Three battling and unbeaten away performances in the past fortnight were followed by this hugely disappointing home result against 22nd placed AFC Fylde, a team which Alty had thrashed 5-0 in the reverse fixture.

Without Alex Newby and Charlie Olson. added today to the longer-term absentee list of Ross, Marriott, Crankshaw and Wilson, and with Kosylo still suspended, Alty were a shadow of themselves despite winning ten corners, all taken by Osborne, in the first-half alone.

They fell behind, against the early run of play, in the seventh minute when Massey's shot from some 25 yards beat loanee keeper Ansen, who might have done better to keep it out.

Alty responded with an equaliser made and scored by Lewis Banks, following an interchange on the right with Amaluzor (16 mins).

But the Coasters retook the lead when Massey fed Haughton, whose decent but not fierce shot went through the hands of Ansen, who should have kept it out (26 mins).

On a difficult soft pitch Altrincham laboured to create much in the second half as repeatedly slow build-ups were undone by errors and resolute defending. The result meant that Alty slid to only their second home defeat in the league this season.

SCORERS:

• 7 mins: Gavin MASSEY (ALTRINCHAM 0 AFC Fylde 1)
• 16 mins: Lewis BANKS (ALTRINCHAM 1 AFC Fylde 1)
• 26 mins: Nick HAUGHTON (ALTRINCHAM 1 AFC Fylde 2)

As well as the known injured list before the match, (comprising Ross, Marriott, Crankshaw and Wilson), both Charlie Olson and Matt Penney had got injured in midweek, and Linney and Baines had been rested "as a precaution".

However, whilst Olson and Penney's absences were no surprise today, Newby's was a surprise omission from the squad. Better news was that captain Lewis Baines was fit again to start in place of Olson.

Another change saw Bickerstaff start in place of Nuttall whilst, on the bench, the on/off loan of Pasiek took another twist as the Preston loanee unexpectedly came back into the squad in place of Penney.

For Fylde, Hugill and Roberts dropped to the bench as Boatswain and Mitchell started. On their bench sixteen year-old Eli da Silva was named for the first time.

ALTRINCHAM (Red and white striped shirts, black shorts and white socks) : 21. Caleb ANSEN, 2. Lewis BANKS, 16. James JONES, 4. Lewis BAINES (c), 23. Tylor GOLDEN, 6. Elliot OSBORNE, 22. Tom CRAWFORD, 12. Kian TAYLOR, 9. Regan LINNEY, 11. Justin AMALUZOR, 29. Jake BICKERSTAFF. Subs: 5. Jake COOPER, 20. Kahrel REDDIN, 15. Regan GRIFFITHS, 17. Lucas WEAVER, 30. Harvey RANDLE (gk) 24. Joe NUTTALL, 32. Kacper PASIEK.

AFC FYLDE (Black and yellow striped shirts, black shorts and socks) 31. Ben Winterbottom, 14. Max Bardell, 4. Harry Davis (c), 17. Corey Whelan, 18. Lincoln McFayden, 8. Ethan Mitchell, 19. Ashley Boatswain, 40. Joe Riley, 10. Nick Haughton, 7. Charlie Jolley, 20. Gavin Massey. Subs: 5. Emeka Obi, 6. Adam Long, 15. Will Hugill, 21. Tyler Roberts, 33. Charlie Clark (gk), 12. Kain Adom, 36. Elisario da Silva.

This was Altrincham's only home game in a sequence of seven National League fixtures. It came after a haul of seven points from the first three away fixtures in that sequence.

The pitch was very soft but, nevertheless, it was further watered by the sprinklers before kick off.

REPORT:

Linney kicked off the match for Altrincham as they defended the Golf Road end.

As the first minute drew to a close, Linney tried a 45-yard shot but Winterbottom fielded it comfortably.

Linney's bright start continued as Bickerstaff set him up for a shot which was saved but he was flagged offside in any case (3 mins).

But then, against the early flow of play, the Coasters took the lead.

Amaluzor lost the ball and from 25 yards Massey hit a good, but not fierce, shot at goal which beat Ansen who would have been expected to do better (7 mins).

