ALTRINCHAM FC MATCH REPORTS

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SOUTHPORT (0) 1
ALTRINCHAM (1) 3

Emirates FA Cup Fourth qualifying Round match
played on Saturday, 19 October 2019, at 3pm

SUMMARY:

Altrincham secured a deserved place in Round One of the FA Cup on their second visit to Haig Avenue this season.

Alty took a 42nd minute lead when the ball was laid off by Johnston to Jordan Hulme who lashed the ball home from left of goal.

Seven minutes into the second half Tom Peers made it two-nil when he netted at the second attempt after goalkeeper Albinson had blocked his first attempt.

In the 61st minute, Hulme drove home a third goal from just inside the box. He was then denied a clear penalty when the keeper brought him down but the referee declined to point to the spot.

Alty absorbed some late Southport pressure but they allowed substitute Mohamed to head home a consolation goal in the 88th minute.

SCORERS:

REFEREE: Mr Aaron Bannister
ATTENDANCE: 1,507
TEAM NEWS:

Following Ashley Hemmings deciding to leave Altrincham, Tom Peers started on the right wing with John Johnston moving to the left. Connor Hampson was seemingly only fit for a place on the bench.

Compared with the league game between these clubs, Port had made changes, notably in goal where Albinson started. Elsewhere on the pitch, Green replaced Glynn who had netted the eventual winner in the league clash with Alty.

LINE-UP:

SOUTHPORT (Amber shirts, black shorts and socks): 1. Charlie ALBINSON, 2. Reagan OGLE, 3. Jack DOYLE, 4. Dean WINNARD, 5. Ryan ASTLES, 6. David MORGAN (c), 7. Devarn GREEN, 8. Russell BENJAMIN, 9. Raul CORREIA, 10. Jack SAMPSON, 11. Bradley BAURESS. Subs: 12. Connor WOODS, 13. Zehn MOHAMED, 14. Andy PARRY, 15. Kieran GLYNN, 16. Dan HANFORD, 17. Morgan HARRISON-SMITH

ALTRINCHAM (Red & white striped shirts, black shorts and red socks): 1. Tony THOMPSON, 2. Shaun DENSMORE, 3. Andy WHITE, 4. James JONES, 5. Tom HANNIGAN, 6. Jake MOULT (c), 7. John JOHNSTON, 8. Sean WILLIAMS, 9. Jordan HULME, 10. Josh HANCOCK, 11. Tom PEERS. Subs: 12. Max HARROP, 14. Simon RICHMAN, 15. Connor HAMPSON, 16. Toby MULLARKEY, 20. Joel TORRANCE.

BACKGROUND:

This was the second meeting of these teams at Haig Avenue this season, following the Sandgrounders' 2-1 win in the league in September.

Alty opted to wear their home kit rather than their grey away attire.

Mike Garnett's records reveal the past record in matches between Altrincham and Southport...

This was the fourth meeting of the clubs in the FA Cup. After Southport had won the clash in 1921/22, Alty had since won two FA Cup games against Southport at Moss Lane.

REPORT:

In warm sunshine, Alty kicked off towards the away end and an early Peers's shot deflected into the sidenetting to earn a corner (1 min). Alty's bright start continued as Johnston fired narrowly wide a minute later.

After another Johnston effort had gone wide, Southport gained the game's first corner from a freekick conceded by Moult (10 mins). Two minutes later Alty won their first corner which came to nothing.

Southport began to get into the game more and Bauress's effort from 20 yards had to be stopped, at the second attempt, by Thompson (17 mins). Alty gained the next corner (20 mins) which, again, came to nothing before a fine Hannigan tackle prompted an Alty attack which the referee unjustifiably halted to allow treatment to Correia whose injury was clearly to his leg and not his head (29 mins).

Play was going through a pretty uninspiring spell around the half-hour mark with the referee's sometimes baffling decisions not helping the flow of the game, not least when Densmore was penalised for a header for which Sampson had made no attempt to play the ball. Moments later, Alty were grateful recipients of Mr Bannister's play-on decision when Green went down in the box with a very plausible claim for a penalty (35 mins).

The game meandered on with intermittent stoppages for freekicks and seemed to be drifting towards a goalless conclusion to the first half. But, just after Johnston had miskicked a ball into touch, he did much better. The ball was played into the box from the left where it was laid off by Johnston towards the left of the box, from where Hulme swept it forcefully into the net with a low drive to break the deadlock (42 mins).

Indeed, it should have been two-nil to the visitors in added time but Johnston was unable to get in a clean shot from deep inside the penalty area with Southport in disarray.

Half-Time: SOUTHPORT 0
ALTRINCHAM 1

Altrincham took fewer than seven second-half minutes to double their lead. Thompson started the move and via Williams and Hulme the ball was played up the middle where Peers got to it first. His initial effort was half-stopped by goalkeeper Albinson. But the Alty man reacted quickly and hooked the loose ball into the net for his second goal in the FA Cup this season (52 mins).

After the restart, White lost the ball and it needed a Thompson save to keep the score at 2-0 to Altrincham (54 mins).

Two impressive Alty moves followed as Southport looked very much second best at this stage. Next Peers had a shot at goal which went well off target (57 mins).

Altrincham made it 3-0 in the 61st minute with a fine strike from Hulme. From left of centre, just inside the box, he struck a fine shot into the net near the back post, across keeper Albinson. Immediately, Glynn replaced Correia for the Sandgrounders (61 mins).

And two minutes later it took a bizarre refereeing decision to deny Alty a penalty. Winnard's poor back pass forced Albinson to come out and, unable to handle the ball, he kneed it to Hulme. As Hulme went round him, the keeper brought him down and a spot-kick seemed the obvious decision but not to Mr Bannister.

Two Southport corners came and went between which Mohamed came on at centre-back in place of Winnard (66 mins). Soon afterwards, Woods replaced Green for Port's final change of personnel (68 mins).

Within three minutes the abrasive Woods was booked for a foul on Williams.

Altrincham were looking comfortable as, next, Richman came on for Williams (75 mins). White who had a curate's egg sort of game, now stood off and allowed Woods to advance up the right before the nove ended with a shot over the bar.

Alty responded when Peers got in a 20-yarder which hit the crossbar at the other end (79 mins). Five minutes later a Mohamed error allowed Peers another shot, which Albinson saved. Next, a foul by Hulme earned him a booking and he was promptly replaced by centre-back Mullarkey as Alty looked to hold onto their lead (84 mins).

Altrincham disappointingly could not keep a clean sheet. Southport's consolation came after Thompson had kicked the ball carelessly into touch. From the resulting throw, a cross came in from the right and Mohamed's header looped into the net to make it 1-3 (88 mins).

Four added minutes were decreed which started with a Port freekick conceded by Johnston on the front edge of the Altrincham box. The edifice that is Ryan Astles stood menacingly directly in front of Thompson to block his vision as he attempted to line up his defensive wall. Such charmless behaviour proved pointless as the keeper saved the resulting freekick.

Harrop replaced Johnston (90+3 mins) before the final whistle sounded on a good performance from the visitors who had clearly learned some lessons from their league defeat on the same ground earlier this season.

Full-Time: SOUTHPORT 1
ALTRINCHAM 3