Altrincham Football Club News Archive
13 to 18 August, 2005
18 August 2005
OMENS
If you believe in omens for this Saturday's game, Alty have never previously lost at home on a 20th August according to Howard Watts's Through the Years data.The Forest Green site reports that their "best start ever in the Nationwide Conference continued last night when they held Tamworth finishing yet again with only ten men... Rovers' next match is away against Altrincham on Saturday, Rovers could climb to the top of the table with another win against Altrincham, who have not won a point yet. The Supporters Club are running a coach to the match... Whisper it quietly, but Forest Green appear to have developed the sort of battling qualities and collective determination that will surprise plenty of opponents". Their side was: R. Clarke; L. Graham, J. Richardson, A. Garner; S. Simpson, M. Gadsby (J. Beswetherick), P. Wanless, S. Searle; A. Meechan; B. Teixeira (J. Gosling), S. Rendell (L. Haldane); Subs not used: R. Harrison, M. Danks.
ACCY SHOTS
Above: Colin Little in action against Accrington, as seen by Gavin Rathbone, more of whose excellent pictures can be viewed on the GR Photos website and bought in the Robins' Shop.
Under the heading "Knifed by Stanley", SAM says that "Alty paid the price for missed chances on Tuesday night as a dubious refereeing decision consigned them to an undeserved 1-0 defeat against Accrington Stanley... after Matt O'Neill seemed to impede goalkeeper Stuart Coburn as Welch's header looped towards goal from Mike Flynn's long throw". Alty boss Graham Heathcote added, "We played very well and I don't think the game was decided by the teams, but there's nothing we can do about it, we lost the game 1-0 when we should have won the game... for some reason tonight, a decision you would get nine times out of ten hasn't been given". SAM adds that "It was difficult to distinguish the part time team from the full time team as Stanley were run ragged by an Altrincham side that mixed tenacity and commitment with slick passing football". Graham added, "I was pleased with the way we played, we had a very good tempo, the stamina was good, we passed it well and we created chances but we just didn't take them... If we play like that every week at home we'll not go far wrong over the season we'll win more games than we lose".
The Accrington official site has a balanced view saying that "although another victory was won, an improved performance by the [Stanley] team was sadly lacking... As the second period wore on Stanley appeared to become more and more disjointed, which allowed Altrincham to control much of the game. However, with just 5 minutes remaining and largely against the run of play, Stanley took the lead".
BANS
In both their games to date, our next opponents, Forest Green Rovers, have had a man sent off. This is Glos says that that their boss "Gary Owers heaped praise on his players after securing a goalless draw at Tamworth last night, but he was less than impressed with the performance of referee Amy Rayner. The Loughborough official's decision to send off substitute Jon Beswetherick for two second-half challenges - a second red card in as many games for Rovers - infuriated manager Owers". He said: "We've ended up with one lad needing hospital treatment and another getting an early bath - not much went for us tonight... Improving defensively on last year was vitally important and I'm delighted with how we've defended as a team so far". The FA confirms that both Abdou Hamid Sall and Jonathan Beswetherick will miss the game against Alty on Saturday.
Another player who will miss a game against Alty through suspension is Morecambe's James Kelly. We meet The Shrimps on Bank Holiday Monday. But our own Mark Maddox (right) will miss both games as well as the away game at Aldershot for his red card at Marine in pre-season. Mark had made his 300th start for on Tuesday to confirm his Alty Legend status!
CONFERENCE NEWS
Confguide says that "Online bookmaker Totalbet has announced that the brand will become the first-ever official Betting & Gaming partner of the Nationwide Football Conference... after negotiating a substantial five-figure sum for the deal. The agreement gives totalbet access to the league's 66 club websites" - that means a logo/link will be added to each site.The official York City website say that "former Preston North End and Bury striker... Joe O'Neill is overjoyed by his dream start for the Minstermen having scored 3 goals at Haig Avenue last night in City's 4-1 victory over Southport. O'Neill said, "I love playing with Clayton Donaldson, he's got loads of pace and defenders seem to be frightened of him which opens things up for me".