Altrincham proceeded to win five corners in a four-minute spell, all taken by Osborne and none particularly troublesome to the visitors except the fourth one which was nodded down by Baines and Jones's resulting snap shot was diverted for the fifth flag-kick (13 mins).

Finally the pressure was rewarded as Banks smartly took possession, played a one-two with Amaluzor, and then hit a low shot into the far, bottom corner, just inside the upright to make it 1-1 (16 mins).

Alty continued on the front foot as a Linney cut-inside won them their sixth corner (18 mins). Just after Fylde had earned their first corner, Alty's seventh arrived from another Linney effort. Jolley was then booked before the eighth home corner arrived (24 mins).

Yet, despite all this pressure, it was Fylde who scored the next goal. Massey fed Haughton whose shot went through the grasp of Alty's teenage loanee keeper, Ansen, to make it 1-2 (26 mins).

James Jones was getting forward regularly for Altrincham but Fylde were fairly comfortably keeping Altrincham at bay as the game passed the half-hour mark.

Corner number nine had been and gone for Altrincham before a smart turn by Bickerstaff allowed him to fire at goal, but Winterbottom saved well at the base of the near post (36 mins).

Linney then put a ball across the face of goal before Amaluzor earned corner number ten, from which Crawford fired well over the bar (39 mins).

As the interval approached, a weak Amaluzor shot ran to the keeper (42 mins) before Haughton and Jolley combined to gain a corner for the visitors (43 mins).

A single added minute was decreed, after which the half ended with Altrincham still chasing an equaliser.

Steady rain started at half-time and continued for a while as the second half started. An eleventh unproductive home corner had been and gone before a double change by the visitors saw Roberts and Adom replace Boatswain and Jolley (52 mins).

Next, Ansen punched away a Fylde corner (53 mins) before Massey bowled over Jones but merely received a lecture in his captain's presence rather than a booking.

Indeed. four Fylde fouls in as many minutes broke up any flow to the game, none of the perpetrators being booked.

Alty were not helping their cause by slowly moving the ball around with little forward momentum on a sticky surface that was not conducive to slick passing.

By the hour mark, twelve home corners had been won but the nearest to a goal threat at this stage was a tame Bickerstaff shot (61 mins).

Play meandered on to the midway point of the half when Weaver and Reddin came on for Amaluzor and Taylor (67 mins). Reddin was deployed in an unaccustomed number ten role with Weaver assuming the right wing position as Linney remained on the left.

It was actually Fylde who landed the next shot on goal as Haughton wove his way into the left of the box and forced a low save from Ansen (69 mins).

Golden was then booked for a block on Roberts to the annoyance of the home crowd (70 mins)

Indeed, Mr Bancroft was annoying the home crowd by his not awarding freekicks for clear fouls, his failure to clamp down on timewasting and his fussy administration of corners and dead balls, when he would repeatedly delay proceedings to admonish one player or another but to little effect.

Following a freekick, Crawford hooked an effort onto the roof of the net but that was as close Alty came to a goal (74 mins).

To try and change things, Altrincham made a double swap with Nuttall replacing Bickerstaff up top and Pasiek replacing the booked Golden at left-back (76 mins). At the same time Hugill came on for Fylde's Massey (7 mins)

Alty's 13th corner was followed by a Fylde flagkick, with the visitors clearly timewasting at this stage (80 mins).

Alty continued to lose possession with some regularity and from one such episode Ansen had to beat out a Hugill effort

In fact Ansen was the busier keeper at this stage.

Alty's best effort at this stage came from a Linney ball into the box, which Nuttall headed weakly to the keeper (83 mins). Winterbottom was allowed to timewaste with impunity as the clock ticked down.

Four added minutes produced a late Alty corner from the left, gained by Pasiek, before their fifteenth and final corner, from the right, went the harmless way of the preceding fourteen and the visiting supporters were able to enjoy a much-needed victory.

Numerous injuries and a difficult playing surface clearly affected Altrincham but too many players were also below their best as the toothless Robins slid to a potentially costly defeat in their quest for a play-off position.