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REPORT

Report by James Farrington.

The young Robins went into the game with a strong mind to push themselves further up the table and chase that top spot in the league. After a seven-week absence from playing, Heslop’s men had the ideal chance to burn off the cobwebs against a solid Curzon Ashton side who third in the table, two places above Alty.

Both sides looked fairly matched, with neither side looking to cause the opposition's defence any harm. The opening 45 minutes cried out for both sides to go more offensive, due to the lack of creativity occurring in the final third.

After changing from a 4-4-1-1 formation to a 3-5-2, Alty pushed to grab the 3 points which were desperately needed to climb the table. The deadlock was finally broken, twenty minutes into the second half, as Curzon Ashton were awarded a penalty for an unfortunate handball.

A well-taken penalty from the Curzon Ashton winger gave the home side the lead and gave Alty a greater incentive to push to get something from the game.

Altrincham stood strong,. After inflicting a ten-minute montage of pressure they were awarded a penalty of their own. When Clancy found himself on his own in the penalty area with the Curzon keeper, he was brought down in the six-yard box and the referee had no hesitation but to award the spot kick.

Frustration was clearly shown by the Alty bench and managers alike, as they could not understand why the Curzon keeper was not shown red for being the last man. Alty Youth debutant R. Davies stepped up confidently and placed the ball into the back of the net. After the Alty equaliser the game petered out, with the draw looking inevitable. Indeed, the game finished 1-1, a draw being a fair summary of what the game had offered in both chances and possession.