Woking, "in an initiative to improve sportsmanship and goodwill in the game, will be presenting a prize to the opposition’s ‘man of the match’ as well as Woking’s ‘man of the match’ at all their home games this season... The prize, a bottle of champagne, is being donated by David Taylor, a Vice President of the Club, and his wife, Rosalind. David Taylor is the author of the best-selling ‘Naked Leader’ books".
The Scarborough official site reports that "Boro head coach Nick Henry has called on his players to pull together after the Morecambe defeat... their second straight defeat of the new season... He said: "Sometimes you don’t get much justice in football. Brian Wake has had a chance late on, where it’s easier to score, but at least he’s been there to miss it".
"Frank Walter, who has been acting on a consultancy basis for Gravesend & Northfleet FC is taking up the permanent position of Managing Director".
Shotsweb reports that player Dave Lee, who suffered a compound leg fracture on Tuesday "has had a successful operation".
From Cambridge News is a report that manager "Rob Newman wants Cambridge United fans to help turn the Abbey into a ground teams fear to visit after their 2-1 win at home to Nationwide Conference favourites Hereford". He stated, "We've now got to try to make this place like a fortress. We've told the players that they have set their standards and they have got to carry on from this because it will be another tough game on Saturday (against Accrington)... We've still got to get players in" As for man-of-the-match Fola Onibuje, "The big man has been a handful again, but we just need to work on his stamina. He's a typical 200m runner. He runs 200m and then has a day's rest".
17 August 2005
ALTRINCHAM 0 ACCRINGTON STANLEY 1
Match report here.
RESERVES START
Alty Reserves play away at Burscough tonight (Wednesady 7.45pm) in their opening game in the Lancashire League.CONFERENCE NEWS
Shotsweb reports on our next away opponents, Aldershot Town, who lost 2-1 at Canvey Island. "The second half was a disaster for the Shots; David Lee was soon carried off with a serious after a nasty tackle by Jeff Minton. And with five minutes left Boylan scored to equalise, before scoring again when the Shots gave away a penalty, Tobi Jinadu bringing down Allan Tait in the 90th minute". There was a 10 minute delay to deal with lee's compound fracture; all at Alty wish him well after having the same happen to our own Marcus Hallows last season. It was good to see Marcus at our game on Tuesday night, well on the road to recovery.Confguide says that "Yeovil defender Stephen Reed has joined Woking on a month-long loan... [He] played seven league matches while on loan at Forest Green last term".
16 August 2005
TUESDAY SCORES
TONIGHT
SAM says that "Stanley had a disappointing season last year and after a good start which saw them challenging for a promotion, inconsistency crept in and Stanley finished in 10th, seven points behind the play-off places. Their away form was the main cause of the problems, Stanley losing nine of the games on their travels including a demoralising 5-0 defeat against Stevenage and a 4-0 loss at Scarborough. But they made several new signings, including ex-Manchester United and Hereford striker David Brown, Burnley winger Matt O'Neill, former Chester, Reading and Doncaster Rovers keeper Stuart Jones and defender Leam Richardson, who has played at Blackburn, Bolton and Blackpool. Stanley are expected to name an unchanged starting line-up from that which played against Canvey Island on Saturday".TEAM NEWS
Altrincham are without Rod Thornley tonight as he has joined the England team for their match in Denmark, where he will act as team masseur. As previously reported, Karl Munroe is unlikely to be fit following his calf injury at Stevenage. The Accrington Stanley predicts "a tough match [against Alty tonight] with ex-Reds Gary Williams and Lewis Chalmers lining up against us. Alty will be keen to put behind them the 0-3 defeat suffered at Stevenage Borough on Saturday, while we will be looking to build on the 1-0 win at home to Canvey Island. Andy Tretton is John Coleman's only injury worry with a bruised knee". Lewis played for Accrington Reserves whilst also with Altrincham FC Youth team.
