BAMBER BRIDGE RESERVES (4) 4
ALTRINCHAM RESERVES (0) 1
Lancit Haulage Lancashire League Match
played on Saturday, 27 August, 2005
LINE-UP
ALTRINCHAM RESERVES: 1. Lee MILNER, 2. Paul MONAGHAN, 3. Ryan STEWART 4. James MARSDEN (capt), 5. Colin McALLISTER, 6. Griff JONES, 7. Mike BROWN, 8. John MALONEY, 9. Dwaine LINDSAY, 10. Kwame BARNETT, 11. Pat McFADDEN. Subs: 12. Michael SUTTON, 13. Craig ELLISON (gk), 14. Daniel HEFFERNAN, 15. Anthony BINGHAM.
REPORT
Based on information kindly provided by Neil Brown.
Altrincham Reserves had four enforced changes from the side which beat Chorley convincingly last Wednesday. Lee Milner replaced Richard Acton in goal, Colin McAllister came in for George Melling at centre-back and John Maloney started in place of Nehru McKenzie. Acton, Melling and McKenzie were all required as named substitutes for the first team at Aldershot today. The fourth change saw Kwame Barnett replace the injured Kieran Lugsden up front.
Alty went behind after six minutes following a Bamber Bridge corner. McFadden scuffed his attempted clearance and the ball ran to the back post where it struck an incoming Brig player, despite the presence of four defenders, and went into the net for a somewhat fortunate goal. For the next 25 minutes Alty created more chances than their opponents but went two-down after 32 minutes. The goal came after a foiul by McAllister for which the linesman flagged. Alty stopped playing but the referee waved play on and Milner was left facing a one on one from which the striker scored.
After 36 minutes it became 3-0 when Alty tried unsuccessfully to play the offside trap leaving Milner again exposed in a one on one situation. After 42 minutes, Bamber Bridge made it 4-0 when a mis-header by Mike Brown fell to the Brig left-back. Monaghan got in a block tackle but the ball rebounded behind him. A Brig player then got past Marsden to score.
| Half-Time: BAMBER BRIDGE RESERVES 4 ALTRINCHAM RESERVES 0 |
Manager Neil Brown delivered a "brisk" half-time talk and opted to adapt his game-plan to counter Brig's 4-3-3 formation. This change, to a 3-5-2 formation, with McAllister, Marsden and Monaghan at the back, was implemented after 53 minutes by means of a double substitution as Sutton replaced Mike Brown and Heffernan came on for Stewart. Then on the hour mark Jones was replaced by Bingham. Alty were the better side in the second half and got a goal back after 70 minutes. As a Brig defender hesitated, Bingham gained possession from the defender's weak pass and knocked the ball round the keeper and into the net to make it 4-1.
An unawarded penalty, after Barnett had been brought down, did not help Alty's cause. Despite the outcome, manager Neil Brown was not downhearted as the team had played some good football, especially in the second half, and gained good experience of countering a 4-3-3 formation but had let themselves down with suicidal defending in the first half.
| Full-Time: BAMBER BRIDGE RESERVES 4 ALTRINCHAM RESERVES 1 |