ALTRINCHAM FC MATCH REPORTS


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ALTRINCHAM (1) 1
HARTLEPOOL UNITED (1) 1

Vanarama National League match
played on Wednesday, 23 October, 2024 at 7.45pm.


SUMMARY:

It was a point apiece after an entertaining 1-1 draw at the J. Davidson Stadium on Wednesday night. Alty made four changes to the starting eleven and did not use a single substitute throughout the evening. Pools took an early lead when Sheron received the ball on the edge of the box, took a touch and then half-volleyed a shot past Ross after five minutes.

Alty enjoyed plenty of the ball with Kahrel Reddin their star man on the right wing. They finally got level just before the half-hour mark when Reddin, again, got into the box and the ball rebounded out to Banks who slotted home from about ten yards (29 mins).

The second half was an end to end affair though neither keeper was overworked. It was Pools who finished the stronger but a draw was probably a fair outcome.


SCORERS:

  • 5 mins: Nathan SHERON (ALTRINCHAM 0 Hartlepool United 1)
  • 29 mins: Lewis BANKS (ALTRINCHAM 1 Hartlepool United 1)


REFEREE: Mr Greg Rollason


ATTENDANCE: 1,463 (144 in away end)


TEAM NEWS:

Altrincham made four changes as Amaluzor, Linney, Banks and Janes Jones returned in place of Golden, Olson, Humbles and Bickerstaff. On the bench Jake Cooper returned from injury as Olson dropped out of the squad. But Crankshaw remained an absentee along with Osborne and Marriott. There was also no place for Haygarth in the match squad. Lucas Weaver, Owen German and Joel BAiley were amongst the squad players in the directors' box.

Former Alty loanee defender and Pools captain, Luke Waterfall, was not in their squad but another ex-Alty lonaee, Billy Sass-Davies, started.


LINE-UPS:

ALTRINCHAM (Red and white striped shirts, black shorts, white socks): 1. Ethan ROSS, 2. Lewis BANKS, 16. James JONES, 4. Lewis BAINES (c), 3. Eddy JONES, 22. Tom CRAWFORD, 19. George WILSON, 20. Kharel REDDIN, 10. Alex NEWBY, 9. Regan LINNEY, 11. Justin AMALUZOR. Subs: 5. Jake COOPER, 15. Liam HUMBLES, 14. Matty KOSYLO, 24. Joe NUTTALL, 23. Tylor GOLDEN, 29. Jake BICKERSTAFF, 30. Harvey RANDLE (gk)

HARTLEPOOL UNITED (All sky blue) 31. Brad Young, 2. Daniel Dodds, 4. Tom Parkes (c), 17. Billy Sass-Davies, 3. David Ferguson; 14. Nathan Sheron, 16. Nicky Featherstone, 10. Adam Campbell, 12. Joe Grey, 19. Nathan Asiimwe, 20. Emmanuel Dieseruvwe. Subs: 8. Anthony Mancini, 11. Luke Charman, 40. Adam Smith, 23. Manny Onariase, 26. Darren Robinson, 18. Roshaun Mathurin, 15. Greg Sloggett.


BACKGROUND:

This match had been moved to a Wednesday night to accommodate DAZN the new streaming service for National League games. Hartlepool had sacked manager Darren Sarll the previous week so arrived under the caretaker control of the experienced Lennie Lawence.



REPORT:

Hartlepool kicked off towards Golf Road and the game began with a high tempo. In fact, it only took the visitors five minte to take the lead as Sheron received the ball in a central position on the edge of the box, from Dodds on the right, controlled the ball with one touch before sending a half-volley past Ross to make it 0-1.

Altrincham responded as a long ball was expertly pulled down out of the air by Linney who put the ball in the net but was offside (7 mins). A blocked shot by former Pools midfielder Crawford soon followed. In the absence of Osborne Crawford was playing a deep-lying midfielder role.

Alty picked up a gratuitous first corner of the evening when a Hartlepool defender slipped on the bye-line as he attempted to clear (10 mins). Hartlepool replied with a corner of their own (12 mins) before the mercurial Reddin, who had an excellent first half on the right wing, got into the box from a Newby feed to win another flag-kick for the hosts (14 mins).

