ALTRINCHAM FC YOUTH 1. Sam FOX, 2. Chris WAUGH, 3. John PARKER-CHAMBERS, 4. Tom HORNER, 5. Matt GARLAND, 6. Alex MIKE, 7. Richard GRESTY, 8. James MONAGHAN, 9. Adam WALKER, 10. Lee HENDLEY, 11. Sam CAWTHRA. Subs: 12. Kieran SALMON, 14. Hassan ZAREH-OURANG, 15. Dion DEPEIAZA, 16. Chris BAILEY, 18. Chris BOWCOTT (gk).

REPORT

Report based on details kindly supplied by Youth Team manager, George Heslop.

Halewood are new members of the Premier Division; they are associated with Cheshire Lines FC of the Liverpool Combination.

Altrincham were without six regulars. Arron Hevingham and Ben Deegan were out injured; Tom Bain was absent playing for Greater Manchester Colleges and scoring the only goal of the game in their victory over the Independent Schools; Paul Lewis and Ryan Stewart were away on a coaching course, whilst Adam Ball was abroad celebrating his 18th birthday. So, Richard Gresty moved to midfield, Tom Horner to centre-back and Lee Hendley became captain.

Altrincham started confidently and in a lively start were passing the ball about but were coming unstuck by holding onto it for too long and losing possession. However, the defence was proving solid and weathered the odd Halewood breakway. But, neither keeper was seriously tested in the first half. Although Altrincham had more of the play in their opponents' half, they could not capitalise on any of their openings and the first half ended goalless.

There were no changes at the interval, as Alty defended the club-house end. Walker and Hendley's pace was causing problems to Halewood but, on occasions, the latter was not releasing the ball quickly enough. However, Hendley executed a great turn and shot not long before Alty took the lead from the penalty spot. The penalty came when Walker's speed took him into the box where he was upended. Monaghan put the penalty to the keeper's left and it had sufficient pace to beat the keeper's dive and find the back of the net (49 mins).

Altrincham continued to play some good football but were still prone to conceding possession by not releasing the ball quickly enough and not playing one-touch football, at which they are as good as any team in the league.

After 57 minutes, Cawthra lost possession on the left and Halewood broke forward. Although Fox got his hands to the ball, a Halewood forward scored to make it 1-1. Five minutes later Cawthra gave way to substitute Kieran Salmon on the left. With Mike on the right, Alty started to use their pace on the wings more to cause Halewood problems, but still without creating clear chances. However, a move up the left saw Walker cross and Monaghan, arriving late at the back post, converted the opportunity to make it 2-1 to Alty (73 mins).

Alty then replaced Mike by Zareh-Ourang, who was brought on to add strength in central midfield. The next change saw Hendley replaced by Depeiaza, with Monaghan taking over the captaincy. Depeiaza added even more pace to the Alty side.

After 85 minutes another Alty advance up the left, involving three or four players, ended with a Walker cross and this time it was Zareh-Ourang who arrived at the back post to score a similar goal to Monaghan's and make it 3-1.

This was a very good display by Altrincham, especially given the absence of six players. After their shaky start to the season, the Alty Youth side is now looking stronger and is unbeaten away in the league - though without a win at home! For the next game, at Bootle, manager George Heslop and his assistants Neil Thomason and Tony Spilsbury have the unenviable problem of selecting a side from 21 available players.

Finally a word of praise for the Japanese referee, Mr Yamauchi from Tokyo, who Alty fans may remember as the excellent official of the NWYA Premier Cup final at Bamber Bridge last season. Today, he again controlled the match very well. Under an Adidas sponsored scheme, Mr Yamauchi has qualified as a UniBond League referee and is proceeding further up the refereeing ladder before returning to Japan.