Match Report

Matchday Sponsor	Matchball Sponsor
20/20 Research and CJM Transport Limited	Brian Green, Dave Hudson, Robinsons' Preservation

Darlington put in a professional performance to ease Alty out of the FA Cup despite a spirited performance from the Robins, especially after the interval. Thornley almost scored twice in the opening five minutes but Darlington went ahead after 21 minutes when a routine punt upfield was allowed to bounce on the edge of the Alty penalty area and neither Maddox and Scott could clear it before Chillingworth lifted it over the stranded Coburn. Before 3,302 spectators and after sustained pressure, Alty deservedly equalised with a fine header from Maddox from a free-kick on the right by-line by Hawes, which had been won by Carl Furlong (67 mins). But just four minutes later, another defensive lapse saw Maddox fail to head clear a left-wing cross from Clark and Wainwright came in behind him to head home. Thereafter, Darlington were reasonably comfortable as they played out time. Nevertheless, Altrincham can be proud of their performance both today and in the previous rounds as the Robins were the only survivors from our League to have reached this stage of the FA Cup this season. Mark Maddox's goal is pictured, left, by Alan Johnson, on whose web site you will find more excellent pictures of the game.

On a bright sunny afternoon, with the ground fuller than it had been for a Second Round Cup match at Moss Lane since 1992, (against Port Vale), Altrincham kicked off towards the 20/20 (Hale) End. They had two early chances to take the lead, both of which fell to Rod Thornley. However, before these chances arose, in an exciting opening, Darlington won a second-minute corner on their left, which was cleared. But then, at the other end, Heckingbottom and Collett got in a mix up over the defender's headed back-pass and both ended up chasing back towards their own goal as Thornley got onto the loose ball, just before it ran out of play near the keeper's right post. Unfortunately, the angle to the left of goal was too tight for Rod to find anything more than the side netting (3 mins). Play then switched to the Alty end and Wainwright got to the by-line but Coburn received his cross, from the visitors' right. After Collett had then cleared to Murphy, who was some 40 yards from goal, the ball came via Poland's shot-cum-pass to Thornley whose neat attempt to flick the ball past Collett sent the keeper the wrong way but he stopped it with his legs (4 mins).

End to end play continued with Alty captain Steve Hawes making an early impression whilst for Darlington, Mellanby looked sharp, especially for a man returning from a long absence, as he combined well with an unfamiliar partner, Dan Chillingworth. Play stopped briefly for Murphy to be asked to leave the field by referee, Mr Webb, for treatment to a head wound, but Danny soon returned to the contest (7 mins). Darlington now started to settle and to play the ball about neatly to feet as Altrincham were forced onto the back foot. A back pass from Swannick necessitated prompt action from Coburn to kick clear before Poland conceded a corner on the Darlo right. Though Darlington were beginning to impose themselves, Altrincham had the clearer openings. Thornley picked up the ball just inside his own half and span past a challenge to advance down the centre. Just as he neared the box, in the clear, his feet were taken from behind by Clark, who could consider himself a little fortunate only to see a yellow card from the referee for his cynical foul (15 mins). The free-kick, from 25 yards, was wasted as Sertori knocked the ball into the defensive wall. Then Murphy found himself in a good position but he hesitated long enough to lose his chance of a shot on goal (16 mins) as Alty continued to carve out the better chances, despite the early Darlington pressure.

Following a Darlo free-kick from their right, Maddox headed clear but Wainwright picked up the ball and shot, but well wide of goal (19 mins). However, disaster then struck for Alty as a routine punt from the back by Darlington was allowed to clear first Sertori as he challenged with an attacker in the air, and then Maddox at the centre of the Alty defence. Although Scott tried to save the day, he ended up on his back as Chillingworth lofted the loose ball over Coburn. The keeper was caught in no man's land as he had come, quite reasonably, for an expected back pass (21 mins). It was a soft goal to concede. Immediately from the restart Thornley gave away possession and Darlington won a corner as a consequence. However this was cleared and soon the occasionally rugged aspect of a side which has picked up 44 yellow and 4 red cards in 21 league matches this season was seen as Swannick came down to earth with a bump from a bad foul.

Hodgson was rightly booked for this (25 mins). A foul by Atkinson on Thornley followed and then Clark took out Scott near the by-line, but was not penalised, which was perhaps a judicious decision by the referee as the player had already been booked. However, it would be wrong to say that Darlington were over-physical in the game as a whole. Kevin Hulme, who had started in a deep position for Alty, was now pushing further forward in search of an equaliser. However, Hodgson and Mellanby soon combined neatly to get in a shot which Coburn kept out well and then from the rebound, the follow-up shot was deflected onto the outside of his right upright for a corner (31 mins). Another foul on Thornley stopped the next attack by Alty at source. Soon, however, Thornley nearly took advantage as Heckingbottom dallied with the ball but it ran safely to the keeper in the end. A good pass from Poland gave Murphy a sight of goal but, once again, Murphy delayed too long to get in a shot. With Hawes working hard in midfield, Alty were now giving as good as they got but their attacks tended not to have the support in numbers that their opponents were able to muster when they went forward.

