Alty's away form again let them down as they lost to lowly Woking.

Altrincham started well and won five corners in the first quarter of an hour. However, The Cards did strike the post through Vincent (9 mins).

The hosts settled as the half developed but the interval was reached without any score.

In the 57th minute, Woking took the lead with a counter-attack up their left, following an Altrincham corner, and Effiong held off Banks to net. Both Ross and Kosylo were injured in the process of Woking scoring but they carried on after treatment though Ross was limping.

Altrincham equalised in the 71st minute when Linney was set running on the left and he fed Newby who made it 1-1 with a tap in at the back post.

Woking regained the lead with a scrappy goal from a corner, Anderson being credited with the goal after an initial Effiong effort was blocked by Ross (82 mins).

In the seven added minutes at the end of the ninety, Alty wasted chances to equalise for a second time with Reddin and Weaver the main culprits.

SCORERS:

• 57 mins: Inih EFFIONG (Woking 1 ALTRINCHAM 0)
• 71 mins: Alex NEWBY (Woking 1 ALTRINCHAM 1)
• 82 mins: Jermaine ANDERSON (Woking 2 ALTRINCHAM 1)

Altrincham were unchanged for the match at Woking, following their 1-0 win against Sutton United.

However, on the bench, there was a return for Max Haygarth who, after starting the first four games of the season has since made just two appearances from the bench in the National League and has not even been named in a league match squad for the past eight fixtures.

He replaced Liam Humbles who has moved on to Gateshead.

Also, on the bench, centre-back James Jones returned after illness, displacing loanee Wrexham striker Jake Bickerstaff.

Joe Nuttall, Justin Amaluzor, Eddy Jones and Ollie Crankshaw were again all missing today.

After their 4-0 defeat last time out, Woking, under the new management of Neal Ardley, made five changes as Kelly-Evans, Harries, Beautyman, Anderson and Gorman came into the side.

WOKING (Red, white and black): 22. Will Jääskeläinen, 27. Dion Kelly-Evans, 4. Cian Harries, 30. Frank Vincent, 15. Adam Chicksen, 16. Tunji Akinola, 7. Harry Beautyman, 8. Dale Gorman (c), 17. Matt Ward, 23 Jermaine Anderson, 12. Inih Effiong. Subs: 6.Jamie Andrews, 11. Dennon Lewis, 20. Alan Judge, 24. Rohan Ince, 29. Tom Leahy, 10. Lewis Walker, 28. Ollie Webber (gk)

ALTRINCHAM (Aquamarine shirts and socks, white shorts): 1. Ethan ROSS, 2. Lewis BANKS, 4. Lewis BAINES (c), 31. Charlie OLSON, 23. Tylor GOLDEN, 19. George WILSON, 6. Elliot OSBORNE, 22. Tom CRAWFORD, 14. Matty KOSYLO, 10. Alex NEWBY, 9. Regan LINNEY Subs: 5. Jake COOPER, 8. Isaac MARRIOTT, 16. James JONES, 17. Luke WEAVER, 20. Kahrel REDDIN, 21. Max HAYGARTH, 30 Harvey RANDLE (gk).

Neal Ardley had been appointed the new manager at Woking in midweek, as The Cards sought to escape the relegation zone over which they had just a single point advantage at kick off.

The match was played on a very wet surface on which further rain fell during the game.

REPORT:

Woking kicked off but it was Altrincham who enjoyed the better start, winning five corners in the first fifteen minutes. As early as the second minute Linney took advantage of a Ward error, his effort being blocked by Akinola at the cost of the game's first corner.

After Banks had seen his cross cleared, a Golden push on Ward gave the hosts a freekick, which was headed over the Alty bar (7 mins).

Woking's Effiong and Ward then combined for Vincent to hit a low shot which struck the base of the Alty upright. However, Alty then threatened again with Kosylo getting into the box to force a save and win another corner (9 mins).

With rain now falling, it was Newby's well struck effort which gained the next corner for the visitors as Jääskeläinen saved his shot (10 mins). Kosylo was thwarted again when his shot was blocked by the keeper's chest.

