Match Report

Match-day got off to a bad start when an ambulance had to be called an hour before kick-off for Alty physio Gary Thompson, who had suffered an injury in a fall in the dressing room area. Everyone at the Club wishes Gary a speedy recovery. The Club's thanks go to the visitors for kindly agreeing to their physio treating both sides; he had quite a busy afternoon! Bradford arrived at Moss Lane without a win in the League, whilst Altrincham were looking to stay in the championship race after overcoming Hucknall Town in mid-week.

This game rarely reached the heights, in part at least due to a strong gusty wind blowing down the pitch from the Golf Road End. However, both sides lacked punch up front which contributed to a rather disappointing game. Altrincham had more chances, however, and deserved their narrow win which came through a strike from Thornley which itself was not as cleanly hit as it might have been but which, nevertheless, did enough to beat the Bradford keeper, low to his left. Rod Thornley won the Man of the Match award.

With Rod Thornley back from duty as England's masseur and Lee Poland reporting with a late injury, Altrincham started with Kevin Hulme partnering Thornley in attack. Illingworth can count himself unlucky not to start today after a fine performance in his last game and Carl Furlong, despite a good goal against Hucknall on Tuesday, was also on the bench alongside Jeremy. The third sub was Dave Swannick, fresh from turning out for the Reserves in last night's 4-4 draw at Lancaster. Bradford's side showed two changes from last Saturday, with Wharton in for Calcutt at number eleven and a change between the sticks with Kelly replaced by Lutz Pfannenstiel, a German keeper, recently released from a Singapore gaol for alleged match-fixing!

Referee Ashcroft started the match two minutes early, with Bradford attacking the Hale End. The game started quietly, with a stoppage for the Bradford keeper to remove his necklace being one of the highpoints (4 mins). This occurred just after Hulme had been wrestled off the ball in the box following a Thornley flick. Play stopped again after six minutes for Mr Ashcroft to lecture the Bradford bench for complaining after a Maddox tackle had won a goal-kick for the Robins off Maxwell. The stop-go nature of the game continued with a lengthy stoppage for treatment to Gallagher after he had challenged the former Frickley striker, Hayward. No sooner had Jason recovered than Thornley needed attention after being caught on the head by a defensive challenge. With the game stuttering rather than flowing, it was Pfannenstiel who was the next to need the attention of the busy Bradford physio. This came from a ball into the box by Thornley who had advanced into the box, before laying the ball off left to Hulme. The keeper appeared to collide with Thornley.

The Alty number 7 had been knocked over as the ball came across from the right but referee Ashcroft showed no interest in a very plausible shout for a spot-kick (16 mins). Almost immediately, there was another cry for a penalty, at the other end, as Hayward went down under a tackle from Maddox just inside the Alty box.

A low shot from Thornley which was easily gathered by Pfannenstiel was the best that the next five minutes could muster and this was soon followed by a shot over the bar from Gallagher (23 mins). Bradford's best move to date followed this when Wharton's mis-kick found Maxwell in the box and he poked it just wide of goal (25 mins). The scrappy nature of the game continued with a stoppage for treatment to Hancock. Craney then shot over the bar from 15 yards but most moves were ending in misplaced passes by both sides. For the second time in the game Hulme had a good shout for a penalty when the Bradford keeper came for a high ball, got nowhere near it and knocked over the Altrincham man but once more the referee was not interested (31 mins). At the other end, O'Brien's 30 yard shot went close to Coburn's right post as coach Graham Heathcote reproached his team for not closing down the shot. Wharton's cross from the right surprisingly won a corner on the left, although no deflection was apparent.

Coburn punched the corner out towards the kicker, who then beat Gallagher and his cross found Hayward in space close to the centre of goal. Thankfully for Altrincham, Hayward mis-kicked with the goal at his mercy (34 mins). A wide shot from Craney from 25 yards underlined Altrincham's lack of accuracy in front of goal. Bradford then won a corner off Maddox's head, which was followed by a second flag-kick. Coburn's poor throw straight to Richards emphasised the home side's lack of fluency at this stage. Even when Gallagher made a fine interception and advanced into the Bradford half, the move ended in an off-side decision. Bradford were producing some neat passing but lacked penetration as the game stuttered on. There was some excitement when Mark Sertori nearly decapitated spectators in the stand as, standing on the touchline, he booted the ball with full force into the crowd.

