ALTRINCHAM FC MATCH REPORTS
Return to News Page
ALTRINCHAM (3) 4
SOLIHULL MOORS (1) 1
played on Saturday, 25 February 2023 at 3pm. 45pm
SUMMARY:
Having lost their five top scorers who either left the club or rejoined parent clubs over the months straddling New Year, Altrincham brought in eight loanees, yet in the past eight days they have won three matches on the run against teams above them in the table and netted eleven goals!
Against a Solihull team who were at best disappointing and, at times, woeful, the score did not flatter the Robins.
Altrincham opened the scoring in the eleventh minute with a route one goal which Moors failed to defend, allowing Rochdale loanee Tyrese Sinclair to lob keeper Boot from Byrne's long kick.
Out of the blue, Solihull levelled in the 28th minute when a superb 40 yard strike by Roberts from left of centre beat goalkeeper Byrne as it went into the net off the post.
Alty restored their lead eight minutes later when makeshift right-back Josh Lundstram won the ball and advanced before playing a superb diagonal ball to left-winger Sinclair. The Rochdale man expertly lobbed Boot to make it 2-1.
And as the first-half ended, Regan Linney was upended just inside the front of the box. He comprehensively beat Boot from the spot for his third goal since his recent elevation from National League North (45 mins).
When it became 4-1 after 55 minutes it looked like Altrincham could run up a cricket score. The fourth goal came from a left-sided corner by a rejuvenated Elliot Osborne which Jordan Hulme cleverly back headed into the net (55 mins).
Jordan Hulme celebrates his goal.
But there was to be no further scoring as Alty moved above the Moors into the top half of the table and just six points off the play-offs.
SCORERS:
- 11 mins: Tyrese SINCLAIR (ALTRINCHAM 1 Solihull Moors 0)
- 28 mins: Mitch ROBERTS (ALTRINCHAM 1 Solihull Moors 1)
- 36 mins: Tyrese SINCLAIR (ALTRINCHAM 2 Solihull Moors 1)
- 45 mins: Regan LINNEY (ALTRINCHAM 3 Solihull Moors 1)
- 55 mins: Jordan HULME (ALTRINCHAM 4 Solihull Moors 1)
REFEREE: Mr Paul Marsden
ATTENDANCE: 2,275 (84 in away section)
TEAM NEWS:
Altrincham made one enforced change as the injured loanee Miles Welch-Hayes was replaced by moving midfield ever-present Josh Lundstram to the right-back berth. Further forward Tyrese Sinclair came into the starting eleve.
Returning loanee Aaron Bennett and midfielder Ben Pringle were named on the bench, as Egli Kaja dropped out of the squad.
The Moors had lost of Ryan Barnett to Wrexham on the eve of this match, so Josh Kelly replaced him. Three other changes were made as Joe Sbarra, Mark Beck and Mitchell Roberts came in.
LINE-UPS:
ALTRINCHAM (Red & white striped shirts, black shorts, red socks): 1. Oliver Byrne, 8. Josh Lundstram, 26. James Jones, 6. Lewis Baines, 2. Eddy Jones, 4. Isaac Marriott, 9. Jordan Hulme (c), 10. Elliot Osborne, 28. Maxi Oyedele, 35. Tyrese Sinclair, 29. Regan Linney. Subs: 11. Danny Cashman, 16. Armando Júnior Quitirna, 18. Ben Pringle, 21. Matt Gould, 27. Aaron Bennett
SOLIHULL MOORS (All yellow): 1 Ryan Boot, 2 James Clarke, 5 Callum Howe (c), 7 Joe Sbarra, 15 Mitch Roberts, 14 Josh Kelly, 9 Andrew Dallas, 10 Jamey Osborne, 18 Tom Whelan, 32 Jevon Mills, 27 Mark Beck. Subs: 17 Justin Donawa, 6 Alex Gudger, 8 Callum Maycock, 19 Bartosz Cybulski, 28. Finn Howell
BACKGROUND:
Altrincham had secured two impressive victories against top-five clubs in the preceding week, whereas Solihull had won just once in their previous seven league fixtures and had drawn their three most recent games in the National League.
REPORT:
Solihull kicked off towards Golf Road on a dull afternoon at Moss Lane but, within thirty seconds, a foul on Sinclair had given Alty a freekick left of goal. Nothing came of it but the home side started the better of the two sides.
But when Alty took an early lead it came out of nothing. A long punt upfield by Byrne eluded the Moors defence and found Sinclair in the clear, left of goal. He calmly lobbed the exposed Ryan Boot as he came out of the visitors' goal, to make it 1-0 (11 mins). It was the Rochdale loanee's third goal in his last three league starts.
Solihull's only effort at goal in the opening stages was Dallas's curling shot which cleared the bar comfortably (16 mins).
