ALTRINCHAM & DISTRICT FA YOUTH (Yellow shirts, blue shorts & socks) : 1. Danny CHEBRIKA, 2. Tom BARCLAY, 3. Tom BANE, 4. Richard GRESTY (capt), 5. Michael RISK, 6. Astley MULHOLLAND, 7. Hassan ZAREH-OURANG, 8. Andy KEOGH, 9. Ben DEEGAN, 10. Matty WILLIAMS, 11. Anthony DAVIES. Subs: 12. Kieran RAYNES, 14. Curtis CONNELL, 15. Tom DARBYSHIRE, 16. Ben SHANKS-PEPPER.

REPORT

Altrincham needed at least a draw to clinch a place in the District Cup Final, against a Chester side that had lost three of its previous fixtures in League One of the District Cup.

Altrincham started well on a cold and overcast afternoon on an excellent playing surface at Trafford FC, which had escaped the ravages of the recent frosty weather except for a very small patch in the shadow of the far stand. Altrincham won four corners in the first ten minutes and in that period had also seen a fine run by Davies feed Keogh for a shot which had gone narrowly wide. The fourth corner came after a Deegan effort was partly blocked and diverted onto and over the bar. From Davies's well-taken corner on the right, the Chester keeper missed the ball and Deegan was left with a routine header into the unguarded net (11 mins). Alty continued to have the better of things and soon Deegan turned well in the box but saw his shot hit a defender (23 mins). Two more Alty corners had come and gone before Chester won their first flag-kick on the half-hour mark. Soon aftewards Davies fired narrowly wide. Despite their superiority, one disappointing feature for Altrincham was the regularity with which they were caught offside and as a result they reached half-time just one goal ahead despite this dominance.

Chester got in the first shot of note in the second half but Chebrika saved this well (46 mins). But soon Altrincham were attacking again and the Chester keeper did well to stop Williams's shot with his fingertips after Deegan had played his striker-colleague in behind the defence (49 mins). Alty then made a good move up the left before a fine ball from Gresty found Deegan, right of goal, but his shot cannoned off a defender and over the bar for a corner . Alty finally got the cushion of a two-goal lead when Bane's freekick up the left found Williams. He powered into the left side of the box and from an acute angle the strength of his shot forced the ball through the keeper's hands and it rolled into the net (53 mins). After another Alty corner had come and gone, Williams almost repeated his goal but this time his shot from the left was beaten out by the keeper (63 mins). Next, after Williams had had a header saved by the keeper, Bane fired in a 30-yarder which the keeper also did well to stop (67 mins). Soon Bane won a corner on the Alty left and Mulholland's curling kick was missed by a defender at the near post and curled directly into the net to make it 3-0 (68 mins).

Chester than brought on their only substitute, who replaced the number two who had a bleeding nose (68 mins). A good advance up the middle by Andy Keogh was halted by a save at the cost of a corner on the Alty right. Davies's well-flighted kick from the corner found Deegan unmarked at the back post and he headed home the fourth goal of the game (74 mins). But Chester responded and Chebrika had to make a smart save from their no.11. However, after the busy Chester keeper had taken down Hassan Zareh-Ourang outside the box, he was lucky to escape with just a lecture. At this point Alty brought on Ben Shanks-Pepper and Curtis Connell for Hassan Zareh-Ourang and Matty Williams (76 mins).

Alty continued to attack, their strength based on a solid defensive performance from Barclay, Gresty, Risk and Bane. Indeed, after Davies had fed Keogh for a shot which prompted another decent save, centre-back Richard Gresty powered up the middle from his own half. He kept his composure as he advanced 50 yards to check back inside a tracking defender on the edge of the box but his shot was kept out by the keeper (80 mins). Mulholland then went close from a pass by Connell, but his effort rebounded off one defender and was cleared off the line by another. From the resulting corner, Deegan made it five-nil from close range and completed his hat-trick (83 mins). Then, Connell was soon played through the middle by Deegan but his shot was underhit and stopped by the keeper.

Chester replied with a low shot from 18 yards which went narrowly wide (88 mins). But with the game into added time Shanks-Pepper and Mulholland combined, and from the latter's fine cross, a stretching Connell saw his shot go to the keeper. In the third minute of added time Keogh got behind the defence and calmly slotted the ball past the overworked Chester goalkeeper to make it 6-0 (90+3 mins). This was an impressive performance by Altrincham especially in the second half. They now meet Stockport in the District Cup Final, probably in March and possibly at Vauxhall Motors.