Match Report

This was Altrincham's first league match for three and a half weeks. Their opponents, though 18th in the table had gone unbeaten in their last six matches in all competitions and, of late, had been showing much improvement on their early season form.

With their biggest match of the season looming on Tuesday night at Lancaster, Altrincham served up their worst performance of the campaign and lost 3-1 to a resurgent Frickley. As in last year's fixture the Yorkshire side hit three goals in the first 26 minutes but on this occasion there was no reply from the Robins till late in the game. Collins netted the opener from close range after 12 minutes when he was left unmarked. Coburn then seemed to be fouled as he dropped a high ball but play continued and Myers scored well with a low shot from the edge of the box (24 mins).

Shortly after the restart Alty coach Graham Heathcote was sent from the dug-out after a protracted argument with the referee concerning the second goal. Soon afterwards, Frickley's third arrived following a throw-in, with Collins nodding home from close range (26 mins). Altrincham showed little cohesion or spark until the closing quarter of an hour when Sertori moved forward to beef up the attack. A consolation goal from a header by Hulme arrived after 78 minutes.

Despite an injury picked up when playing for the UniBond XI last Monday, Alty captain Steve Hawes started, as did Kevin Hulme who was also a doubtful starter. However, injured midfielder Jason Gallagher was absent from the side as he sees a specialist this week and may need a groin operation. Alty started with Lee Poland alongside Rod Thornley. On the bench there was a first outing for recent signing, midfielder Leon Smith from Stevenage Borough. Based in the north-west, Smith had previously been at Morecambe, where he had played for the first team. Frickley gave a debut to Steve Oleksewycz, a loaned striker from Halifax Town, as Carl Fothergill was reduced to the bench, presumably through injury.

Altrincham were sporting, for the first time, their new all-orange kit and, apart from the floodlights, this was about the only thing which lit up the early moments of this game on a dismal afternoon. Following a lunge by Murphy a free-kick in the home side's half by Price came to Collins but his thirty yarder was comfortably over the bar of Coburn's goal (3 mins). Play continued with Frickley beginning to look the more positive side. Thornley looked the most lively of the visitors and his running set up a half chance for Murphy, which he lofted well over the bar from the edge of the Frickley box (7 mins). The opening goal came when Oleksewycz crossed from the left and the ball was only half-cleared to Myers on the right. He played it on to Price whose cross seemed to get a deflection off Evans in the Alty box as it entered the area, diagonally, from the right side of the pitch. It landed comfortably for the incoming and totally unmarked Collins to knock it home from close range (12 mins).

Altrincham were struggling to string their passes together and were getting no change whatsoever from the Frickley centre-backs. Every ball in the air was being won by the home side and Poland and Thornley were consistently eased off the ball when they did attempt to go forward. After Steve Hawes had lost the ball in midfield, Oleksewycz drove a rising shot just over the bar (19 mins). However, Frickley should have scored a second goal a moment later when Myers found Lewis, to his left, and completely unmarked. The former Northwich man opted to volley, when he might have done better to control the ball and advance on goal. The volleyed shot went well over the crossbar (20 mins). The lacklustre Alty side made some unsuccessful attempts to get forward before a routine free-kick played into Coburn's box by Collins, from some 35 yards out, saw the Alty keeper come to collect the ball in the air. Stuart got the ball, then dropped it as he appeared to be jostled by an attacker. The loose ball ran to Myers. The Frickley man still had a lot to do but he steered a low shot expertly through the box to evade a defender on the line and enter the net off Coburn's right upright (24 mins). Coburn clearly felt he had been impeded by a Frickley arm and he seemed to have quite a plausible case to argue. However, the goal stood.

Play resumed, but within seconds, Mr Margetson had stopped the action to come over and talk to the Altrincham coach, Graham Heathcote, who was still protesting about the award of the goal. A heated exchange took place but eventually, it seemed that the affair was over. However, Alty Manager Bernard Taylor then added his voice to the complaints and this led to Graham renewing his argument with the official. Mr Margetson eventually brandished a yellow card and sent the Altrincham coach away from the touchline and into the terracing behind the dug-out (25 mins). Things immediately got worse for Altrincham. A long throw from the right by Price, some 20 yards from goal found its way via a flick-on to the back post where, once again, the Alty defence had parted to allow Collins a free header into the net from almost the same spot from which the first goal had been scored (26 mins).

In the fixture at Westfield Lane last season, Frickley netted three in the first 25 minutes but, unlike on that occasion, Altrincham failed to respond this time. Just when it seemed things could not get worse for Graham Heathcote, play had to be stopped to allow rapid medical attention from the two physios to Graham's mother, Jean, who had been watching the game from the far side of the pitch and had been struck in the face by the ball. Although Jean needed prolonged treatment it is good to report that she recovered sufficiently to walk, with assistance, to the dressing rooms and returned to Altrincham on the team bus after the match. Graham was summoned to the scene of the accident and was therefore unable to impart his tactical advice to the team until the second half.