Alty responded but Hulme's shot was underhit to the visitors' keeper, Boot.
A poor mispass by Whelan allowed Oyedele a chance but his shot was poor and the Manchester United loanee was to have a quiet game (18 mins). Whelan's afternoon then got worse after he chopped down Marriott and referee Marsden brandished a yellow card in his direction (20 mins).
Solihull were looking a shadow of the team which had not only put five past Alty earlier this season but had also beaten the Robins in all five previous league encounters.
Next, Linney won a corner before Roberts was pulled up for almost taking the shirt off Hulme, for which he was lucky to escape a card (22 mins). Sinclair then fired a shot wide, across goal, from the left (26 mins). But with Altrincham looking comfortably in control they were pegged back by an exceptional goal.
Defender Roberts, from a good forty yards, on the left, hit a superb low shot which beat Byrne at his right post and cannoned off the inside of the keeper's right upright into the net (28 mins).
Next, Solihull were penalised for another foul, this time on Sinclair on the left wing (30 mins).
Soon Lundstram excelled on the right as he got past a defender and ran along the right byline to within a few yards of Boot's near post; his cross was diverted out to Osborne whose well hit shot just cleared the bar (32 mins). After a spell out of the team, Osborne has seized his chance to impress in recent outings and has become the team's regular corner taker.
As Alty continued on top, Hulme and Boot collided when going for a 50/50 ball with the keeper coming off the worse (33 mins). Hulme was irate with the officials at not getting a penalty award in his favour. Like Osborne, Hulme too has risen to the challenge since being restored to the starting eleven recently.
The home side's superiority was soon converted into a goal as Lundstram won the ball some twenty yards inside his own half on the right. He advanced beyond halfway before playing a superb diagonal ball to the left wing for Sinclair.
The Rochdale loanee advanced and, from the edge of the box, he hit a superb shot across Boot into the net to restore Alty's lead (36 mins). That goal, his fourth, made him Alty's leading scorer this season in the National League amongst those still at the club, after just three starts and one more appearance from the bench in the league!
Solihull did get in a shot at Byrne (40 mins) but there was soon more disappointment for them as Dallas was booked for scything down the industrious Marriott in the centre of the pitch (42 mins).
As the interval approached Linney had a shot blocked on the front edge of the box but, as he went to strike the resulting loose ball, now just inside the box, he was judged to have been brought down by Howe. Linney then converted the spot kick confidently (45 mins).
It was Linney's third goal in 3(+2) appearances, two of them being from the penalty-spot.
Three added minutes left the score 3-1 at the interval, meaning that Altrincham had hit six goals in their last two halves of football, following three second-half goals at Barnet.
Half-Time: ALTRINCHAM 3 |
After a fairly uneventful opening to the second half, Byrne's kick was relayed to Linney by Hulme. In the clear, the striker's shot was blocked by the keeper's legs (52 mins).
Next, Sinclair was fouled again, by Kelly, who escaped with a lecture (53 mins). Soon Sinclair earned a corner on the left and Osborne's inswinger was met, just beyond the near post, by a deft backward header from Hulme which looped into the net to make it 4-1 (55 mins).
At this stage a cricket score seemed likely as Alty threatened again. Osborne fed Linney, whose shot was saved by Boot (58 mins). Moors did then get to the other end where Kelly fed Dallas but he shot wide.
Then Hulme strode through the Moors' defence but his shot was comfortably saved. Solihull's poor afternoon continued as Clarke played a pass straight to an Alty man and a corner soon resulted for the hosts (62 mins). Taken short by Osborne to Sinclair, the left-winger got along the byline before being halted.
But the Rochdale man was to be denied the chance of a hat-trick as he was replaced by Pringle (64 mins).
The errors by Solihill continued when goalkeeper Boot kicked the ball straight to Hulme, who chipped the ball over the custodian, only to see a retreating defender clear it off the line (67 mins).
When the already booked Kelly now felled Eddy Jones he escaped a second yellow but he had become the butt of the home crowd as he assumed the role of pantomime villain.
After another Alty corner, Kelly was withdrawn and replaced by Cybulski. But the visitors remained second best as Linney forced a save from an Osborne feed (71 mins). Indeed, Linney soon had the ball in the net after this but was given offside.
Solihull now won two successive corners, the first of which caused some panic in the home goalmouth. After this, Maycock replaced Whelan (80 mins) before Bennett made his second debut for Altrincham as he started his second loan spell from Preston (82 mins).
The visitors did try, to the end, to get something from the game and saw more of the ball in the closing stages without winning more than a corner before the ninety minutes concluded. Three added minutes did not affect the score as Alty celebrated three wins in a week and eleven goals in the process.
Full Time: ALTRINCHAM 4 |