It was an embarrassing afternoon for Altrincham as they were heavily beaten by their historical Cheshire rivals at the J. Davidson Stadium. Alty fielded their starting eleven for the first 72 minutes at which point ten substiutes were introduced with the score already 2-5.

As the clock ticked over into just the third minute after kick-off, Macc took the lead when they were allowed to advance to the left bye-line before the resulting lay-off was converted from close range by Duffy. Barely a minute later Alty levelled when Jimmy Knowles chased a seemingly lost cause but managed to get past a defender on the right bye-line and feed Barlow for a straightforward drive into the net.

Then a slick move up the middle, starting with keeper Evans, culminated in Weaver putting Altrincham ahead in just the seventh minute.

The Silkmen levelled in the 26th minute from a deft header by Elliot Osborne from a freekick taken near to the right corner flag, following a foul by Olson.

Another ex-Alty man, George Wilson then put Macc ahead, netting with a firm shot after his initial effort had rebounded to him.

Macc made it 4-2 on 55 minutes when Evans could only palm away a shot to Borthwick-Jackson, who netted.

The visitors went 2-5 up when a penalty was awarded against either Kosylo or Olson for a foul and George netted from the spot comfortably (62 mins).

Macc then took their foot off the gas and whilst Alty's mass substitutions meant that the hosts enjoyed more forward momentum, they were unable to narrow the margin of defeat, though Breckin did graze the crossbar with a shot from left of goal.

So Alty remain winless over the pre-season period ahead of a closed-door fixture in midweek and a Friday night date with the Manchester United under-21s on Friday evening.

SCORERS:

• 3 mins: Luke DUFFY (Altrincham 0 Macclesfield FC 1)
• 4 mins: Aidan BARLOW (Altrincham 1 Macclesfield FC 1)
• 7 mins: Lucas WEAVER (Altrincham 2 Macclesfield FC 1)
• 26 mins: Elliot OSBORNE (Altrincham 2 Macclesfield FC 2)
• 36 mins: George WILSON (Altrincham 2 Macclesfield FC 3)
• 55 mins: Cameron BORTHWICK-JACKSON (Altrincham 2 Macclesfield FC 4)
• 62 mins: Adan GEORGE (penalty) (Altrincham 2 Macclesfield FC 5)

REFEREE: Mr Matthew McQuillan

ATTENDANCE: 789

TEAM NEWS:

Matty Kosylo, Eddie Jones, Owen German and Anthony Forde had all missed the midweek game at Chorley, with only Kosylo having recovered to play today. The starting eleven today comprised, predominantly, the second half side that had played at Chorley in midweek.

LINE-UP:

ALTRINCHAM (Red shirts with white sleeves and trim, red shorts and white socks): 1. Owen Evans; 14. Matty Kosylo, 5. Jake Cooper (c), 6. Charlie Olson, 15. Sam Taylor; 4. Jack Hinchy, 8. Liam Humbles, 10. Aidan Barlow, 23. Charlie Kirk, 11. Jimmy Knowles, 17. Lucas Weaver.

Subs: 27. Louie Fallon, 2. Lewis Banks, 24. Sam Barnes, 25. Joel Bailey, 12. Kian Breckin, 22. Tom Crawford (c), 7. Otis Khan, 16. Remi Raymond, 20. Kahrel Reddin, 9. Kristian Dennis

MACCLESFIELD FC (All blue) 13. Christian Dibble (c); 2. Ammar Dyer, 3. Lincoln McFayden, 4. Elliot Osborne, 5. Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, 9. Adan George, 10. Luke Duffy, 12. Fin Shrimpton, 14. George Wilson, 28. Sam Heathcote, 19, Jon Ustabasi. Subs used: 5. Ayub, 6. Dawson, 8. Dos Santos, 15. Lacey, 16. T.Wilson, 23. Chapman, 9, 17, 18, 24 all trialists

BACKGROUND:

This was Altrincham's first home appearance of the summer, following away draws at Colwyn Bay and Chorley. It was also the home debut for Alty's new home kit which is a brighter red than last season's attire and has white sleeves. Another change is the use of red shorts rather than the traditional black.

Former Altrincham player and ex-Macclesfield assistant manager Peter Band, now at Forest Green Rovers, was one of the spectators as was former Manchetsre City man Keith Curle and former Alty player and manager Graham Hethcote, whose son Sam was one of the three ex-Robins in the Silkmen's starting eleven.

REPORT:

Curiously for a friendly, the sides changed ends, before Altrincham kicked off towards the Golf Road end. Within seconds, goalkeeper Evans had to slide out to the edge of his penalty area to intercept a threatening through ball.

Then, as the clock ticked into the third minute, Macclesfield took the lead with Ustabasi allowed to weave his way to the left touchline and relay the ball across the face of goal where Duffy had the simple task of tapping the ball into the net.