Right: Colin Potts, who hit a hat-trick for the Reserves last week.
RESERVES
Neil Brown, manager of Alty Reserves has kindly provided information for brief match reports on the two recent Reserves' friendlies at Abbey Hey and West Didsbury. Both games were eventful in their own way with 13 goals being scored in all as Alty won 4-2 and 6-1. The reports are in the Reserves' section.SPONSORS
Courtesy of Alty commercial manager Barry Pond, the Club Sponsors' Page of the website has been updated. Please do support the businesses and organisations who help the Football Club by giving them your business or custom.OH DEAR!
The official Conference website only put up Saturday's results on Monday and according to them we lost 3-0 on Saturday at Stevenage but they have four goals listed Elding 15, Stamp 37, Maamria 73 pen, Elding 90 pen. Oh dear!One place which has the correct result and a match report and photos of the game is the Stevenage unofficial site.
CAR PARK
Altrincham FC has reached agreement with Blessed Thomas Holford School in Urban Road (a short walk from the ground) for car parking on their premises on match days. However, the scheme cannot begin until the school year begins again in September. The existing council-owned car park next to the ground is now ticket only - please contact the club for details (928-1045).SOCIALS
Amongst the social events being planned for the coming season is a "meet the new faces" dinner at which Alty's new signings over the summer will be the main attraction. More details of this to follow...SEEING RED
Suspensions for red cards are immediate in Conference National (there was a two-week appeal period in Conference North due to the absence of video evidence). A video camera gantry is being erected on the Popular Side at Moss Lane near the halfway line for this purpose. So, The FA confirm that Forest Green's "Abdou Hamid Sall [is] suspended from all football until the club have completed 3 first team matches for a sending off in a match played on 13/08/2005. Start date: 13/08/2005 - End date: 27/08/2005". He will therefore miss the visit to Alty on Saturday.OLD BOYS
Mike Pollitt made his Premiership debut in goal for Wigan Athletic on Sunday. Leigh Today says that at Leigh RMI "Only a handful of first-teamers who played under RMI's three different managers last term have been retained"; those include Liam Coyne, Lee Shillito and Mark Drew, all at Alty as youth players. A recent arrival at RMI is Lee Thompson who garduated from Alty Youth to the first team four years ago. Indeed, "New boy Lee Thompson was in outstanding form as he grabbed a brace on his side's way to a morale-boosting 6-2 rout" against a Stockport County side in a friendly.CONFERENCE NEWS
The BBC reports that "York have completed the signing of ex-Scarborough forward David Pounder. The 25-year-old has agreed a short-term contract... [He] scored 23 times in 98 starts for Boro before his release at the end of last season"."Since its re-launch in 2003 the Hereford United 'VP 200 Club' has donated over £2500 profit directly to the football club... Entry is £24 - and you will automatically be entered into 10 draws where the prize money is: 1st - £50, 2nd - £25 and third £10 every month. Every May a 'Superdraw' takes place when one lucky entrant will win £500... Draws take place after the last home game of each month".
Three Conference National clubs' official websites (Halifax, Cambridge and Exeter) have now become registration only. Halifax's Mark Monington has left the club.
15 August 2005
MUNROE DOUBT
Word from the club is that Karl Munroe (right) is very doubtful for tomorrow's game against Accrington. He limped off in the first half of his debut at Stevenage on Saturday.NEXT GAME
Alty meet Accrington on Tuesday; we have met six times in the league and twice in the FA Trophy since our relegation from the Conference in 2000. Alty have won 3, drawn 3 and lost 2, both defeats being away from home. The results are as follows, with Alty score first:UniBond Premier
FA Trophy
So, in the last clash between us at Moss Lane, it was Ian Craney, now at Stanley, who scored the Alty goal. This will be the first time we have met Stanley in the Conference National.
