Match Report

This was another controversial away game after last week's at Lancaster. Tonight saw an awful penalty decision and six bookings, one of which was a second yellow for Chris Adams. Altrincham started well and went ahead when Thornley was brought down in the box and got up to fire home from the spot (18 mins). Craney then hit the inside of the post before a left-wing cross fired in by Hatto hit Illingworth as he tried to take avoiding action. Referee Booth amazingly pointed to the spot for an alleged handball.

Hatto converted the penalty only for a defensive lapse to give Andy Wilson a second Emley goal just two minutes later. Altrincham were having the better of the second half before Adams was dismissed for a late tackle whilst trying not to give away a throw-in forty yards from his goal (64 mins). The game then turned petulant for a while but Emley rode out the remaining time in a second half largely devoid of flowing football and of shots at goal.

It was good to see Alty physio, Gary Thompson, back on the bench after his fall last Saturday but of the team itself, right-back Gary Scott was sidelined by the shoulder injury sustained against Bradford and Paul Taylor remained out of action. The 14-man squad for this game therefore more or less picked itself.

However, once again, Altrincham started with only one first-choice striker (Thornley) but ended the game with three front-men on the pitch amongst their remaining nine outfield players, following Adams's dismissal. Whether tactics or fitness are dictating the starting forward-line is unclear. Steve Hawes continued in midfield, whilst Ian Craney played further forward in support of Thornley. Emley were without Prendergast (suspended) and Norbury, whilst Bambrook was only fit enough for the bench.

Altrincham started brightly with a neat move in the first minute which ended with Murphy's header going narrowly wide of goal, off a defender, for a corner. This chance had come after Gallagher had slipped at the back but made a superb recovery to head clear. Illingworth, Thornley and Hawes then took the ball forward to feed Murphy who got himself onto the end of Ian Craney's cross.

Gary Hatto gave an early indication of the problems he would cause on the Emley left when he beat Illingworth but play soon swept to the other end where Thornley slipped as he received a pass, inside the box, from Murphy (4 mins). Altrincham continued to be the brighter side in the opening minutes though Andy Wilson got in a 25 yard shot for Emley, which Coburn saved well (9 mins). Emley then won their first corner when a fine ball forward by Coleano found Hatto, who won the flag-kick off Gallagher (11 mins). A minute or so after he had been treated for an injury, Emley's Thorpe left the game to be replaced by Hutson (14 mins). Emley were now getting themselves together and pressing forward, especially on the left flank, but Hawes's good ball for Thornley in the left corner of the Alty attack led to Craney securing a corner. This came to nothing but Emley then took advantage of a Sertori clearance which went to one of their men. The ball came across the edge of the Alty penalty area from the left but Day's dummy succeeded in confusing both the defence and his colleague Wilson, to his right, and neither Emley man got a touch on the ball, which was in a dangerous position for Altrincham. Having survived this scare, Hulme played a good ball forward which came through to Thornley.

As Rod went across the box he was brought down by Coleano as he attempted to go round the defender. It was a clear penalty. Thornley sent his spot-kick to his right, whilst Cuss dived the wrong way, to his right (18 mins).

Soon after the restart Kevin Hulme received a lecture for a heavy tackle on Andy Wilson, 40 yards from the Alty goal. Nazha's resulting shot spooned off a defender for a left-side corner to Emley. Following this, Edge's strong shot struck a defender and was cleared (21 mins). After the sides had traded some harmless midfield movements, Mr Booth strangely gave an Emley corner when Day quite clearly headed wide under a challenge from Gallagher (25 mins). Once this had been cleared, Hawes passed forward to Thornley, who fed Craney. Coming in from the left, Craney's shot-cum-cross beat Cuss but came out off the inside of the keeper's left upright to safety (27 mins).

Play then stopped for Maddox to be booked, apparently for an earlier tackle where play-on had been allowed to Emley's advantage. Referee Booth then made an outrageous decision which turned the game. Hatto's hard cross from the left struck Illingworth as the Alty man tried to take evasive action just inside his own penalty area and Mr Booth judged this to be deliberate handball. How Illingworth could possibly have avoided the ball was beyond most spectators' understanding. With Altrincham stunned, Hatto sent Coburn the wrong way from the spot (31 mins). worse was to follow, shortly afterwards, when a low ball into the Alty box, from the left was allowed to get through to Andy Wilson at the back post and he had little trouble in scoring from close range (33 mins). The game had been turned on its head inside two minutes.

Soon after this Day clattered Coburn, well after the keeper had saved, but escaped without a caution before Hulme, too, was felled. Alty coach Graham Heathcote berated his side for using long balls instead of measured passes before a Craney shot from a Hulme feed hit a prostrate Emley defender in their penalty area, who seemed to handle the ball at least as much as Illingworth had been adjudged to do earlier. However, Mr Booth gave nothing (38 mins) but a corner.

Paul David next prompted an Emley attack which ended with Ward firing well wide from 25 yards. Steve Hawes picked up his fourth yellow card of the season for a heavy tackle on Day near the centre-line (43 mins) and the resulting free-kick caused some consternation in the Alty box. The half drew to a close with the pacey Mark Wilson yet again using his arms rather than his footballing skills to try to get past an opponent, a ploy he adopted repeatedly throughout the game without hindrance. Just before the interval, Illingworth made a thrilling fifty yard advance up the right wing and, following the involvement of Craney and Hawes, the half ended as it had begun with a Murphy header at goal. This time Cuss saved well to send Altrincham in to the hanging rooms a goal behind after a half which had started well but in which Emley had increasingly asserted themselves following their two goals in quick succession.

