MACCLESFIELD & DISTRICT FA YOUTH 0
ALTRINCHAM & DISTRICT FA YOUTH 1

YOUTH REPORT

Report courtesy of George Heslop

Altrincham went into this match having won their last four matches with three clean sheets, scoring fourteen goals and conceding two. Whoever won this game would be in the semi-final, away at Crewe and District on Sunday 16th December 2007.

However, Altrincham had a setback during the pre-match warm-up when their County centre-midfielder Danny Browne broke down with a hamstring problem. Having watched Macclesfield's previous game, manager George Heslop elected to start with Charlie Weir in an attacking central-midfield role. The game started quietly but the first chance fell to the home side in the fourth minute when Dilap broke down the Altrincham left and crossed to wide right where a team-mate fired in a good shot which Andrew Jones , Altrincham's keeper, did well to divert for a corner.

In the 7th minute Macclesfield created another chance but in the 9th minute Daniel Killilea and Tom Bailey set up a good chance for Dominic Lillie whose shot just curled past the left-hand post of the Macclesfield goal. Sam Madeley shot wide in the 14th minute but this was Altrincham's last chance for a while as Macclesfield, at this stage, were looking the better side. In the 21st minute a Macclesfield corner flashed across the Altrincham goalmouth, just past the far post.

In the 19th minute Matthew Nee fired a further shot across the Altrincham goal and then, in the 31st minute, came the closest chance of all when Killilea cleared a Macclesfield corner off the goal-line by the left-hand post. After this flurry, the game lapsed into a semi-comatose state. Then, three minutes before half-time, Sam Madeley had a great chance for Altrincham but lost his composure and rushed his shot. Half-time arrived with the score 0-0 but Macclesfield had been the better team.

Neither team made changes at the start of the second half. In the 49th minute Tom Bailey put in a cross but it went behind the goal. Then in the next minute Macclesfield should have gone in front but the Altrincham defence stood firm as it took four attempts to scramble the ball away. This was followed by the final shot going over the bar. Then the game developed into stalemate until the 66th minute when Macclesfield's Rory Delap fired over the bar. The 70th minute was to prove the crucial moment when Charlie Weir won the ball and played it down the right flank to Sam Madeley who cut in, beating his man, and found Tom Bailey with his pass. He fired home to give Altrincham the lead.

From then on, Altrincham had the larger percentage of the chances. Madeley snatched at a chance (73 mins), then Tom Bailey created a header for Madeley (77 mins) and in the 78th minute an Altrincham freekick was whipped in and Madeley 's shot was diverted for a corner. In the 79th minute Macclesfield replaced Wyatt by Sneddon.

In the 88th minute Dominic Lillie swivelled and shot from point blank range and Mark Wainwright made a great save. With three minutes of added time to be played, the home team substituted Binder with Quinn. Then, with 26 seconds to go, Wayne Riley flashed a freekick past the Alty far port and the final whistle blew leaving Altrincham still on line for a hat-trick of successive wins in this prestigious tournament.