ALTRINCHAM FC MATCH REPORTS


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ALTRINCHAM (1) 2
STOCKPORT COUNTY (0) 4

Pre-season friendly match
played on Saturday, 15 July, 2023 at 3pm.


SUMMARY:

After a promising first half which ended with Altrincham deservedly a goal up, two defensive mistakes let County take the lead before a raft of substitutions for both sides led to Alty completing the game with just Gould, Banks and Amaluzor of the main first-team squad on the pitch, plus George Wilson who is set to go out on loan, several trialists and a number of Academy graduates.

Alty took a 37th minute lead when Eddy Jones's low cross to the back post was converted by Regan Linney.

Disaster struck twice inside five minutes early in the second half. First Cooper slipped as a cross came in and the ball fell for Sarcevic to score easily from close range (53 mins).

Then a speculative 35-yarder from Camps went through Ollie Byrne's hands to make it 1-2 (57 mins).

Stockport then dominated the remainder of the game. New signing Powell made it 3-1 when he was put clear in the box and he chipped the ball over the advancing Gould (74 mins). Then a close-range bullet-header by former Torquay man Lemonheigh-Evans converted a cross to make it 1-4.

However, Alty sub Justin Amaluzor, who had been largely starved of service, scored a fine goal from 25 yards looping the ball over the keeper in the 90th minute, rendering the final score 2-4.


SCORERS:

  • 37 mins: Regan LINNEY (ALTRINCHAM 1 Stockport County 0)
  • 53 mins: Antoni SARCEVIC (ALTRINCHAM 1 Stockport County 1)
  • 57 mins: Callum CAMPS (ALTRINCHAM 1 Stockport County 2)
  • 74 mins: Nick POWELL (ALTRINCHAM 1 Stockport County 3)
  • 57 mins: Conor LEMONHEIGH-EVANS (ALTRINCHAM 1 Stockport County 4)
  • 74 mins: Justin AMALUZOR (ALTRINCHAM 2 Stockport County 4)


REFEREE: TBC


ATTENDANCE: 2,097 (992 in away section)
TEAM NEWS:

Having used more than twenty players in each of the two previous pre-season games, for this first home friendly and first game against higher-ranked oposition, Phil Parkinson started with eleven of the first-team squad but by the end of the game, just three remained on the pitch.

However, the manager's options were reduced as Altrincham were without Dior Angus, Isaac Marriott and James Jones who were all seated in the directors' box, presumably injured. Also missing from the players allocated squad numbers were Liam Brockbank and academy graduate Loui Williams.

New signing Sam Roscoe was named as captain.


LINE-UPS:

ALTRINCHAM (Red & white striped shirts, black shorts, red socks): 1. Ollie Byrne, 2. Justin Donawa, 6. Sam Roscoe (c), 24. Jake Cooper, 5. Lewis Baines, 3. Eddy Jones, 17. Joey Jones, 8. Elliot Osborne, 7. Matty Kosylo, 11. Chris Conn-Clarke, 9. Regan Linney. Subs: 12. Trialist A (Kelan Swales), 14. Trialist B (Sean Lawton), 15. Trialist C (Kwame Boateng), 16. Lewis Banks, 18. Owen German, 20. Matt Gould, 21. Ewan McGeady, 22. Tom Jones, No Number, Mark Ellis.

STOCKPORT COUNTY (All black with yellow trim): 1. Ben Hinchliffe, 4. Akil wright, 6. Fraser Horsfall, 7. Macauley Southam-Hales, 9. Paddy Madden, 10. Antoni Sarcevic, 17. Ryan Rydel, 18. Ryan Croasdale, 19. Trialist A, 21. Trialist B, 23. Ollie Crankshaw. Subs: 13.Ethan Ross, 2. Kyle Knoyle, 3. Ibou Touray, 5. Neil Byrne, 8. Callum Camps, 11. Nick Powell, 14. Conor Lemonheigh-Evans, 15. Ethan Pye, 16. Luke Partington, 24. Ashton Mee, 25. Isaac Olaofe.


BACKGROUND:

This was Altrincham's third pre-season match of 2023 following a 1-0 reverse at Lancaster City and a 4-1 mauling at FC United of Manchester. It was the first home game of the summer and the pitch looked in good shape despite a biblical downpour during the warm-up.


REPORT:

As torrential rain had fallen before Stockport kicked off, many of the County fans who were located in the unroofed away end retreated to the covered part of the Popular side that had also been allocated to them.

Stockport won an early corner but this came to nothing (7 mins). For Alty, their new midfielder, the experienced Joey Jones, was directing his tean-mates with a constant flow of verbal and arm-waving directions which may or may not have been appreciated by recipients such as Chris Conn-Clarke and Matty Kosylo.

The opening stages were fairly even and characterised by a lack of significant action for either goalkeeper. And, rain started to fall again by the 15-minute mark.

