jamal CRAWFORD, 8. Danny RACCHI, 9. Liam DICKINSON, 10. Kurt WILLOUGHBY, 11. Tom GREAVES. Subs: 12. Jack BANISTER, 14. Ian PALINKAS, 15. Joel SENIOR, 16. Luke ASHWORTH, 17. Brodie LITCHFIELD

BACKGROUND

FC started the game bottom of the table, without a point, whereas Alty were fifth, after two draws and a win.

REPORT

FCUM kicked off under the floodlights and almost took the lead inside ten seconds but Willoughby fired over from a clear opening. An early yellow card was shown to Racchi after he had clattered Williams (4 mins) as Altrincham began to settle. But it was the visitors who again carved out a good chance, in the tewlfth minute, when it took a well-timed Harrison tackle, inside the Alty box, to stop Willoughby. And two corners for the visitors kept Alty on the back foot.

As Alty improved they won a couple of corners but, in between these, Harrop was very fortunate not to be booked for a challenge from behind (19 mins). But the hosts were not as thankful to the referee, four minutes later, when good skill from Daniels got him into the box before he went down under a challenge which elicited strong appeals for a penalty. However, Mr Simpson had other ideas and booked the Port Vale loanee for simulation, a decision which Daniels did not strongly contest.

Johnston, despite seeming to have trouble with his footwear which necessitated a change of boots and several re-ties of his laces, was looking Alty's liveliest player but his incursions were not producing clear chances for his team-mates. Just before the interval, the move of the half, as Alty swept up the left, produced a corner but the first 45 minutes ended goalless.

Half-Time: ALTRINCHAM 0
FC UNITED OF MANCHESTER 0

In their three previous fixtures, Alty had scored inside five minutes of the start of the second half; tonight it took them nine minutes to achieve this. A fine shot from outside the box by Hampson was well saved by Crellin but the ball fell loose and Hulme nipped in to put the ball in the net (54 mins).

Two Alty corners followed without an end-product but, when FCUM gained one, they showed Alty how to execute a corner more effectively. The corner had arisen a little dubiously as Hampson was harshly penalised when Dickinson actually seemed to be backing in on him; the resulting freekick produced the flag-kick on the visitors' right. Dickinson was allowed a free header from near the back post and Alty found themselves pegged back at 1-1 (65 mins).

Tattum was booked for a foul on Hampson, not his first offence, soon afterwards (67 mins). For all their possession in this game, it as the visitors who again went close when player-manager Greaves headed very narrowly wide.

The goal seemed to have deflated Altrincham but they tried to shake things up as Peers replaced Daniels (74 mins) and, three minutes later, Senior replaced Greaves for FC United. But the home side's change had little immediate effect as the visitors got up the left and, as Harrison stood off, Willoughby launched a fine shot from more than 20 yards which beat Thompson's dive and found the back of the net (81 mins).

The already booked Tattum was very fortunate to stay on the field when he fouled Peers but he escaped with a lecture in the presence of his captain. Hulme then put a good chance wide from a cross from the left before a well-hit Peers effort found only the side-netting (89 mins). At this point Downing was brought on for his debut, in place of Moult, but it was far too late for him to have any effect despite four added minutes of play.

So, in their two home matches to date, Alty have faced a team that had only just avoided relegation last summer (Leamington) and the club that arrived at the JDS in bottom place in the division (FCUM) this season but they failed to beat either, which underlines the strength of opposition that the club faces this season.

Full-Time: ALTRINCHAM 1
FC UNITED OF MANCHESTER 2