Altrincham FC Match Reports

CREWE & DISTRICT FA YOUTH (0) 0
ALTRINCHAM & DISTRICT FA YOUTH (0) 1

Cheshire County FA District Youth Challenge Cup, Semi-Final game
played on Sunday, 16 December, 2007 at 11.30a.m.


LINE-UP

ALTRINCHAM & DISTRICT FA YOUTH: 1. Andrew JONES; 2.Jack KIMBER (capt), 3.Declan WAKEFIELD, 4. Alex MURPHY, 5. Jake LEIGH-WATSON, 6. Dominic LILLIE, 7. Daniel KILLILEA, 8. Danny BROWNE, 9. Tom BAILEY, 10. Sam MADELEY, 11. Chris FRANCIS. Subs: 12. Gavin O'CONNOR, 14. Emmanuel LADU, 15. Tom COSGRAVE, 16. Rohin LALLI, 18. Lee BERRILL (gk).

CREWE & DISTRICT FA YOUTH: 1. Chris PROUDLOVE, 2. Kelvin MELLOR, 3. Elliot LEDWARD, 4. Daniel EDGE, 5. Adam DAWSON (capt), 6. Carl EVERALL, 7. Joshua HANCOCK, 8. Liam PRINCE, 9. Dave COOPER, 10. Nathan SOUTHERN, 11. Simon EVERALL. Subs: 12. Mike DAVIES, 15. Tim GRIFFITHS, 17. Stephen McNICHOLL, GK. James WEBB.


YOUTH REPORT

Report courtesy of George Heslop

Altrincham arrived at the Cumberland Area, Crewe, to find an excellent pitch on which to continue their defence of the County Cup. There were two changes to the side which beat Salford City in their previous game. Chris Francis returned from working in Scotland, to replace Charlie Weir, who had a family commitment, and Emmanuel Ladu replaced Stephen Crane on the bench, as Stephen was ineligible for this game because he is a Manchester County FA player.

The game was started by Mr R.J. Woodward (Congleton) who, with his assistants V. Rossi (Wilmslow) and P. Jepson (Northwich), went on to exercise very good control which ensured that this match was a very entertaining spectacle for the crowd who attended on a very cold afternoon. Crewe D.F.A. had four County players and Altrincham had five, of whom two - Tom Bailey and Dominic Lillie - have been on the bench for an Altrincham first-team game.

Altrincham set the tempo from the kick-off and put Crewe under pressure from the start as they spent much of the opening quarter of an hour in the home side's territory. However, Crewe gradually came back at them and evened up the exchanges. But the best chance of the half fell to Sam Madeley (Altrincham) when a cross from the right came over but he volleyed the ball into the ground and it went straight at keeper Proudlove. The exchanges up to half-time were evenly contested and both sides deserved to be on level terms at the interval.


Half-Time: CREWE & DISTRICT FA YOUTH 0
ALTRINCHAM & DISTRICT FA YOUTH 0

The second half kicked off with Altrincham appearing to be in a very determined mood as they took the game to their opponents. However, in the 60th minute, Gavin O'Connor replaced Sam Madeley, who had missed a couple of recent training sessions due to sickness. This seemed to redouble Altrincham's efforts as O'Connor linked up well, with his pace and inter-passing, which put Crewe on the back foot.

This pressure was rewarded midway through the half when a half-clearance fell to Dominic Lillie, who drove the ball into the back of the net to make it 1-0 to the Cup holders. This seemed to shake Crewe and Altrincham now turned the screw. When a cross came in from the left flank, O'Connor attacked the near post but could not quite turn the ball the right side of the post. Other than the odd incursion into Altrincham territory, Andrew Jones had a quiet game in the visitors' goal. The game ended with Altrincham being the deserved winners and extending their run to seven consecutive victories.


Full-time: CREWE & DISTRICT FA YOUTH 0
ALTRINCHAM & DISTRICT FA YOUTH 1