ALTRINCHAM FC MATCH REPORTS

Return to News Page

WOKING (1) 1
ALTRINCHAM (0) 1

Vanarama National League match
played on Tuesday, 16 March, 2021 at 7.45pm
behind closed doors

SUMMARY:

Altrincham wasted a great chance to take a sixth minute lead when Piggott was put clear but he fired dreadfully over the bar on his first start since rejoining the club.

Alty then fell behind, after eighteen minutes, and it was a poorly conceded goal. They conceded an unnecessary corner through Colclough. From the left the inswinging ball was allowed to sail across the goalmouth and come back off the inside of the back post where it was bundled narrowly over the line by Lofthouse. Thompson was on the deck as the ball hit the post and clearly felt he had been fouled.

Woking went on to enjoy the better of the half with Alty's very occasional shooting very poor, from both Colclough and Hancock, though the latter did also land his team's only shot on target in the first half.

Just before half-time Kosylo, yet again, got himself unnecessarily booked. It was his eleventh yellow of the season and his tenth in the league so he will face a two-game ban now. A couple of fine Thompson saves kept Alty in the game in the first half.

In a decidedly uninspiring second-half spectacle served up by both sides, Woking did not create a lot and Altrincham failed to trouble the Woking keeper at all, until the 92nd minute. At that point, Thompson's punt upfield found Moult who was wrestled down by Gerring and a penalty was awarded, which Hancock converted to give Alty wan unlikely draw.

And Thompson then preserved the point with a magnificent tip-away of a Ferdinand header two minutes later.

Despite the achievement of this unlikely draw, it was, however, just the fifth point gained by Alty from 27 on offer over the past nine fixtures. They remain thirteenth (sixteenth on PPG).

SCORERS:

REFEREE: Mr Daniel Lamport, who had reffed Alty's 1-1 draw at Eastleigh earlier this season.
ATTENDANCE: Behind closed doors.
TEAM NEWS:

Last Saturday, Alty had been without five injured attacking players in Gibson, Kosylyo, Mooney, Piggott and the longer-term absentee Adarabioyo. Defenders Andy White (ankle) and Shaun Densmore (fractured wrist) had also been sidelined by injuries for that game.

And, indeeed, injuries and work commitments did mean that manager Phil Parkinson had a restricted choice to make from his squad but he had signed loanee Nyal Bell from Stockport before the game.

So Altrincham fielded a much changed side, with captain Jake Moult surprisingly only named on the bench, both Alistair Smith and Connor Hampson were missing from the squad but Sean Williams was back to start after a 26 league-match absence through injury. Matty Kosylo returned to action after a one-match gap and Joe Piggott made the first start of his second spell at the club.

Woking made three changes themselves as Casey, Ferdinand and Jarvis came in for Kretzschmar, Cook and Muir.

LINE-UP:

WOKING (Red and white shirts, black shorts and socks) 13. Craig Ross, 3. Josh Casey (c), 4. Charlie Cooper, 6.Moussa Diarra, 5. Ben Gerring, 8. Kane Ferdinand, 11. Matt Jarvis, 16. Kyran Lofthouse, 18. Ben Dempsey, 25. Sam Ashford, 26. Jamar Loza. Subs: 10. Max Kretzschmar, 12. Nathan Collier, 19. Niko Muir, 20. Malachi Napa, 23. Jayden Wareham.

ALTRINCHAM (All yellow with white and blue sash on shirts): 1. Tony THOMPSON (c), 24. Joel SENIOR, 35. Yoan ZOUMA, 5. Tom HANNIGAN, 19. Reagan OGLE, 25. Toby MULLARKEY, 8. Sean WILLIAMS, (c), 15. Matty KOSYLO, 34. Ryan COLCLOUGH, 10.Josh HANCOCK, 9. Joe PIGGOTT. Subs: 6. Jake MOULT, 17. Nyal BELL, 32. James HARDY, 11. Yusifu CEESAY, 23. Tom PEERS.

BACKGROUND:

It had only been a fortnight since Woking had visited Altrincham and lost 1-0, which had been Alty's only win in their previous eight outings before tonight.

REPORT: Altrincham kicked off but the visitors started the game the better side. A Jarvis cross flew across the Alty box (3 mins) and Alty were surrendering the initiative by committing minor fouls with regularity in the opening five minutes.

But they had a glorious chance to take a sixth-minute lead. Piggott was played in on goal but, from the front corner of the six-yard box, left of goal, he made a dreadful hash of his shot past the exposed keeper, lifting the ball hign over the bar.

