ALTRINCHAM FC MATCH REPORTS

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ALTRINCHAM (0) 3
YORK CITY (0) 0

Vanarama National League North match
played on Saturday, 17 November 2018, at 3pm

SUMMARY

A superb second-half performance from Altrincham blew away York City after a fairly even and goalless first 45 minutes.

The first half saw both sides playing decent football but defences were on top and there was little goalmouth threat at either end. But, after the break, Altrincham dominated and took a deserved 57th minute lead. They had advanced on the left through Dale before Davis failed to clear the ball and Hancock hooked it home.

York were rocked for the next few minutes before getting back into the game but without landing any serious shots on goal. The visitors' third and final substitute was the veteran Jon Parkin but he was unable to change things for the Minstermen. Altrincham wrapped up the game with two goals in the final ten minutes. They went 2-0 ahead after Hulme had won a corner. Taken by Johnston, this came out to Moult who drove home a fine shot from just outside the box (83 mins).

And, as the game went into added time, Hulme laid on a chance for Hancock and his well-struck low effort from the edge of the box made it 3-0. The win lifted Altrincham into the newly expanded play-offs, in seventh place.

SCORERS:

REFEREE: Mr Kitchen
ATTENDANCE: 1,673 (348 in away end and others in main stand)
TEAM NEWS

As a result of Max Harrop's fifth yellow card in Altrincham's game at Chester last week, the midfielder was suspended for this match. In his place today was Simon Richman, with the other ten starters unchanged. Once again, the Alty bench was looking thin. With Poole, Harrison and Williams unavailable through injury or recuperation, Shaun Densmore was the sole outfield player on the bench had ever played for Alty's first-team. In addition to substitute keeper Elliot Wynne, the other three occupants of the bench (Mantack, Scott and Langley) were all new signings made in the last fortnight.

For their part, York were unchanged since their midweek match which was, coincidentally, also against Chester.

LINE-UPS:

ALTRINCHAM (Red & white striped shirts, black shorts, red socks): 1. Tony THOMPSON, 2. Andy WHITE, 3. Connor HAMPSON, 4. James JONES, 5. Tom HANNIGAN, 6. Jake MOULT (c), 7. John JOHNSTON, 8. Simon RICHMAN, 9. Jordan HULME, 10. Josh HANCOCK, 11. Owen DALE. Subs: 12. Kallum MANTACK, 14. Charlie SCOTT, 15. Josh LANGLEY, 16. Shaun DENSMORE, 20. Elliot WYNNE.

YORK CITY (Blue shirts, white shorts and socks): 1. Adam Bartlett, 2. Josh Law, 3. Sean Newton, 4. Kennedy Digie, 5. Joseph Davis, 6. Kallum Griffiths, 7. Lewis Hawkins, 8. Adriano Moke, 9. Jordan Burrow, 10. Joe Ironside, 11. Alexander Bray. Subs: 12. Macaulay Langstaff, 14. Alexander Harris, 15. David Ferguson, 16. Nathan Dyer, 19. Jon Parkin

BACKGROUND

Altrincham were in good form, having won four and drawn one of their previous five league matches.

A decent Cup performance at Swindon and a draw with Chester had prompted optimism on the York front, after four league games without a win.

REPORT

Altrincham kicked off, in bright sunshine, towards the away end, which was well populated with 348 away supporters, who were supplemented by more Yorkshiremen in the main stand. Three corners arrived in the opening five minutes, two to the hosts and one to the visitors. York now began to pass the ball around neatly but without any material result other than another corner, gained in the eleventh minute.

Defences remained on top before the first real threat of goal arrived in the 18th minute. Hancock won the ball and fed Johnston who, inside the box, forced a smart tip over the bar from Bartlett at the cost of Alty's third corner of the afternoon.

There continued to be plenty of endeavour but no end product at either end, apart from a corner apiece stradling the midway point of the first half (24 mins). A Dale effort went wide on the half hour and Hulme's half-volley from 35 yards went narrowly off-target, too (33 mins).

Thompson was called into rare action after 42 minutes when he had to field a tame long-range effort from Law. At the other end, likewise, a Moult shot ran comfortably to Bartlett. Next a Newton shot was so wide it almost hit the corner flag, right of goal, before Altrincham dealt successfully with a York corner on the cusp of the interval, though a well-positioned Hampson had to make a comfortable clearance off the line from Burrow's header.

Half-Time: ALTRINCHAM 0
YORK CITY 0

After York had kicked off the second half it was Altrincham who began to get the upper hand, keeping the visitors largely pinned back in their own half for the opening ten minutes after the break. In this period, a fine ball from Jones to Dale prompted a good shot from Hancock which Bartlett saved well at the cost of a corner. The game's tempo had now increased and another Alty corner soon followed.

Johnston then shot narrowly wide but a rare slip-up by Jones allowed Bray a shot at the other end, which Thompson blocked well in a one-on-one. The breakthrough for the hosts arrived in the 57th minute when Dale got forward on the left. His ball, inside, was deflected to Hancock who finished smartly with a hooked shot into the upper part of the net from 15 yards or so (57 mins).

Almost immediately after the restart Alty threatened again as Dale set Johnston running with a superb pass. York were looking very shaky now, and Langstaff soon replaced Ironside for the Minstermen (59 mins). Ironside had previously scored against Alty for Alfreton Town, Nuneaton Town and Kidderminster Harriers but he never looked like doing so for York today.

As Alty continued to dominate, York made a second swap, with Harris on for Bray (62 mins). Alty continued to run at York and keep them penned back before the visitors made their last throw of the dice as the veteran 37 year-old Jon Parkin replaced former Hartlepool man, Hawkins (72 mins).

Next, a fine cross-field ball from Moult to Johnston led to a strong shot from Hancock, which Bartlett impressively tipped over the bar for a corner (81 mins). York's fans in the main stand were beginning to express their ire at the management team as another piece of incisive Alty play gained the part-time hosts another corner against their full-time visitors, on the left.

Taken by Johnston, the corner-ball was cleared out to Moult who steadied himself before firing a fine low shot past Bartlett from the edge of the box to make it 2-0 (83 mins).

York did respond by winning a corner but, soon afterwards, when the lively Dale advanced up the left for Alty he was hacked down by Griffiths who became the game's only booking (88 mins).

The misery was not over for York as Alty added a third goal just after the match had gone into three added minutes at the end of the ninety. Hulme nodded the ball down for Hancock who scored his second goal of the afternoon with a carefully placed low shot to Bartlett's left, from the outer reaches of the penalty area (90+1 mins).

The final whistle put an end to York's misery soon afterwards. It had been a very impressive second-half performance by Altrincham, achieved without the need to use a single substitute for the first time this season. The three points lifted Alty into the play-off places in advance of their FA Trophy clash with league leaders Bradford (Park Avenue) next Saturday.

Full-Time: ALTRINCHAM 3
YORK CITY 0