ALTRINCHAM FC MATCH REPORTS


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BOREHAM WOOD (1) 2
ALTRINCHAM (0) 0

Vanarama National League match
played on Tuesday, 15 February 2022 at 7.45pm


SUMMARY:

Alty started well and a snap-shot from Colclough hit the post early on (6 mins). With the game drifting towards an uneventful spectacle, The Wood took a fortunate lead when a shot from 30 yards by Kane Smith deflected off one of his team-mates and wrong-footed Thompson to make it 1-0 to the hosts (19 mins).

A fine ball from Mullarkey then put Kosylo in on goal but he fluffed his lob, the ball going wide (26 mins).

In the second half, after an Andy White shot had gone close, a good Boreham Wood move ended with Boden slotting home a second goal (58 mins).

And that is the way it stayed, with Boreham Wood showing why they had conceded only 15 goals all season in the League whilst Alty were unable to finish any of their half-chances.


SCORERS:


REFEREE: Mr Greg Rollason
ATTENDANCE: 1.413 (36 in away area)


TEAM NEWS:

Alty made five changes for this match, with Conn-Clarke (injured and now having returned to Fleetwood Town), Mooney, Moult (injured) and Hulme giving way to Kosylo, Marriott, Leitch-Smith, Pringle and Mudimu in what was a three-at-the back formation. Morgan and Hancock joined the substitutes' bench.


LINE-UPS:

BOREHAM WOOD (White shirts, black shorts): 21. Taye Ashby-Hammond, 4. Mark Ricketts, 5. Will Evans, 6. David Stephens, 7. Josh Rees, 9. Scott Boden, 10. Tyrone Marsh, 16.James Comley, 17. Jacob Mendy-Mendy, 19. Kane Smith, 24. Connor Stevens. Subs: 2. Jamie Reckord, 11. Frankie Raymond, 14. Adrian Clifton, 15. Dennon Lewis, 29. Danilo Orsi.

ALTRINCHAM (Yellow shirts and socks, blue shorts): 1 Tony Thompson (c), 2. Shaun Densmore, 25. Toby Mullarkey, 33. Alec Mudimu, 15. Matty Kosylo, 20. Andy White, 8. Elliot Osborne, 32. Isaac Marriott, 17. Ben Pringle, 11. Ryan Colclough, 27. A-Jay Leitch-Smith. Subs: 7. Dan Mooney, 10. Josh Hancock, 19. Jamie Morgan, 14. Jake Cooper, 29. Jordan Hulme.


BACKGROUND:

This match had been deferred from the previous Saturday owing to The Wood's involvement in the FA Trophy where they had suffered an uncharacteritic 3-0 reverse, at Wrexham.

Altrincham had won both of their previous visits to this ground, 1-0. But this season, The Wood had lost just two league games before this match and, with only fifteen goals conceded all season, they boasted the tightest defence in the National League. They lay fifth in the table with games in hand on the leaders.


REPORT:

Alty kicked off and won an early corner, which was taken by Pringle (2 mins). This was cleared out to Kosylo whose volley was saved by Ashby-Hammond (3 mins).

In fact, Alty made a quite bright start and, on six minutes, almost snatched the lead when a surprise shot from Colclough had Ashby-Hammond beaten but the ball struck the base of his upright (6 mins).

Overall, however, the early part of this match was fairly nondescript, though the Wood did win an eleventh-minute corner, but this came to nothing from Mendy.

As the mediocre fare continued, out of nothing, the hosts took a scarcely deserved lead when a thirty-yard effort from Kane Smith struck a team-mate, which wrong-footed Thompson and the diverted ball found a fairly central part of his net (19 mins).

Boreham Wood are masters of defending a lead so it was to be an uphill struggle for Altrincham from now on.

However, an excellent long ball over the defence from Mullarkey presented Kosylo with a good chance to level the score. Unfortunately, the mercurial winger lobbed his effort wide of the target (26 mins).

After his fine pass, Mullarkey then blotted his copybook at the other end with a poor pass, intended for Mudimu, and it needed a strong right-arm from Thompson to prevent a second home goal. A corner was the outcome (32 mins).

After a promising Alty move had foundered, Boreham Wood now applied some pressure, especially up their left flank (37 mins). Nevertheless, on the Alty left, Andy White was having a good game for his side and he got in a shot, which wwas blocked by the human edifice that is Stephens.

Next, Rees almost got on the end of a cross for Boreham Wood (40 mins). Ricketts then escaped a booking when he brought down Colclough from behind (42 mins), before half-time arrived with Altrincham having played reasonably well yet, finding themselves trailing to a somewhat fortuitous home goal.


Half-Time: BOREHAM WOOD 1
ALTRINCHAM 0


The hosts almost doubled their lead soon after the restart when a Stephens header looped onto the top of the net (47 mins). Light rain was falling as Stephens now upended Colclough but he was not booked for his offence.

Andy White then went close as Altrincham put together a promising move (52 mins). At the other end Boden shot wide before he made amends when the influential Smith hit a ball which seemed to be going wide till Boden poked it home to make it 2-0 (58 mins).

Wood then brought on Reckord to replace Evans on the hour mark. Five minutes later Altrincham made a double swap as forwards Hulme and Hancock replaced Pringle and Leitch-Smith (65 mins). At this stage Altrincham had been unable to create a goal threat but a neat Hulme turn presented Osborne with an oportunity but his shot was both high and wide (69 mins).

Next, Kosylo won a corner before Marsh hit the sidenetting at the other end from a Smith feed (74 mins). Alty's final change saw Mooney replace Kosylo (75 mins). A strong appeal for a penalty, when Smith went down, was unheeded by the referee; this was just before Orsi replaced Boden for the hosts (78 mins).

Alty struggled to create a clear chance before Orsi won Boreham a corner (83 mins). Alty responded with two corners around the 85 minute mark but the home defence was not to be breached.

Up front Marsh was replaced by Clifton (87 mins) before the hosts saw out the game relatively comfortably. However, Comley got himself needlessly booked in the second added minute when he clattered Marriott.

Wood moved up to third and Alty ended in eighteenth position ahead of a crucial clash with Weymouth on Saturday.


Full Time: BOREHAM WOOD 2
ALTRINCHAM 0