A poor performance from Altrincham saw them lose the home leg of their festive league double against FC Halifax Town, despite having beaten the Shaymen, on penalties two weeks earlier in the FA Trophy at Moss Lane.

Without four regulars, the absentees comprising the suspended duo of Sam Roscoe and Elliot Osborne and the injured defensive duo of Eddy and James Jones, Altrincham fell behind in the 36th minute when Alli beat Ross with a low effort from the edge of the box. The Alty keeper had seemed to be troubled by his ribs in the game at Bromley and in this match he likewise seemed to have some mobility issues, with manager Parkinson later indicating that the keeper had needed an injection to allow him to play.

Having rarely troubled Ross after that, Cooke nevertheless doubled the lead in the 69th minute with a low shot into the bottom corner from 25 yards out as the Alty defence stood off him.

Following that, Altrincham did not look like retrieving the game against an organised Halifax defence. However, they did get a goal back well into added time when Conn-Clarke fired home from 20 yards, to leave the final score 1-2.

SCORERS:

• 36 mins: Millenic ALLI (ALTRINCHAM 0 Halifax Town 1)
• 69 mins: Jamie COOKE (ALTRINCHAM 0 Halifax Town 2)
• 90 (+3) mins: Chris CONN-CLARKE (ALTRINCHAM 1 Halifax Town 2)

Dan Mooney was included in the squad for the first time following his return to the club, whilst Brockbank and Wilson both remained in the squad.

With Osborne serving a suspension for his red card at Bromley and Sam Roscoe completing his three-match ban, Kosylo started a league game for the first time in 19 fixtures and Wilson was deployed in an unaccustomed role at right-back.

Alty were again without the injured trio of Joneses; Joey, James and Eddy.

LINE-UPS:

ALTRINCHAM (Red & white striped shirts, black shorts, red socks): 29 Ethan Ross, 2 Lewis Banks, 4 Lewis Baines, 7 Matty Kosylo, 8 Issac Marriott (c), 10 Chris Conn-Clarke, 11 Justin Amaluzor, 15 Jake Cooper, 19 George Wilson, 25 Marcus Dackers, 30 Alex Newby. Subs: 44 Dan Mooney, 9 Regan Linney, 12 Liam Brockbank, 14 Dior Angus, 21 Matt Gould

FC HALIFAX TOWN (All grey with white sleeves): 1 Sam Johnson (c), 6 Jamie Stott, 5 Adam Senior, 16 Jordan Keane, 8 Jack Hunter, 14 Kane Thompson-Sommers, 3 Ryan Galvin, 2 Tylor Golden, 11 Millenic Alli, 17 Max Wright, 10 Jamie Cooke, Subs: 7 Angelo Cappello, 18 Florent Hoti, 19 Aaron Cosgrave, 21 Tom Wilson, 22 Andrew Oluwabori

It was just a fortnight since Altrincham had knocked FC Halifax Town out of the FA Trophy at The Shay, on penalties, and the sides were due to meet for a third time at New Year 2024. Des[ite the valiant efforts pf groundsman Adam Lawrence and his volunteer crew, the pitch was soft after relentless rain over recent weeks.

The match kicked off some six minutes late owing to the players not getting onto the pitch early enough to accommodate the time needed for the reading of the annual Roll of Honour for persons connected with Altrincham FC who had died in 2023.

Already without defenders James and Eddy Jones, through injury, and Sam Roscoe and Elliot Osborne, through suspension, Alty were concerned to see Lewis Baines need lengthy treatment in the opening minute of this match. But the centre-back fortunately recovered to play on.

The visitors started well whilst Altrincham struggled to get going. Amaluzor escaped with a lecture for a foul (12 mins) and it took the hosts until the 16th minute to get in a shot at goal. This came when Conn-Clarke and Kosylo combined to feed Wilson but his effort was off-target.

Whilst Altrincham strained to get their forward players involved in the match, Baines now got himself booked as Alty continued to falter (20 mins).

Following more Halifax pressure, and a Halifax shot over the bar, the visitors took a deserved 38th minute lead when Alli netted from the edge of the box, to Ross's left, with the keeper possibly unsighted as well as hampered by a knock from the Bromley fixture three days earlier.

Alty rallied to win two corners as the game went into six added minutes at the end of the first half but it was Halifax who went closer to scoring again when Thompson-Sommers fired narrowly wide, then Golden also went close to adding to Alty's woes before the break.

So, half time arrived with little in the way of goalmouth fare at either end to cheer the spectators.

No personnel changes were made at the interval but Altrincham suffered an early setback when ex-Shayman Kosylo was booked for a poor challenge (51 mins).

However, the hosts did seem to have a bit more energy about their display now and they won themselves a corner, but this came to nothing as Dackers tried to make something happene at the back post (55 mins). Amaluzor did get a rare shot on target moments later but the ball went comfortably to the keeper.

A Conn-Clarke freekick came to nothing on the hour mark before Phil Parkinson made a change, with Brockbank replacing Amaluzor (61 mins). It was the young defender's first appearance on the pitch after more than a year's absence with an ACL injury. The introduction of a defender for a forward presaged a change of shape to four at the back.

It was not long before a second substitution saw Linney replace Dackers, who had been largely starved of service (67 mins). Before the change could have any positive effect, Altrincham conceded a second goal as Cooke fired home into the bottom corner from 25 yards (69 mins).

Alty's third change in a little over ten minutes witnessed the second coming of Dan Mooney, who now replaced Alex Newby (73 mins).

A rare Altrincham shot on target followed, when Conn-Clarke's effort was saved comfortably (75 mins). The personnel changes continued as Chris Millington brought on Cappello for Galvin, with eleven minutes remaining.

The well-drilled Halifax team were looking comfortable with their two-goal lead whilst Altrincham showed little prospect of a revival. Another Halifax change brought Cosgrave into the game to replace Cooke as the game ticked away from Altrincham (87 mins).

As the game went into three added minutes, Stott fired over the bar when he might have made it 0-3 but Alty belatedly repsonded with a 25-yarder from Kosylo forcing a good save from Johnson (90+2 mins).

But Altrincham did finally breakdown Halifax with Conn-Clarke advancing towards the box before firing past the visitors' keeper from 18 yards. A 1-2 scoreline arguably flattered Altrincham who had had no answer to a well-marshalled Halifax team whose defence remains the most parsimonious in the National League deapite its late breach.