The second period got off to a slow start and went on to be largely devoid of goalmouth incident throughout. Mark Wilson's foul on Adams gave Hawes an early free-kick, 35 yards out, but he curled the ball into Cuss's hands (48 mins). After a Hulme-Thornley move had been stifled short of goal, Adams shepherded Nazha and the ball out of play for an Alty goal-kick at the other end (50 mins). A good move from Altrincham ended with an Adams cross for Craney, who won a corner on the left side. The corner was cleared and soon Day ran at Coburn's goal from an offside position but justice was done when he shot weakly at the Alty keeper. Emley's Edge, who had a fine game, fed Andy Wilson and Adams's tackle on him, on the halfway line, earned him a yellow card (53 mins).

When Edge tripped Murphy shortly afterwards, Mr Booth chose to keep his notebook and card in his pocket and likewise took no action when Mark Wilson nearly took Thornley's feet off with a wild challenge to concede a free-kick. The Emley wall was barely ten feet rather than ten yards from Adams and his free-kick predictably cannoned into it without Mr Booth ordering a re-take. However, Alty soon won a corner but Cuss held it easily (55 mins). Andy Wilson and Nazha combined for the latter to shoot well over the bar from 30 yards as Jeremy Illingworth was withdrawn to give Dave Swannick his first sustained period of first-team action this season, after his one-minute debut on Saturday. Dave slotted in at right-back, with Gallagher going into midfield (56 mins). Craney had a shot blocked and then, a minute later, executed a fine turn and his resulting lob was well palmed out for a corner by Cuss, from just under his crossbar, to his left (58 mins).

A Murphy header at Cuss (63 mins) underlined that Altrincham were the better side at this stage and looked quite capable of at least getting a point out of the game- until the turning point arrived in the 64th minute.

Adams was pitted against Day on the Alty left touchline, about forty yards from Coburn's goal. The defender's first attempt at dealing with the bouncing ball was a half-header but as Adams attempted to finish the job he clearly caught the Emley man late. Having already been booked, there was only one course for the referee to take and Adams was shown a red card. Both Adams and Bernard Taylor were irate, at least partly at Day, who seemed to make a lot of the incident, but in reality Adams could not complain at his punishment. To be sent off in such an unthreatening part of the pitch, with defenders in place behind him, was disappointing to say the least.

Before this incident, Carl Furlong had been preparing to come on and he duly appeared a minute later when play stopped for Andy Wilson's handball in the Alty box, after he had grabbed the ball to claim what he wrongly believed was a free-kick. Furlong surprisingly replaced Craney, who had played well (65 mins). With Adams's dismissal, Dave Swannick switched to left-back and Gallagher resumed at right-back.

Edge won a corner for Emley but Andy Wilson put the ball over the bar before becoming entangled with Coburn as the game began to take on a more antagonistic tone.

For Alty, Furlong undid his neat turn with a poor shot from 25 yards before Emley's Nazha left the game to be replaced by Simeon Bambrook, who was returning from injury (70 mins). Andy Wilson got away with pushing Thornley by the back of the head as the rhythm of the game was further disrupted by another substitution, Poland coming on for Murphy, who still seems to be less than fully fit (72 mins). This change led to Thornley adopting a deeper role on the right wing, leaving Furlong and Poland up front. Andy Wilson got an overdue booking when he made a bad tackle on Maddox (74 mins) as Alty put in plenty of effort but were unable to create any real openings for an equaliser. Bambrook charged down a Coburn clearance with his hands and, although a free-kick resulted, no more action was taken by Mr Booth. However, the referee did take the name of Darren Day when the Emley man put the ball into the net to waste time long after the whistle had gone for offside (80 mins).

However, Steve Hawes was lucky to escape a second yellow when he clattered Wood; it was probably only the fact that play continued to Emley's advantage that saved the Alty captain from anything more than a few words at the next break in play (81 mins). Play was becoming increasingly scrappy and unfriendly, with Furlong the next victim , from Paul David's lunge. When Alty did get forward their final ball was generally disappointing. After Edge had beaten Maddox and fed Andy Wilson the Emley player comically mis-kicked the ball straight to Maddox on the edge of the Alty box. Mark Sertori was by now at the attacking end of the Alty side but when Paul David had his arms round him in midfield, the Alty centre-back was annoyed to find the referee giving the free-kick to his opponent. The closing stages brought little joy for Altrincham and probably the only plus from this period was that Swannick was able to show some neat touches at the back in his first sustained spell in the team this season.

Elsewhere , however, the pattern of free-kicks continued when Hawes was tripped by Day, who committed more fouls than most, but Alty's last chance of a point went with the resulting free-kick, taken by Thornley from just outside the box. Though struck firmly over the wall, Thornley's shot was held well by Cuss under the bar.

The second half had not been a pleasing spectacle, with too many fouls, few movements of note and inconsistent application of the referee's cards. Our games with Emley are rarely pleasing spectacles and this was no exception. However, the real damage to Altrincham's cause had been done, firstly, by the referee's dubious penalty decision in the first half and then by Adams's rash tackle in the second period.

The Robins, however, still look short of quality in the final third of the pitch, with the exception of Thornley. The impending suspensions of Furlong and Adams, together with the injuries to Taylor and Scott threaten to stretch the small Alty squad to the limits but a trip to Burscough on Saturday is an opportunity to get back on the winning road.