Two successive corners in the fifteenth minute underlined Alty's domainance at this stage but they had failed to convert their pressure into a goal.

As the game neared the halfway point of the first half, the Cards were getting more into the game. At this point, they thought they had won a corner only to be flagged offside (21 mins).

Play then passed through a fairly uneventful phase before Newby got in a one-on-one with Jääskeläinen which the keeper won, saving with his legs (28 mins).

Next, Akinola was deservedly booked after grabbing Linney round the waist (31 mins). Also, by now, Golden was playing with his collar torn as evidence of another rough challenge (34 mins).

Alty's sixth corner of the half came when a decent effort from Wilson deflected off Gorman (38 mins). Olson and Effiong were having a physical battle with the young Alty loanee finding hismelf in a much more physical encounter than those experienced in his customary environment of the PL2 league.

Soon, Woking threatened through Effiong and gained a corner which came to nothing (39 mins).

As half time approached Vincent fired narrowly wide (41 mins) but the Robins' seventh flag-kick of the half was soon gained by a Wilson shot which Jääskeläinen tipped round the post (45 mins). The corner was met by Olson but he could not direct his effort on target (45+1 mins).

Early in the second half, Osborne fed Newby but he was blocked by Harries (50 mins). Olson's duel with Effiong resumed with the forward winning a freekick which he struck straight at Ross (51 mins).

After Woking had won a corner off Baines, both Linney and Anderson found themselves booked, a seventh yellow this season for the Altrincham striker (53 mins).

A few minutes later Linney did better, winning his side a corner. But from that corner, Woking counter-attacked with Golden going to ground as he sought to halt the advance of Woking up the left. Beautyman fed Effiong, to his right, but the big forward got clear of Banks's attempted challenge and drilled a shot past Ross (57 mins). Not only had Alty conceded but both Ross and Kosylo were left injured and needed treatment before resuming.

Next, a skirmish between Kelly-Evans and Golden saw the former end up on top of the prostrate Alty defender, for which the Woking man picked up a yellow card (65 mins).

Midway through the half, Alty won a freekick from which Osborne's effort deflected off the defensive wall for a corner. Next, Reddin replaced Osborne (68 mins). So Kosylo moved to the left, with Reddin on the right flank.

A limping Ross was clearly not fully fit following his injury at the time of Woking's goal but he soon had reason to be happy when Alty equalised.

A ball forward set Linney advancing on the left. Heis cross located Newby, at the back post, and he found the net from very close range to make it 1-1 (71 mins).

The goal led to a good spell for the visitors as they won three corners in as many minutes, in the midst of which Lewis replaced Vincent for the Cards (77 mins). With Linney now operating more on the left than he had been in the first half, Alty looked more dangerous.

Though none of Altrincham's plethora of corners produced a goal, when Woking won a corner of their own (81 mins) it led to a goal for them.

Taken by Gorman, it was Effiong who threatened but after the ball had come off Ross, in a scramble it was Anderson who converted a scrappy goal (82 mins).

Immediately, Marriott replaced Kosylo for Altrincham (82 mins).

And, as the minutes ticked away, two more substitutions took place; Weaver came on for Wilson, who had played well (88 mins), then Andrews replaced Anderson (89 mins) for Woking.

Seven added minutes were declared in which Alty wasted two good chances to retrieve something from their performance.

After the keeper had stopped a Linney effort on the line, with Weaver in attendance (90+1 mins), Baines then fed Weaver who forced a save and won a corner. This was followed by another corner won Linney (90+2 mins).

From this, Reddin skied a good chance over the bar from 10 yards out (90+3 mins) before Linney fed Weaver whose first-time volley flew wide when a more considered shot might have been the better option (90+4 mins).

There was still time for another Alty shot as Linney fired wide (90+6 mins).

Altrincham had played well enough to deserve at least a point but poor finishing, defensive failings and a failure to convert pressure from corners into chances had cost them dear.