Alty then began to have a good spell, with Hinchliffe having to race out of his box to kick clear as Osborne threatened to get clear from a through ball (20 mins). Then a mix up between Hinchliffe and Horsfall gave Altrincham a corner.

Before this could be taken Joey Jones came to the technical area to remonstrate with his manager about something or other in the team's performance. However, when the short corner was taken, ironically, it was Jones whose own miskick meant that no danger threatened the visitors' goal (22 mins).

There was danger at the other end as Byrne's kick put Joey Jones under pressure and he was drawn into a foul. But County hit the dead-ball, from the front edge of the box, into the defensive wall (24 mins)

Donawa now got up the right and his cross was only just gathered by Hinchliffe as Conn-Clarke came racing into the goalmouth. Very soon afterwards a good Altrincham move culminated in a Conn-Clarke shot which Hinliffe saved, as Alty enjoyed a good spell (28 mins).

County responded as a Crankshaw shot deflected for a corner.

Alty's best move of the half saw Roscoe, Kosylo and Osborne conspire to set up a Conn-Clarke shot which, again, Hinchliffe saved (36 mins).

But a minute later Hinchliffe was beaten. A move on the left culminated in Eddy Jones's low ball across the goalmouth where, just beyond the back post, Linney drove the ball into the net through the keeper's challenge (37 mins).

Alty had a scare soon afterwards when Byrne was unable to get more than a hand on a low cross but the ball was cleared to safety by a defender (39 mins).

But the Robins replied with Kosylo, Osborne and Conn-Clarke combined for Osborne to get in a fierce cross which Hinchliffe beat away. Next a Linney dribble ended in a disappointingly wide shot (41 mins).

As Alty's impressive end to the half continued, a speculative cross from the right by Conn-Clarke had Hinchliffe stranded as the ball struck his crossbar (42 mins).

Despite two added minutes, half-time arrived with Altrincham deserving their narrow lead.


Half-Time: ALTRINCHAM 1
STOCKPORT COUNTY 0


Altrincham made changes at the interval as Wilson, Trialist B, Amaluzor, Boateng (trialist) and an unnumbered Mark Ellis came on for Roscoe, Eddy Jones, Kosylo and Donawa. Stockport also made four or five changes.

Disaster struck for Alty when a Southam-Hales cross dropped inn the box where Cooper made to clear it but slipped and only succeeded in knocking the ball into the path of Sarcevic who had the simple chance of scoring from close range (53 mins).

And it got worse, minutes later, when a speculative shot by substitute Camps from more than 30 yards went through the diving Byrne's hands and, to his mortification, into the net to give County the lead (57 mins).

Shortly afterwards Amaluzor, Wilson, Banks and three trialists replaced Cooper, Donawa, Conn-Clarke, Eddy Jones, Baines and Kosylo (59 mins) followed by Byrne and Joey Jones leaving the pitch as Gould and trialists no.12 and no. 14 entered the fray (60 mins).

To add to the confusion County now brought on eight more subs (Olaofe, Mee, Powell, Lemonheigh-Evans, Touray, Byrne, Partington and Knoyle in place of Wright, Southam-Hales, Horsfall, Croasdale, Rydel, Madden, Sarcevic and Croasdale).

Stockport now got well on top as the personnel changes and the double-blow of conceding two poor goals seemed to gake the stuffing out of the hosts, before yet another Alty change saw young Tom Jones replace Linney (71 mins).

Next, after Gould had saved a freekick, he had been unable to get at a cross so was fortunate to see Olaofe shoot wide in the aftermath.

The respite was short, however, as two County players were set free by a through ball and one of them, Powell, smartly clipped the ball into the net over the exposed Gould to make the score 1-3 (74 mins).

Play was now one-way towards the Alty goal and Lemonheigh-Evans almost scored a fourth County goal but his chip came back off the bar with Gould beaten (77 mins).

The luck ran out soon afterwards as Partington fed Knoyle whose cross from the right was met by a bullet-header from Lemonheigh-Evans, the former Torquay forward, which made it 1-4 (78 mins).

Yet more changes brought youngsters German and Mceady on for Altrincham to replace Roscoe and Osborne, with German acquiring the captain's armband in the process (81 mins)!

Gould, Banks and Amaluzor were now the only senior players left on the pitch for Alty and two of them were making their home debuts.

Gould did well to beat out a late freekick, only for Powell now to hit the crossbar (89 mins).

However, just as three minutes of added time were proclaimed, Amaluzor netted a fine consolation goal floating a shot over the keeper from outside the box (90 mins).

So it is now three friendlies completed this summer, three defeats and three games in which sizable numbers of trialists and young Academy graduates have been deployed.

Apparent injuries to the likes of Marriott, Angus and James Jones have not helped but fans have yet to see a likely season-starting eleven in action.

Four more friendlies remain in which, hopefully, the picture will become clearer.


Full-Time: ALTRINCHAM 2
STOCKPORT COUNTY 4