ALTRINCHAM FC MATCH REPORTS
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KIDDERMINSTER HARRIERS 0
ALTRINCHAM 0
Kidderminster Harriers won 4-2 on penalties.
played on Saturday, 13 January, 2024 at 3pm.
SUMMARY:
Altrincham, twice winners of the FA Trophy, paid the price for fielding a weakened team at Aggborough.
The match started slowly but gradually improved in the first half.
The nearest to a first-half goal was Alex Newby's superb 30-yard freekick which came back off the Harriers' crossbar (39 mins). For Harriers, their best effort was a Hemmings shot which Ross saved well (24 mins).
The game remained goalless till added time when Alty were awarded a penalty after Dibble brought down Amaluzor. But Conn-Clarke took a poor spot-kick, which Dibble saved comfortably, to leave the game at 0-0 (90+3 mins).
In the shoot-out, Conn-Clarke again failed to score from the spot. Then Omatayo missed for the Harriers, as Ross saved his shot, only for Banks to see his kick saved before Lambert's conversion clinched the win. So Alty had lost 4-2 on penalties.
SCORERS:
- None
REFEREE: Mr Farai Hallam
ATTENDANCE: 1,658 (250 in away section)
TEAM NEWS:
Presumably with an eye on Tuesday's visit to Chesterfield, manager Phil Parkinson made five changes to the side which beat Barnet last week.
Out went Baines, Marriott, Mooney (ineligible), Conn-Clarke and Linney with Kosylo, Amaluzor, Brockbank, Angus and Wilson starting instead.
LINE-UPS:
KIDDERMINSTER HARRIERS (Red and white halves, red shorts and socks): 21 Christian Dibble, 2. Alex Penny, 3. Caleb Richards, 10. Ashley Hemmings, 11. Jack Lambert, 16. Matt Preston, 18. Kai Lissimore, 20. Sammy Robinson, 23. Shane Byrne (c), 24. Bailey Hobson, 27. Gold Omotayo. Subs. 1. Tom Palmer, 5. Krystian Pearce, 6. Reiss McNally, 9. Amari Morgan-Smith, 14. Zak Brown, 26. Owen Hesketh, 28. Kobe Hall.
ALTRINCHAM (All dark blue with yellow sash on shirts): 29. Ethan Ross, 2. Lewis Banks, 15. Jake Cooper, 16. Sam Roscoe, 12. Liam Brockbank, 19. George Wilson, 6. Elliot Osborne (c), 7. Matty Kosylo, 30. Alex Newby, 11. Justin Amaluzor, 14. Dior Angus. Subs (7 allowed, 6 named): 21. Matt Gould, 3. Eddie Jones, 4. Lewis Baines, 8. Isaac Marriott, 10. Chris Conn-Clarke, 9. Regan Linney
BACKGROUND:
Aggborough had not been a happy hunting ground for Alty who before kick-off had won just once in their last seventeen visits since 1994. However, that win had been a Fourth Round FA Trophy tie like today's encounter.
The Harriers lay bottom of the National League, whilst Alltrincham were fifth, but the hosts had newly appointed manager Phil Brown watching this game from the stands.
REPORT:
Matty Kosylo got the game under way but there was an early stoppage when the Harriers' defender Robinson needed treatment (4 mins). Unfortunately the right-back was unable to continue and McNally came on in his place (6 mins)
Play resumed and, after an Amaluzor run, Angus was bundled over as he got in a shot but the penalty appeals came to nothing. In fact, the opening stages were mainly uneventful before a Richards cross earned a home corner from a deflection (14 mins).
This was taken short, to Hemmings, but Omatayo headed the resulting cross to Ross.
Alty's first serious effort at goal was a well-hit long range effort from Kosylo which Dibble held, to his right (15 mins).
Play continued fairly scrappily before Hemmings forced Ross to beat the ball away for a throw-in (23 mins). Moments later Hemmings got in another fine effort which Ross pushed round the post for a corner.
A few minutes later, another home corner arrived, off Newby, as the hosts were looking the better side at this stage (28 mins).
It was ten minutes before anything else of note happened when Angus won a freekick. From a long way out, Newby's freekick left Dibble confounded as it hammered against his crossbar (38 mins).
As the game went into a modest two added minutes, Altrincham won a corner but nothing came of it. But Kidderminster were relieved to reach the interval with parity when Preston's careless back pass almost went in for an own goal.
Half-Time: KIDDERMINSTER HARRIERS 0 |
The second half started with Byrne spurning a good chance as he headed wide (47 mins). Soon afterwards Amaluzor was felled but Newby's freekick was a disappointment. At the other end a Hemmings shot flew high and wide
The match ytempo had increased after the interval and play soon switched again with Newby disappointingly finding the sidenetting from a clever flick by Angus after good work from Amaluzor (56 mins).
Harriers made their second change as Hesketh replaced Lissimore (59 min). Not for the first time, on the hour mark, Amaluzor was upended, but appeals for a penalty went unanswered.
When Brockbank and Kosylo went for the same ball and collided, Kidderminster broke forward and it took a good, low save from Ross to thwart Hemmings (62 mins).
Next Eddy Jones returned from injury to replace Brockbank who had been starting his first match in almost eighteen months after his ACL injury (65 mins).
And Jones was soon involved as his cross led to a melee in the home box, where Alty look certain to score but emerged with no more than a corner (67 mins).
Five minutes later Banks earned another corner as Conn-Clarke came on to replace Kosylo (72 mins).
Alty went close again to breaking the deadlock when a snap-shot by Conn-Clarke was not held by Dibble but the loose ball rebounded off Angus but not into the net (74 mins).
Kiddy responded with a corner of their own, whuich Cooper cleared, before Linney became Altrincham's final substitute, replacing Angus (79 mins).
Two minutes later Morgan-Smith completed the Harriers' changes as he came on for Hemmings.
Banks became the match's first booking for a trip (82 mins) as the game went through another scrappy spell. As time ticked away Altrincham won another corner (89 mins). And the visitors looked more likely to snatch a late winner as they gained a further corner from a Conn-Clarke shot, with the game into three added minutes (90+1 mins).
Indeed, the visitors seemed to have clinched a late win when Dibble brought down Amaluzor on the edge of the box, to concede a penalty.
Conn-Clarke employed his hop, skip and a jump method to take the spot-kick but he hit it tamely and Dibble saved comfortably ((90=3 mins).
And so it was to be a penalty shoot-out to determine the outcome of the tie.
Full-Time: KIDDERMINSTER HARRIERS 0 |
Penalty Shoot-Out
The penalties were taken at the end populated by Altrincham fans.
- Harriers took the first kick and BYRNE netted, sending Ross the wrong way, 1-0
- CONN-CLARKE, using a different technique from that used at the end of the match, again failed to score, as Dibble made another comfortable save, so it remained 1-0
- MORGAN-SMITH's shot had just enough power to beat Ross, 2-0
- NEWBY's low effort beat Dibble who had dived correctly, 2-1
- RICHARDS sent Ross the wrong way to give the Harriers a 3-1 lead
- Captain OSBORNE struck the bar but the ball went in, to make it 3-2
- Ethan Ross saved Gold OMATAYO's penalty to give Alty hope, 3-2
- That hope disapeared as Lewis BANKS's shot was saved, low down, by Dibble, 3-2
- LAMBERT, a previous transfer target for Altrincham, clinched the tie with a shot down the middle to make the shoot-out score 4-2 to the hosts.
Result: Kidderminster won 4-2 on penalties |