LAST GAME
The Stevenage website has a match report on Alty's defeat on Saturday. This website's own report is here. The Boro report says that "Inspired performances from George Boyd and Jason Goodliffe helped Boro to a convincing victory over newly promoted Altrincham on a wet and miserable summer’s day... The visitors wasted their only clear cut opportunity in stoppage time when right back Peter Band popped up in the area but sliced his shot wide" - but no mention that Talbot hit the post with the keeper beaten!COMING SOON
Forest Green, whom we meet on Saturday, had centre-back Abdou Sall sent off last Saturday.Tamworth beat our next away opponents, Aldershot Town, on Saturday and their website describes the opposition as "a somewhat lacklustre Aldershot side". The Lambs' boss Mark Cooper said, "Some people have underestimated us, we may well not win the league but we are going to be a hard team to beat... We had a game plan and stuck to it - 5 midfielders to block them coming forward and Julian Alsop did very well up front. He is a constant threat and difficult to defend against". Nevertheless, "Aldershot hit the woodwork twice in the game and had a goal disallowed for offside".
RESERVES
Alty Reserves beat Abbey Hey 4-2 last week, with first-teamers Steve Aspinall, Colin Potts, Nehru McKenzie, George Melling, Rod Thornley and Gary Williams all involved in the game. George was concussed, which ruled him out of contention for the first-team match at Stevenage on Saturday. A short report, based on information from Reserves' manager Neil Brown, will apppear on the website in the next day or two. There will also be a brief report on the Reserves' 6-1 win in the abandoned game at West Didsbury last Saturday.The Lancashire League website has results up to August 13; Alty's first game is this Wednesday at Burscough. BPA are the early leaders with two wins and 7-0 goal difference.
OLD BOYS
Wes Wilkinson, the former Alty Youth player and a trialist this summer at Moss Lane, played for Mossley on Saturday. Chris Timons turned out for Hucknall and Lee Shillito, Mark Drew and Liam Coyne made their Nationwide North debuts for Leigh RMI. Jonathan Mitten, Steve Torpey and Adie Orr were amongst those involved in FC United of Manchester's first competitive game on Saturday. 4-4-2 magazine has an article on FCUM, which features Mitten.CONFERENCE NEWS
Gravesend report that "Striker Manny Omoyinmi... [has] finally put pen to paper... Manager Liam Daish has [also] added striker Kim Grant to his squad".The NL Paper, which resumes publication of its Friday edition this week, reports that Terry Fearns may move from Southport. He is "said to be wanted by Mark Wright at Peterborough".
14 August 2005
IMPRESSED
NL Daily has a feature on the Australian cricketers' visit to Moss Lane last week. Chairman Geoff Godwin explained that the Aussies call him "Popeye", "because I have large forearms from my bodybuilding days". He added that "They thought non-league football might not be all that good but they were very impressed. Especially Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist".YOUTH GAME
The Youth team friendly at West Didsbury today has been postponed as the opposition cannot raise a team.OLD BOYS
Ian Craney played for Accrington yesterday whilst Otis Thomas netted for Abbey Hey, as did Stuart Scheuber for Nantwich Town.COMING UP
Terry Brown, manager of our next away opponents (on 27 August), Aldershot Town, described this summer as "an absolute catastrophe. Five players have had major operations". He added that "Hopefully, we will be able to stagger through August and begin properly in September". Alty's next home opponents, Accrington Stanley (Tuesday 16th), owed much to keeper Stuart Jones in their 1-0 win over Canvey yesterday.GRAHAM POSITIVE
After the defeat at Stevenage, Graham Heathcote told the NL Paper: "There were a lot of positives for us. We knew it was going to be tough against a side who are expected to do well this season but I thought we played some good football, especially in the second half when we moved the ball about really well. We were nervous and tentative in the first half and that allowed Stevenage to score against us but I thought we recovered well. In my opinion, both penalties were harsh and the first one completely killed us off. The team will learn from today and go forward but, overall, our aim this season is simply to survive".The NLP front page refers to a "4-0 whipping for new boys Altrincham" mirroring Ceefax's mis-reporting of the score yesterday. The NLP match statistics are also wrong, indicating only one booking in the game when there were actually 5 (Stevenage 3 Alty 2).
