Match Reports
ALTRINCHAM & DISTRICT YOUTH (0) 3 MACCLESFIELD & DISTRICT YOUTH (0) 0
Cheshire County FA District Youth Cup
group stage match
played on Sunday, 13 November, 2011
at Trafford FC, Shawe View
LINE-UPS
ALTRINCHAM & DISTRICT FA YOUTH (Yellow shirts with blue trim, red shorts, blue socks): 1. Cody Wharton, 2. Alan Tansinda, 4. Mark Napier-Hemy, 5. Joe Coombs (capt), 3. Sam Grimshaw, 7. Liam Rutledge, 6. Matt Fearon, 8. Ryan Barry, 11. Jack Cottrill, 9. Derryn Ofori, 10. Duncan Watmore. Subs: 12. Josh Palmer, 14. Jordan Mainoo-Hames, 15. Shakeel Depeiaza, 15. Jack Martiny-Schofield, 16. Redmond McGuire
1 MACCLESFIELD & DISTRICT FA (Blue): 1. Barlow, 2. Bunce, 3. Wilshaw, 4. Pulley (c), 5. Barlow, 6. Withington, 7. Chapman, 8. Knowles, 9. Hall, 10. Saville, 11. Goodwin. Subs: 14. Pritchard, 15. White.
REPORT
After Macclesfield had got forward after kicking off, Altrincham gained two freekicks but nothing came of either. After this, Coombs did well to dribble the ball back past his own advancing keeper, before clearing the ball to safety. Play settled into a fairly even if scrappy pattern with neither side able to retain the ball consistently.
Throughout the first half Altrincham kept getting caught offside. Macclesfield suffered a blow when Hall got injured but he limped on after treatment. First Watmore, then Fearon, were lectured inside a minute for playing on after the whistle had gone. Watmore was looking the most likely to break the deadlock but the defences remained on top.
However, it took an excellent save from Wharton to keep out a Knowles shot, with Grimshaw doing a good job in clearing the resulting loose ball (28 mins). Tansinda now got booked for a late challenge on Saville and the resulting freekick went narrowly wide of the Alty goal (29 mins).
Two Macclesfield corners folowed in succession and following the second, Wharton made another good stop, saving Chapman's firm header (31 mins). Macclesfield were now enjoying the better of the proceedings and after Alty had again been caught offside, Macclesfield won another corner.
But as half time approached, Altrincham got back into things and won two corners for themselves. But the interval arrived with the score goalless.
| Half-Time: ALTRINCHAM & DISTRICT YOUTH 0 MACCLESFIELD & DISTRICT YOUTH 0 |
The second half was fairly uneventful till Alty threatened with the ball being worked from the left across the goalmouth where Grimshaw was only able to half hit his shot to the keeper from Watmore's feed. Macc now replaced the ailing Hall by a substitute (?Pritchard) (52 mins).
Right: Derryn Ofori nets for Altrincham.
Soon after this, the ball was played into the visitors' box where it pinged of a couple of players before coming to Watmore who was unmarked. With Macclesfield calling for an offside decision, Watmore beat keeper Barlow from close range to give Altrincham the lead (52 mins).
After an Alty attack prompted by Fearon's midfield surge had broken down, it took a good piece of covering from Coombs to see off Macc's counter-attack. The game was now more open than previously and just after the hour mark, Altrincham won two corners. Between these, Fearon was booked on his last appearance before starting a suspension.
After two more offsides against Alty's forwards, Rutledge sprang the offside trap and unselfishly fed Ofori, to his left, the striker knocking the ball into the net to double Alty's lead in the 70th minute. In an almost replica move Rutledge soon got free again, this time from Ofori's feed but his cross this time failed to find a team-mate.
Each side now made a change as Macclesfield replaced Bunce and Alty introduced Josh Palmer for Jack Cottrill (73 mins). For the third time in as many minutes Rutledge almost sprang the offside trap but, this time, the flag went against him. But soon he and Tansinda combined to get the ball to Watmore, who gathered the ball well, before turning and scoring his second goal of the afternoon to make it 3-0 (77 mins).
One scenario was that Alty would need to score more goals to progress to the final, depending on the result in the other group stage game, but it was not to be.
Saville was booked for a foul on Coombs (79 mins). After this, Watmore advanced to the right of goal but ambitiously opted to shoot, high over the bar, with Palmer available in the centre. Alty were now attacking well and it was Rutledge who again threatened soon afterwards, before an Alty corner led to a Coombs header which cleared the bar in added time.
| Full-Time: ALTRINCHAM & DISTRICT YOUTH 3 MACCLESFIELD & DISTRICT YOUTH 0 |