This match was delayed by traffic problems and kicked off twenty minutes late, at 8.05pm.

Rochdale started the better side and their dominance was rewarded with their opening goal in the 16th minute when East finished well after an Alty mispass had surrendered possession.

But, in the second half of the first half, Altrincham were well on top. They won a slightly fortuitous penalty when Sithole was adjudged to have been fouled. But Conn-Clarke's stuttering run-up ended in a poor spot kick which Moulden saved easily and Conn-Clarke himself was unable to convert the rebound (32 mins).

Altrincham then were dominant in the opening stages of the second half but without landing a single effort on goal in that period before Rochdale put together a multi-pass move which culminated in East scoring his own, and his side's, second goal after 64 minutes. It was very much against the run of play.

Alty then conceded a third goal as Mitchell turned past Baines to hammer the ball past Ross (71 mins).

Altrincham never looked like retrieving the game as they continued to fail to convert possession into goal threat.

SCORERS:

• 16 mins: Ryan EAST (Rochdale 1 ALTRINCHAM 0)
• 64 mins: Ryan EAST (Rochdale 2 ALTRINCHAM 0)
• 71 mins: Kairo MITCHELL (Rochdale 3 ALTRINCHAM 0)

The line-ups showed Rochdale unchanged whilst Altrincham brought in Sithole to start up front, in place of Angus. Matty Kosylo returned to the squad after injury, whilst Sam Roscoe dropped out of the squad.

Rochdale's former Alty men Tyrese Sinclair and Kyle Ferguson remained sidelined by injury.

LINE-UPS:

ROCHDALE (Blue shirts, black shorts and socks): 1. Louie Moulden, 13. Jimmy Keohane, 3. Cameron John, 15. George Nevett, 9. Kairo Mitchell, 11. Jesurun Uchegbulam, 20. Harvey Gilmour, 4. Ryan East, 8. Adam Clayton, 18. Cian Hayes, 6. Ethan Ebanks-Landell. Subs: 5. Max Taylor, 10. Devante Rodney,16. Kwaku Oduroh, 17. Michael Afuye, 40. Ian Henderson.

ALTRINCHAM (Red & white striped shirts, black shorts, red socks): 29. Ethan Ross, 2. Lewis Banks, 15. Jake Cooper, 4. Lewis Baines, 3. Eddy Jones, 6. Elliot Osborne, 8. Isaac Marriott (c), 11. Justin Amaluzor, 30. Alex Newby, 10. Chris Conn-Clarke, 28. Gerald Sithole. Subs: 5. James Jones, 9. Regan Linney, 14. Dior Angus 7. Matty Kosylo, 19. George Wilson.

For this first ever National League clash with Rochdale, Altrincham arrived having just ended a ten-game unbeaten run in the National League. In contrast, Saturday's win for the hosts was just their second win in nine outings.

Altrincham had won two previous FA Cup encounters against Rochdale.

The game started with Rochdale on the front foot and enjoying plenty of possession but without troubling Ross.

In fact, however, it was Altrincham who went the closer in the opening stages as Amaluzor cut in from the right and, from 25 yards, hit a low shot which went past Moulden's left post (11 mins).

For Dale, Hayes was looking a threat and it now took a fine tackle by Baines to halt him. But Dale were soon threatening the Alty goal again as Keohane got in a shot which Ross saved comfortably.

After Amaluzor had lost possession, the ball next came to East, who scored with a low shot which seemed to deceive Ross (16 mins).

Soon afterwards East cleared the bar (19 mins) before Clayton escaped without a booking for a foul. Likewise, when Sithole felled Nevett he, too, escaped with a warning (23 mins).

Sithole was getting little possession and when Amaluzor now fed him, he was seen off by a defender. Gilmour, however, did get booked when he brought down Newby as he threatened to get clear after winning possession (27 mins).

Rochdale were not reticent in putting their foot in but, when Conn-Clarke was fouled, the referee played advantage, and the Alty no.10 got in a shot which won a corner (30 mins).

Altrincham were now more in the match and they got a reward out of nothing when Sithole was brought down as he swivelled onto the ball near the penalty spot (32 mins).

Conn-Clarke executed his customary jerky run-up but, this time, there was an uncustomary outcome as his effort was fairly comfortable beaten away by Moulden, with Conn-Clarke unable to direct the loose ball the right side of the upright.

Altrincham were now on top but their possession was not being converted into threats on the Rochdale goal.

Marriott then picked up his sixth booking of the season when he clattered Clayton (39 mins).

As half time approached, with Alty in a promising position, the referee stopped play for an injury to Newby further away from goal (44 mins). Following treatement the winger continued.

After three added minutes the score remained 1-0 at the break, with Altrincham having come back into the game after a slow start and, arguably, they were a little unfortunate to be trailing at this stage.

Soon after Rochdale had kicked off, John was booked for a robust challenge on Amaluzor (46 mins).

Altrincham then had a great chance when Newby got forward and interchanged passes with Conn-Clarke but, from the return ball, Newby elected to take a touch instead of shooting first-time from the near post and the ball ran out for a goalkick (49 mins).

Despite this disappointment, Altrincham now enjoyed a spell of dominance in possession with Rochdale not at all as threatening as they had been in the corresponding period of the first half.

Whilst not threatening a goal, Alty did win a corner in the next few minutes, at which point the hosts brought on Hudson for Uchegbulam (57 mins).

When the previously booked Gilmour fouled Amaluzor, he was very fortunate to escape a second yellow card (59 mins).

But, having enjoyed nearly 20 minutes of Altrincham being the better side in the second half, their opponents put together an impressive multi-pass move out of defence which culminated in John's cross from the left which East blasted into the upper reaches of the Altrincham net to make it 2-0, against the run of play (64 mins).

Shortly after Henderson had escaped a card for fouling Marriott (65 mins), Altrincham brought on Linney for Sithole (67 mins). In only his second start for the Robins, Sithole had been unable to make much impact on the Dale defence.

Soon, Alty's defence was opened up again when Henderson fed Gilmour but his shot went straight to Ross (69 mins).

Rochdale now mounted some sustained pressure obliging Ross to push away an effort to his right but the ball was recycled and came to Mitchell from East on the left. Inside the box, the striker turned past Baines before firing firmly past Ross to make it 3-0 (71 mins).

Both sides now made a change with Oduroh replacing Hayes and Kosylo replacing Marriott, the Alty substitute having missed twelve games through injury (72 mins).

Alty's defence was soon exposed again but, this time, they were thankful for an offside decision denying the Dale a fourth goal (74 mins) Alty did now win a corner, through Newby and then Eddy Jones had a shot saved (77 mins).

With time ticking away, Gilmour was subbed by Taylor (81 mins). Alty still saw plenty of the ball but it was not productive possession. 3-0 was perhaps a little harsh on Altrincham and their frustration was epitomised by Cooper booting the ball away after being penalised and picking up a yellow card (89 mins).

Six added minutes produced an Alty corner and then a fine low cross, across the face of goal by Conn-Clarke, which went unconverted before the final whistle terminated an unhappy night for Altrincham.

In 72 hours a ten-game unbeaten league run had become just one win in six league and FA Cup outings as Alty now prepare for the visit of Solihull Moors.