However, Altrincham almost got the breakthrough when, following an Adams free-kick, Hawes launched a good low shot from the right which Maddox instinctively kicked from 15 yards, the ball diverting firmly onto the Bradford crossbar but rebounding to safety (43 mins). From a resulting corner by Hawes, Thornley hit a shot well over the bar. Altrincham finished the half strongly, with Thornley chasing an over-long ball from Murphy to the back post, saving it from going out of play and turning neatly to fire a shot across goal as the defence were static expecting a goal-kick (45 mins). A disappointing half ended with teams scoreless.

Alan Johnson's picture of Rod Thornley's goal yesterday.

In the first minute of the second period Craney was set up by Hulme inside the box but could not hit the target, firing to the left of goal. However, it was Bradford who nearly took the lead when a ball forward for Benn found the Bradford man unmarked inside the box. He tried to place the ball round Coburn but the keeper dived to his left to stop the shot superbly but, really, the keeper should not have been given the opportunity to make the save. (49 mins). But Alty also committed a glaring miss when, with their earlier roles reversed, Craney's great turn let in Hulme who missed the target from six yards, shooting to the left of goal (50 mins). Hulme did much better three minutes later when, from a Thornley pass, he turned well and shot narrowly over the bar. This was followed by a spat between Hulme and Hancock, which earned both players a deserved lecture (54 mins).

After Scott had won a free-kick, his dead-ball found Murphy whose lob only found the Bradford keeper. With Alty now on top, Murphy directed a volley at Pfannenstiel from the edge of the box (56 mins). A couple of neat Bradford moves ended, firstly in a header wide and secondly in off-side. An Alty corner came to nothing and Hulme's toe-poke to the keeper and Richards's 25 yarder over the bar were the best efforts at goal in the next few minutes (64 mins). Alty now withdrew Murphy, who had not been at his best, replacing him with Furlong (65 mins). Within a minute they took the lead. Following a Scott throw, the full-back got the ball back from Hawes and his ball from the right flank into the area found Hulme, who headed it down for Thornley. From some 15 yards, Thornley struck the ball less than cleanly past the keeper into the bottom corner, past the keeper's left-hand (66 mins). As on Tuesday last, Altrincham had achieved the breakthrough after more than an hour's effort.

After the restart a cross from the right by Wharton saw Coburn catch the ball expertly in one hand. Hawes then knocked the ball on to Furlong who put it wide under a challenge from the keeper. Just after this, the volatile Furlong fouled Benn in midfield and disapproved of the decision so much that he got himself a totally needless booking, to follow his sending off last weekend (70 mins). Thornley moved his young striking partner away from the referee before his tongue could land him in even more trouble. Quinn now came on for James for Bradford (70 mins). Furlong is never from controversy and he was next knocked over by Pfannenstiel just inside the box before play stopped for an injury to a Bradford defender. With Steve Hawes limping, an Altrincham substitution followed but it was Scott who left the pitch, to be replaced by Illingworth. Scott then made his way to the changing rooms with an ice-pack on his right shoulder (74 mins). Altrincham were not pressing home their goal advantage as Thompson came on for Bradford's Richards (77 mins).

Following a Coburn clearance, Illingworth, Gallagher and Craney combined well only for James to intercept the ball and direct a firm back-pass towards his keeper, which Pfannenstiel had to be alert to keep out of goal (81 mins). Bradford then wasted a chance to equalise when a fine dummy inside the box by Hayward, from a ball from the left by Maxwell, let in Wharton but with the goal at his mercy, he shot over the bar.

On an afternoon when no player took the game by the scruff of the neck, Thornley was announced as Man of the Match with more than five minutes left to play. Mark Sertori was then lucky to escape censure when he nearly pushed a Bradford player over the fence at the side of the pitch but the no-nonsense centre-back otherwise had a fine game this afternoon. The Alty midfield continued to stutter rather than move smoothly in the closing stages and a bad pass from Gallagher to Thompson underlined this (85 mins). A stoppage for treatment to Adams followed a rough challenge by the Alty defender on Quinn. The closing stages saw defender Dave Swannick make his league debut for Altrincham (89 mins), replacing Adams at left-back. The match ended with Altrincham gaining a deserved but not altogether impressive victory over a neat but punch-less Bradford side. It was one of those games where no player stood out and Thornley's receipt of the Man of the Match owed more to his scoring the winning goal than to his performance being markedly better than those of his colleagues.