Crawford was fortunate to evade a booking when he tripped Dieseruvwe as the big forward cut inside but Campbell hit the resulting freekick over the bar (17 mins).

The early pace of the game dropped a little as Altrincham played the ball around in their own half before a move on the left ended in an Amaluzor shot across goal which went narrowly wide (19 mins). Reddin continued to trouble the visitors, for whom Campbell got himself unnecessarily booked after commiting a clear foul then absurdly protesting his innoocence at length.

THere had been nothing to trouble either keeper before another Reddin incursion saw the ball come out to Amaluzor but his defelected shot produced a comfortable save by Young (26 mins). Play soon switched again as Hartlepool earned another corner (26 mins).

The end to end play contimued as Reddin again got into the opposition box but the ball rebounded out to Banks who scored comfortably from about eight yards out to make it 1-1 (29 min).

Reddin was soon threatening again with a testing cross from the right (31 mins) before Pools won another corner for themselves (33 min) which led to a second flag-kick for the visitors.

When Wilson then won the ball and fed Reddin, the ball came via Crawford and Banks to Newby. He swivelled smnartly and got in a shot which went only narrowly wide (35 mins).

Alty continued to threaten as Reddin fed Newby who in turn located Linney for a shot from the left which the keeper saved (37 mins).

There was a lucky escape for Alty on 40 minutes when a Hartlepool cross from the right was deflected and looped high over Ross only to come back off the inside of his back post, from where he batted it to relative safety (40 mins)

A stoppage for treatment to Campbell moments later led to two added minutes being played.

In the first of these Reddin twce got in crosses from the right before Onariase forced a good save from Ross which conceded a corner. But the half ended level which was probably fair despite the visitors having gone the closer to scoring a second goal.


Half-time: ALTRINCHAM 1
HARTLEPOOL UNITED 1


After Alty had restarted the game, they won an early corner. As is often their practice these days it was taken short but it came to nothing (48 mins).

Next, Linney got into the box but his shot was blocked (52 mins). At the other end a Hartlepool freekick was headed over the bar by Sass-Davies as end to end football ensued once more (54 mins). After a poor clerance by goalkeeper Young, Reddin tried a speculative 45 yarder but got his effort all wrong.

He did better five minutes later when when he forced a save after a good feed from Wilson (59 mins).

The game remained in the balance as Hartlepool went close beore Grey was booked for a foul on Newby (64 mins).

Hartlepool then enjoyed a good spell before referee Rollason annoyed Phil Parkinson by blowing prematurely for a foul on Amaluzor when the wingman had werstled his way past the offender on the left. Following the freekick Alty almost scored as Newby fed Amaluzor for a shot which rippled the side-netting (74 mins).

An Alty corner came and went following a Linney deflected shot (77 mins) before they went close again on 80 minutes as a 25 yarder from Amaluzor cleared the bar.

The first substitutions of the evening came with an 80th minute double-swap by the visitors; Charman and Mancini replaced Asiimwe and Campbell, following which Linney earned a corner, again taken short and again without an end product (81 mins).

Hartlepool replied with a corner of their own from which Charman slid a low ball just wide of goal towards the back post where a team mate only narrowly failed to turn it into the net (86 mins).

The final minutes witnessed more Hartlepool pressure which induced Eddy Jones to foul Charman as he verged on getting into the box, right of goal, the Alty left-back picking up a yellow card for his transgression. A corner also resulted (90 mins). Liam Humbles was by now stripped and ready to come on, though quite what his effect on the game was expected to be at that stage was elusive. When just a single minute was shown as added time, his fate was sealed as he had no opportunity to join the match.

It was the first time in 29 league games that Alty had not used a single substitute.

A fourth home draw in eight fixtures left Altrincham in thirteenth place but they could have no complaints as Hartlepool fully deserved a point and might even have left with three.


Full-time: ALTRINCHAM 1
HARTLEPOOL UNITED 1