However, just over a minute later Altrincham were level as Knowles chased a ball to the bye-line and as McFayden tried to shepherd it out for a corner on the Alty right, Knowles got the ball and rounded the left-back before laying on a straightforward shot into the net by Barlow (4 mins).

After a Kirk freekick from 25 yards out, awarded for a foul on Weaver, had come to nothing a slick Altrincham move up the middle, initiated by Evans and Kosylo, culminated in Weaver slotting the ball past the advancing Dibble to give Alty a 2-1 lead inside seven minutes.

Macc responded with a corner and then, from forty yards out on the right, an effort from Duffy only just cleared the bar as Evans hastily retreated towards his line (16 mins).

Humbles then hit a freekick well over the goal before the Silkmen gained another corner. Having not learned their lesson from Macc's opening goal, Ustabasi was again allowed to make a carbon-copy run to the left bye-line but, this time, his cross flew across the goalmouth unconverted (25 mins).

A foul by Olson on Duffy just outside the box, to the right of goal, yielded a freekick for the visitors. This was deftly headed behind him and into the net by Osborne who had managed just 4 goals in his Alty career of 193 appearances (26 mins).

Macc were in the ascendancy and, in the 36th minute, another Altrincham old boy, George Wilson, was allowed a shot at goal from the edge of the box. The ball cannoned of a player and back to the midielder who, still unchallenged, drove his shot firmly past Evans to restore the Silkmen's lead, 2-3 (36 mins).

The visitors remained on top as Evans was soon forced to make a save from Ustabasi (38 mins).

Alty responded with a fine ball forward by Kosylo which set Weaver advancing but his attempt to find a team mate was poor (39 mins).

The half ended just as Macc had won a corner. It is curious how for many years it had become anathema for referees to blow for the interval or full-time when a corner had just been won but a change of practice, seen several times in the recent World Cup, has seemingly led to this strict interpretation of the laws of football being rekindled even in an English pre-season friendly.

Despite the cohorts of substitutes deployed on both sides' benches, no changes of personnel were made at the interval.

After a theatrical fall in the box by Weaver, which did not fool the referee (47 mins), Alty won an early corner but Kirk's flag-kick came to nothing.

George Wilson then struck a Macc freekick into the wall but a foul by Weaver yielded another deadball opportunity for the Silkmen (54 mins).

Following this, Evans palmed away a Macclesfield effort only for Borthwick-Jackson to nod the loose ball past the keper to make the score 2-4 (55 mins).

More Alty errors were evident as, first Kosylo lost possessionl and then Evans dwelt on the ball and also lost possession but he managed to do enough to prevent his opponent getting a sight of goal (57 mins).

An error by his opposite number, Dibble, then allowed Kosylo to feed Humbles but his weak effort was easily saved. However, it constituted a rare shot on target in the secpnd half from Altrincham.

Next, a needless foul by Weaver gave away a freekick before an Evans clearance went to an opponent as the hosts continued to misfire (60 mins).

Disaster then struck as the combined efforts of Kosylo and Olson brought down George in the left side of the box. A penalty was awarded and George slotted this comfortably past Evans to make the score 2-5 (62 mins).

AT this point Macclesfield made ten changes with Ayub, Dawson, Dos Santos, Lacey, T.Wilson, Chapman,and four trialists came on, leaving only Dibble in place. The goalkeeper than handed the captain's armband that he had been wearing to Lacey, brother of former Alty man Paddy Lacey.

Soon the trialist number nine forced a good save, diving to his left, by Evans (64 mins)

Alty did now win a corner, through Weaver, but this again was unproductive. Soon afterwards Knowles hit the bar from a Kirk cross from the left but the offside flag had been raised in any case.

With Macc seemingly happy to coast with their three-goal advantage, Alty won another corner but Taylor's flag-kick was again without a successful outcome

Finally, Neil Gibson unleashed his ten substitutes.

Matty Kosylo alone survived the introduction of Banks, Khan, Dennis, Breckin, Raymond, Reddin, Crawford, Barnes, Bailey and Fallon, who replaced Evans, Hinchy, Cooper, Olson, Humbles, Barlow, Knowles, Taylor, Weaver and Kirk (72 mins).

Alty now enjoyed more possession and momentum with Breckin grazing the top of the bar with a good shot from the left (78 mins).

Play was halted as the Macc trialist no.9 had to be treated after which he hobbled off to be substituted (87 mins). It emerged that his replacement in an outfield role was the Silkmen's substitute goalkeeper wearing a no.11 shirt.

Alty's sub keeper Fallon had been totally unemployed as the game headed into the closing minutes which were marked by Neil Gibson taking an almighty swing to kick the coolbox containing the players' drinks, an apt summary of a frustrating afternoon for the manager.