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REPORT

James Farrington, left-back for Altrincham FC Youth, has kindly provided the following match report...

The game started with a minute's silence for a Bolton schoolgirl who had sadly passed away whilst playing football for her local club.

Daisy Hill opened the game the much stronger of the two sides, having two early chances which they could not convert. The home side pressed the Alty midfield and back line, pushing them backwards and did not give them any room for thought. Daisy Hill pressure mounted before the opening goal of the game when they took the lead 17 minutes into the first half. It was an individual goal from a Daisy Hill forward, who found the ball on the left hand side of the pitch, beat his man and calmly slotted the ball into the bottom right hand corner.

It was a disappointing half for Altrincham, which only saw them have one real chance. A free-kick on the edge of the area was cleared off the line by a Daisy Hill defender. The Robins went into the interval lucky to be only 1-0 down after Daisy Hill had shown more passion for the majority of the first half.

Strong words by manager George Heslop, and coach Chris Adams sparked a response from the Alty lads, forcing the Daisy Hill back line towards their own goal. However, Daisy Hill were frustrated not to take a 2-0 lead 10 minutes into the second half when a Daisy Hill midfielder finessed a shot towards the top left hand corner, only for it to be cleared off the line by Farrington.

The tempers were raised on and off the field as the Daisy Hill manager was sent off for dissent, following prolonged argument with the referee. Minutes later, more Altrincham pressure occurred and they found themselves having a glorious chance to get level. The referee pointed to the spot after a handball was given against the Daisy Hill centre half. Dwyer calmly stepped up and clinically drilled the ball into the bottom left hand corner, to the relief of the players.

The game become more even after Altrincham had equalised, with both teams looking to find that all important winning goal.

Many half chances were created, however the tempo of the game petered out towards the end of the second half and extra time became inevitable.

In extra time, the two sides both had opportunities to take the lead, Altrincham were thankful for the strong goal keeping skills of Burrows, who kept the back line in order. Alty had the majority of possession in extra time, but found they were really chasing the game after such a slow start in the first half.

The game finished 1-1 after extra time and penalties loomed, which resulted in Alty eventually losing the game 4-3 on penalties.

James Farrington.