And it got no better four minutes later when Piggott laid the ball off to Hancock who, from twenty yards, fired very high and wide from 20 yards. Alty's wastefulness in front of goal has reached epidemic proportions in recent weeks.

At the other end, Crawley Town loanee Ashford was halted by Hannigan as The Cards also failed to land a shot on goal by the 15 minute point, when Ashford fired thirty feet wide from 25 yards.

But the hosts were on top in terms of possession and now won two corners, the first off Colclough and the second arising when Colclough lost possession and Hannigan had to cover. From the left this inswinging corner was allowed to drift across the goalmouth as Thompson found himself on the deck. The corner came back off the inside of the post and was bundled in by Lofthouse although Senior seemed to clear it marginally behind the goal-line (18 mins).

Following the goal Woking were definitely in the ascendant as Alty continued to give away freekicks with reguilarity, many of these being on the Cards' left where they were concentrating most of their attacks.

Next, the alert Williams took a quick freekick, after being fouled, which set Piggott towards goal but he slipped over on the edge of the box (28 mins). Then, a Colclough effort sailed well over the bar and very wide (29 mins)..

It now took a fine block by Thompson to stop Loza's shot as the hosts gained their first sight of the keeper's eyes from open play (30 mins).

Play became very scrappy as half-time approached. Woking did win a corner but Alty countered, only for Colclough to fire high over the bar, again (37 mins). The visitors had now wasted three presentable openings with dreadful shooting.

Woking did thenput the ball in the net but were clearly offside in doing so and the effort was ruled out.

At the other end, Ashford bundled over Senior and careered into Thompson who nevertheless blocked the ball well (43 mins). There was time before the break for Colclough to execute his third miss of the half as he fired well wide of the near post and into the side netting and the half ended on another low note as, off the ball, whilst waiting for a home freekick to be taken, Kosylo saw a yellow card for the tenth time in a league match. He now faces a two-match ban for his serial indiscipline.

Half-Time: WOKING 1
ALTRINCHAM 0

At the break Alty brought on Jake Moult to replace centre-back Zouma. This led to Mullarkey moving into the back line as Moult operated in midfield.

A promising start from Alty soon evaporated as Loza won Woking a corer (49 mins). The normally steady Hannigan now gave away a wholly unnecessary corner with a wayward back pass as the visitors faltered.

After a few mundane minutes Woking won another corner which Thompson got nowhere near (57 mis).

The game meandered on, uneventfully, until Williams was booked for a foul (61 mins). Next Ceesay and Bell came on to replace Piggott and Kosylo (63 mins).

A Woking booking marked the midway point of the second half which was producing nothing of note in the way of flair or excitement. Ross did drop a Senior cross but recovered the ball but that was as exciting as it got as Woking seemed happy to stifle Alty and Alty lacked the guile to outwit the hosts.

Next, Cooper was booked for Woking, for a foul on Hancock (70 mins), before Colclough turned well and fired in a well-struck 25-yarder which went narrowly wide of the keper's right upright (71 mins).

After treatment for Mullarkey, Alty finally put together a decent passing move, which yielded a rare commodity, an Alty corner, won by Bell (77 mins). Bell then won a freekick off Gerring on the front corner of the box but, disappointingly, Colclough hit this low into the wall (80 mins). Things slightly improved for Alty as a Bell header produced a routine save (81 mins).

Woking made a double swap with Kretzschmar and Wareham replacing Jarvis and Ashford (83 mins).

A foul on Hancock by Ferdinand saw the Woking man booked as the minutes ticked away (85 mins). Ceesay's allowing a routione pass to go under his foot for a home throw epitomised how out of sorts the visitors had been. And it got no better as, with just a minute of normal time left, Thompson hit a freekick poorly into touch (89 mins).

A surprisingly long five added minutes were decreed. In the second of these minutes Thompson pumped a kick upfield, where Moult chested it down but was upended by a clusy challenge near the penalty spot by Gerring. A penalty was awarded and Hancock calmly hit his, low, into the bottom corner of the net to give Alty a point that their play had scarcely merited (90+2 mins).

Woking's lack of adventure had cost them dear but, belatedly, they had been woken from their lethargy and won a corner, from which Thompson made a superb save to push away a goalbound Ferdinand header (90+4 mins). That save presevred a valuable point for Altrincham whose previously impressive away form has dissolved in recent weeks amidst a run of nine fixtures, home and away, which have yielded just five points.

They remained thirteen in the table, sixteenth on PPG.

Full Time: WOKING 1
ALTRINCHAM 1

Link to ARCHIVE INDEX