STEVENAGE BOROUGH 3 ALTRINCHAM 0
Above: Thornley (10 in blue) is held by a defender as Alty are repulsed.
Match report here
13 August 2005
TEAM NEWS
On Friday Stevenage Borough "signed 25 year-old left back David Perpetuini... [He] started his career at Watford where he made 18 appearances before a £100,000 move to Gillingham in 2001. He made 64 appearances before moving to Wycombe and Walsall on free transfers earlier this year".The BBC reports that "Stevenage's Barry Laker is the only absentee as they begin their campaign. Laker has failed to shake off a knock... Altrincham will be without captain Eddie Hussin and fellow midfielder Gary Scott for their opener. Steve Hawes has recovered from a knock he got in a friendly against Bangor, while Mark Maddox does not start his three-match ban until 20 August".
OLD BOYS
The MEN has yet another piece on FC United of Manchester which reveals that ex-Alty men Josh Mitten and Steve Torpey receive £150 a week playing for their new club. One of Josh's 'memorable moments' is "play-off win in Conference North" with Alty.Aaron Wilford, on trial at Moss Lane this summer, has reportedly joined Barrow on a one-month loan. Also joining the Bluebirds is another would-be trialist at Alty, Darren Edmondson.
BBCi
The digital TV channel BBCi runs a football programme, "Score" every Saturday from 2pm to 6pm presented by Ray Stubbs. They are keen to receive "any quirky stories or interesting schemes you may have at your club" - these can be e-mailed to Lance Hardy.CONFERENCE NEWS
Alty's second away trip this season is to Aldershot. NL Daily says that "Terry Brown, manager of Aldershot Town, has further strengthened his squad with four further additions... Joining on a month’s loan is Brighton striker Chris McPhee... Also agreeing terms is 33-year-old former Newcastle, West Ham and Derby County striker Paul Kitson... The third addition is 20-year-old winger Michael Gordon, previously with Arsenal, MK Dons and more recently Havant & Waterlooville. Finally putting pen-to-paper is 22-year-old midfield or forward Jermaine Brown, previously with... Lewes"."20 year-old Matthew Judge, who has played under-19 football for the Republic of Ireland, has started the season in style with two spectacular goals... for Dagenham & Redbridge against Boreham Wood and Redbridge respectively. Judge was leading scorer at Spurs every year until they released him at 16".
"King’s Lynn winger Mark Angel has joined Cambridge United on loan". United boss Rob Newman said: "He's played in a team [Boston] that won the Conference and he's played in the Football League... We have a young squad and he has both experience and a record of success at this level... [Also] 22-year-old former Hitchin Town and Peterborough striker Matt Nolan has agreed a short-term deal. Newman awaits a response from former Rushden & Diamonds striker Robert Duffy, who has been made a similar offer" says the Cambridge website.
"Former Azerbaijan under-21 international goalkeeper Farhad Afandiyev has signed a six-month contract with York City... Afandiyev joined Hinckley United during the 2001/02 season". He was at Rushden last season. "The 26-year-old has taken a pay cut from his job as a fitness instructor in the Midlands to fulfil his dream of being a full time footballer in England" states This is York.
Forest Green Rovers boss Gary Owers has signed "striker Lewis Haldane and midfielder Christian Sylvestre". Haldane was at FGR on loan previously.
The BBC says that "Canvey Island have signed former Walsall goalkeeper Richard McKinney... The 26-year-old was released by the Saddlers in the summer after missing most of last season through injury. McKinney came though the ranks at Manchester City".
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