Match Report

This was the first ever competitive match between these two local neighbours. Woodley is a friendly club with a ground whose gently sloping pitch has recently been upgraded and which will shortly be graced by a new stand, the foundations of which are currently being laid.

In a fairly even first half, Alty took the lead after 31 minutes through Lee Poland, then Woodley missed a good chance to equalise just before the interval. However, Anthony Hargreaves doubled the visitors' lead on the stroke of half-time. Then, three goals inside five minutes at the start of the second period decided the game. Watson made it 2-1 after 30 seconds of the second period only for two goals from Steve Finney to make it 4-1 (50 mins). Poland scored three more (60,72,87 mins) with Ian Craney also getting on the score sheet (83 mins).

Altrincham arrived with a number of players missing through injury- Taylor, Furlong, Hulme and Gallagher. Rod Thornley and Stuart Coburn were rested. So the starting line-up included Lee Poland, Dave Swannick and, starting first-team games for the first time, Anthony Hargreaves and former Hyde keeper, Kurt Edginton. However, the big surprise was the appearance on the bench of last season's Altrincham top scorer, Steve Finney. Steve had played at Moss Lane in 2000-01 whilst on loan from Chester City but had not been at Altrincham since the end of last season, although the Robins had retained his UniBond player registration.

For their part, Woodley had been having an indifferent run recently after a fine start to the season had taken them to the higher reaches of the NW Counties Division One, two rungs down the pyramid from the UniBond Premier League.

The game started in free-flowing fashion and continued in that vein for most of the ensuing ninety minutes, with not a single injury stoppage. The first action saw Edginton come out of his goal smartly to kick clear from Garfield before Murphy got in a shot across goal, at the other end, from the right (2 mins). Hargreaves and Craney then combined well but Murphy slipped in the box on the greasy surface as he went to meet the cross which came in from the left (3 mins). However, Woodley were giving as good as they got and a fine passing move by them ended with Blow's firm shot being well held by Edginton (9 mins). The entertaining play continued as Edginton saved again, from Hooper (13 mins) following an error by Sertori at the by-line. Woodley soon won a corner as they, like Altrincham, played a neat passing style of game.

Danger came for Woodley when Hargreaves charged down an attempted clearance by their keeper, Morris, but the ball rebounded to safety (26 mins). On the half-hour Maddox and Murphy combined to set up Poland but the striker mishit his shot from Murphy's headed pass. But, almost immediately, Hargreaves got the ball to Murphy. Danny's cross was half cleared back to Craney whose shot was half blocked but fell for Lee Poland. This time the striker slid the ball home, low into the net (31 mins). Altrincham then soon won a corner, taken by Dave Swannick rather than usual corner taker Steve Hawes but this was cleared. Woodley responded to going behind with a shot by O'Connell, which was blocked before a follow-up shot by Billington from the rebound hit Sertori some 15 yards from goal (36 mins).

After going ahead Altrincham were beginning to have the better of things but Woodley spurned a great chance to equalise. Andy Watson was found, some 12 yards out, totally unmarked by a pass from the right from Hooper. The Woodley man had too much time and spooned his left-foot shot wide, to the left of the goal (43 mins). That was to be the turning point, for Altrincham doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time. This second goal came from a fine move in which Craney fed Poland, to the left of goal. Poland's finely weighted pass set Hargreaves in on goal and the young Reserve drove the ball across the keeper from left to right to record his debut goal for the Altrincham first team.

At half-time Alty made a double swap, with Adams and Murphy retiring and Steve Finney and defender James Wilkinson coming on. Any thoughts that Altrincham were going to coast through the second half seem to have been banished when Watson atoned for his first-half miss with a blistering drive into Edginton's net after only thirty seconds or so of the second period. The goal came when a ball into the box from the right was met by Watson's unstoppable strike as he came in towards the back post (46 mins). However, Altrincham went straight up to the other end and with probably his first touch of the game, Steve Finney put himself on the score-sheet, finishing off a neat, low cross from the left by Poland (47 mins).

Amazingly, another Finney goal arrived just three minutes later from a build up involving Wilkinson and Craney, the latter playing a ball behind the defence to find Finney, who finished the chance well despite claims of off-side (50 mins). With Altrincham now 4-1 up, Mark Sertori was taken off to be rested for Saturday's FA Cup tie, his place being taken by Reserves' captain, Keith Mairs (54 mins). This led to Gary Scott moving from right-back to centre-back and Dave Swannick switching to Scott's position. This allowed Keith Mairs to replace Swannick in midfield.

Poland had the ball in the net again after 58 minutes, from a perceptive pass by Hawes but the whistle had already gone for a narrow off-side against the striker. Just two minutes later he repeated the act and this time the goal stood. The goal came direct from a throw-in on the Alty right which found Poland unmarked to the right of goal and he drilled the ball home, though keeper Morris got a hand to it (60 mins). The nearest that Woodley came to a reply was a blocked shot by O'Connell which Edginton did well to keep in play (70 mins) and then Wheeler headed over the bar from a free-kick from the Woodley right (71 mins). But any thoughts of a Woodley revival were soon stifled by Poland's hat-trick goal after 72 minutes.

A ball forward found the striker in the box and, once more, he drove the ball firmly into the net with his left foot, though once again the keeper got a hand to it. Before play could restart the linesman alerted the referee to comments made by Fitzpatrick, whom the referee then booked. The Woodley man had presumably thought the goal was off-side.

From a Hooper free-kick, Edginton made a fine save from a Wheeler header before the home side made a double substitution. Kneen and Dunoon replaced Norton and Blow (79 mins). Poland and then Hargreaves won successive Alty corners, taken by Hawes. Following the second, Craney drove the ball home with a low shot to which, once more, the keeper seemed to get a hand as it entered the net (83 mins). With the score now 7-1, Steve Hawes strode forward but shot just over the bar before Poland got his fourth. This eighth goal for Altrincham came from a pass by Scott to Poland, who turned well and shot home left-footed (87 mins).

With no goals in the first half-hour and only a 2-1 lead after 46 minutes, an eventual 8-1 win for Altrincham had seemed an unlikely outcome. Woodley had played some good, passing football in the first half and looked as if they would cause Altrincham some problems. The goal blast just after the interval exposed some gaps in their defence which Poland and his colleagues then ruthlessly exploited. Apart from Poland's excellent performance, the debutants Edginton, Hargreaves and Finney all played their parts well. Edginton's handling was clean and his kicking was impressive. Finney, as ever, took his chances well and at the back Gary Scott had a good game. Altrincham are now into the semi-finals of the Cheshire Senior Cup but with the likes of Crewe Alexandra still in the competition, their path to the final is not likely to be easy.