LINE-UP

ALTRINCHAM FC YOUTH :1. David LEIGH, 2. Michael HOWE, 3. Tom BARCLAY (capt), 4. Alex MURPHY, 5. Kieran RAYNES, 6. Marcus BAXBY, 7. Danny BROWNE, 8. Michael SIMCOCK, 9. Tom BAILEY, 10. Rico COLULO, 11. Anthony DAVIES. Subs: 12. Rick CRAWFORD, 14. Jason MELLING-FONG, 15. Paul BARRY, 16. Steven ROBERTS,17. Jack ENTWISTLE.

REPORT

Based on information kindly supplied by George Heslop.

Altrincham included three players making their debuts. In goal was David Leigh, who replaced the suspended Lewis Bishop. In left midfield was Rico Colulo, recently arrived from Morecambe, whilst on the bench was Jason Melling-Fong, formerly at Leigh RMI. Left-winger Anthony Davies started up front with Colulo.

The pitch was sodden with the torrential rain of recent days so conditions were very dificult for the players. As it was their first game since 26 November, Altrincham made an unsurprisingly slow start but were the better of the two sides in the opening stages. However, it did not take long before both teams were second best to the weather conditions, as the first half remained goalless to its conclusion.

Around the hour mark, Colulo had to come off with stomach cramps. He was replaced up front by Rick Crawford, who had not started the game due to a slight hamstring problem. In the last third of the game, FCUoM got the upper hand and Leigh had to make two excellent saves to keep them out. The home side also scorned other chances as the wind made shooting difficult.

After 70 minutes, Melling-Fong replaced Baxby whilst Barry came on for Simcock after 83 minutes. With the game seemingly destined to end goalless, Alty broke the deadlock when Crawford broke through the middle of the FCUoM back-four before slotting home a very well-taken goal in the first minute of added time. There was still time for the home team to come back and in the third added minute a shot of theirs stuck in the mud near the Alty goal-line. It took a frantic, but essential, clearance from Raynes to clear the danger for Altrincham. Alty saw out the remaining moments to secure their first double of the season.