ALTRINCHAM & DISTRICT FA YOUTH : 1. Danny CHEBRIKA, 2. Tom BANE, 3. Ben ROBSON, 4. Kieran RAYNES, 5. Michael RISK, 6. Dean WHITE, 7. Hassan ZAREH-OURANG, 8. Andy KEOGH, 9. Astley MULHOLLAND, 10. Matty WILLIAMS, 11. Anthony DAVIES. Subs: 12. Curtis CONNELL, 14. Ashley McGRATH, 15. Dale BENSON, 16. Ben SHANKS-PEPPER, 17. Graham BRYANT.

REPORT

Based on information kindly supplied by George Heslop.

On a hot Sunday, the Altrincham side settled well as the game got under way at the Butcher's Arms. With Gresty out injured and Deegan suspended, changes had to be made to personnel and, also positionally, to the side which had beaten Lancaster City 6-0 the previous week. Tom Bane moved to right-back,Michael Raynes to centre-back and Ben Robson came in at left-back. Dean White played in right-midfield, with Astley Mulholland starting up front and, on the bench, Graham Bryant had returned from his holidays.

Altrincham's bright start saw them using the width of the pitch and passing the ball about crisply. After 25 minutes, Mulholland played the ball to Davies, who cut in from the left past the full-back and he then fired a fierce shot into the top corner of the net to give Alty the lead. Alty had further chances but were thwarted by goalkeeping saves or poor finishes.

The best move of the match came after 42 minutes when White played a good ball down the flank to Williams. He crossed, first time, and found Mulholland who finished well at the far post to make it 2-0 to the visitors. Coincidentally the first two goals had come from the same scrorers of the first two goals against Lancaster.

At the interval, Robson had to be replaced by McGrath, as he had a knee injury. In the second half Alty stopped passing the ball as well as they had been and they relied too much on the long ball. Nevertheless, they still had chances to add to their tally. Further substitutions saw Connell replace Williams, who had a knee injury (70 mins), and then Bryant came on for Hassan Zareh-Ourang in strange circumstances, after 75 minutes. Hassan's boots had come apart and there were no replacements for his size twelves!

The result gave Alty a good start in this prestigious youth cup competition in which they next meet The Wirral & District FA side on 9th October at Ashville FC, Wallasey, at 12 noon.