Altrincham began to try to recover something from the wreckage of the afternoon but their efforts still produced no openings in a resolute Frickley back-line. Indeed, they enjoyed some good fortune when Maddox committed a bad lunging foul on Oleksewycz, who creditably did not make a meal of the offence, and the Alty centre-back evaded a booking near the half-way line. Ian Craney got a semblance of a shot at goal but it was well wide and summed up Altrincham's performance up to this point (37 mins). At the other end, Andy Evans, rumoured to be joining Scarborough next week, fed Collins who shot narrowly wide of Coburn's left post (42 mins). Even the usually dependable Coburn was having an unhappy afternoon as his kicked clearance went straight to an opponent but the situation was saved by an offside flag. Altrincham almost got a goal before the break but it was from the head of Frickley's Jones rather than from their own efforts. The Frickley defender forced Kearney to make a fine finger tip save with a misjudged back header. Then, just before the interval Ian Craney unleashed the first Altrincham attempt to be really worthy of the name "shot", when his well-struck effort from just outside the box was saved comfortably by Kearney.

The whistle then blew on a half which Altrincham may wish to forget. The entire side seemed to be well below par. The Frickley defence had consistently managed to shepherd Thornley into dead ends, though Rod was one of the few Alty players who seemed to be making an above average effort. Poland was eased off the ball whenever he tried to go forward and the midfield was creating very little. At the back, two of the three goals had come from woeful defending, with the third goal being a harsh decision when Coburn had seemed to be impeded. Whether this lacklustre performance had something to do with next Tuesday's match in the FA Cup at Lancaster was hard to tell. Alternatively, it may have been that the 3rd-placed team in the league did not expect such commitment and skill from their 18th-placed opposition. With Graham Heathcote removed from the fray, to add to their woes, things did not look good for the second half.

Graham Heathcote did appear for the second half, but in his imposed exile behind the perimeter wall. Murphy was soon the victim of a foul tackle and though Altrincham enjoyed the possession in the opening minutes, it was Frickley who won the first corner of the half, conceded by Maddox (50 mins). Coburn half came for the ball, then retreated, but made a superb save from Jones's goal-bound attempt as he back-pedalled and tipped the ball out for a corner (51 mins). After this had come to nothing, Leon Smith came on to make his debut for Altrincham in the most trying of circumstances (53 mins). Lee Poland was the man replaced by Smith.

This led to Hulme, who had spent much of the first half in a very deep position almost in the back four, to move up front alongside Thornley, with Smith joining Hawes in central midfield. Smith soon showed a nice touch but it was not until just before the hour that Altrincham put together a decent passing move. Hawes, Murphy, Smith, Adams and Thornley were all involved before Adams's cross was fielded by Kearney as it came over from the Alty left (59 mins). A bad back pass from Maddox almost let in Evans but he was closed down by the defence. Scott Collins now came on for Graham Lewis for Frickley (64 mins) but Altrincham continued to enjoy the majority of the possession without creating any openings.

Rod Thornley then got into the box but Wordsworth dispossessed him skilfully (68 mins). Oleksewycz responded by feeding Myers, who shot wide from 30 yards. However, Altrincham then won only their second corner of the game but this was predictably headed clear. Altrincham won virtually nothing in the air in the offensive end of the pitch today. Altrincham almost scored after 71 minutes when Scott and Hulme combined to give Thornley a chance and though he connected well, Kearney saved magnificently from point blank range, to concede a corner. After this, the ball came to the other end and Coburn dashed out to his right, to near the corner flag. The keeper booted the ball clear but was promptly booked by Mr Margetson, presumably because it was judged that the ball had already gone out of play before he kicked it (74 mins). At the same time Dave Swannick entered the game to replace Ian Craney.

Mark Sertori now pushed forward as Scott moved to centre-back and Swannick slotted into the right-back berth. Carl Fothergill then came on in place of Oleksewycz (77 mins). Almost immediately, Altrincham looked more menacing. After Sertori had made a nuisance of himself in the Frickley defence, the ball came to Murphy on the left. His cross from just outside the left of the penalty area found Hulme, whose downward header from close range found the net (78 mins).

Any thoughts of a late retrieval of the earlier damage were to be dashed as Frickley stuck to their task and, indeed, once or twice threatened Alty on the break. After Brown had replaced Myers (83 mins), one of these break-aways saw Evans and Fothergill combine to lay on a shot for Scott Collins, but the substitute screwed his effort wide (86 mins). Altrincham continued to press forward but Frickley counter-attacked with Fothergill getting round Adams to the by-line before being closed down (87 mins). Thornley got in a half-hit shot from the edge of the box which Kearney fumbled but the keeper recovered possession before Hulme could pounce. Coburn then miskicked, not for the first time this afternoon, but Frickley's shot went wide. Alty's last effort came when Murphy shot wide after a Hulme pass.

No one in the Alty side can be said to have enhanced his reputation today. The only good news was that Lancaster had also lost, leaving Altrincham in third place but now 15 points behind Burton- albeit with five games in hand. The same players who have brought the Altrincham fans so much pleasure this season, with a good Cup run and a promising league position, had left the travelling supporters wondering why they had journeyed for two hours through Pennine fog to witness such a sub-standard performance. A vast improvement will be needed on Tuesday if a Second Round FA Cup match at home to Darlington is to come to pass- but those same fans (and hopefully many more besides) will nevertheless be at the Giant Axe to cheer them on.