However, Poland soon won a corner when an attempted left wing cross was blocked. The corner was cleared and then Alty had to see off a threat from Mellanby and Chillingworth's combination work. After this had been repulsed, Mellanby closed down Coburn as he had the ball at his feet. The Alty keeper chose to dribble his way round the attacker and got away with it. Shortly afterwards Coburn also had to come out of his area to head clear a through ball (38 mins).

After Brumwell had fouled Hulme near half way, Scott's free-kick from near the touchline on the Alty right almost found Hulme, after Maddox had headed it on. Altrincham continued to press but from the next move, Thornley was offside. (41 mins). However, the Mellanby-Chillingworth combination continued to threaten for the visitors and a neat shot on the fall by the latter produced a corner, which Coburn caught well. Hawes prompted a reply with a ball forward to Craney, who relayed it to Hulme, on the right. His cross ended in Collett's hands but the Alty man went down and, after a stoppage for treatment, had to leave the game with what looked like a hamstring injury (41 mins). Play continued with Alty a man short but less than a minute before the break, Alty restored parity by bringing on Anthony Hargreaves- the fact that a young player with a broken nose, acquired in last Tuesday's game, had to replace the injured Hulme underlined the small size of the Altrincham squad these days. Hargreaves slotted in on the right of midfield as the entertaining half ended with the visitors one-up.

Though the sun was shining brightly and it was still only just after 2pm, the floodlights were put on for the second half. With Hulme off the field, Craney was now playing more centrally, as Hargreaves took the right midfield position. Altrincham started well but it was Chillingworth who got in the first meaningful shot of the half, with a 25 yarder narrowly over the bar, though Coburn had it covered (50 mins). Alty then won a corner off Brightwell following a Hawes free-kick from 35 yards out. Strangely, it was Rod Thornley who took this and other right-sided corners for Alty in this half, in preference to Hawes. Another feature of Thornley's play today was the consistency with which he won aerial flick-ons against a Third Division defence. Murphy, who had had a fairly quiet first period now came more into the game, as did Ian Craney. Altrincham continued to press, as Craney had a shot blocked on the edge of the box (54 mins).

But Chillingworth and Wainwright then combined well before Murphy emerged from defence with the ball and surged forward. He found Poland but the striker was dispossessed by Clark to end what had been a good counter-attack, but a corner was won, followed by a second one, won by Hargreaves on the Alty right. From Poland's second flag-kick, Maddox clearly bundled both keeper and ball into the net and the effort was rightly ruled out by the referee (56 mins). A bad tackle on Craney in the centre-circle led to a stoppage before Scott was pulled up for a foul in the visitors' half (58 mins). Hawes, Craney, Swannick and Murphy were all involved in forward movements till a Darlo free-kick ended the threat. An "injury" stoppage engineered by the visitors to allow a player to change one of his boots held up play before Maddox conceded a corner on the Darlo left as he challenged with Chillingworth.

Altrincham now replaced Poland with Carl Furlong, who had not played any sort of match since suffering a ligament injury at Witton on 23rd October (65 mins). His impact was almost immediate, for he turned neatly on the right edge of the box and was fouled by Clark to win a free-kick between the edge of the box and the right corner-flag. Hawes took this and the incoming Maddox overcame Chillingworth's aerial challenge and directed a firm header past Collett as he arrived in the centre of the box to give Altrincham a reward for their second-half pressing (67 mins). According to joint Robins' Review editor Terry Rowley, this was only the fifth goal of Altrincham's senior professional's 174-match club career! His eventful day was not yet over, however. Following the restart, Wainwright wriggled past Swannick on the Alty left but overhit his cross.

The Darlo number 28 was not, however, to be denied for long. An aerial cross from Clark, on the Darlo left, seemed to be covered by Maddox on the outer fringes of the Alty box in a central position, but he only got a gentle touch on the ball with his head and the incoming Wainwright arrived behind the Alty centre-back to plant a firm header past Coburn (71 mins). The keeper nevertheless got a hand to the ball, to push it onto the underside of the bar but the Quakers had restored their lead. It was Wainwright's first-ever headed goal, according to subsequent press reports. This goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of Altrincham. Chillingworth now gave way to Kirk Jackson, the former Worksop Town striker (74 mins). Hawes then tried to prompt a reply from Alty but Furlong lost his footing (75 mins). Jackson soon took over where Chillingworth had left off in showing a good understanding with Mellanby up front. Darlington were now imposing themselves on the match. As play stopped for a foul on Furlong, Maddison replaced Hodgson for the visitors (82 mins) and keeper Collett attempted to waste time by feigning not to know the spot from which to take a free-kick. The excellent referee pointedly stopped his watch to cut short these antics.

Alty's last throw of the dice saw the debut of centre-back Paul Taylor in place of Hargreaves. This was a sensible move to allow Sertori to move forward but it was also somewhat unusual in that Hargreaves had only come on himself as a substitute just before half-time and because the new player, Taylor, had not kicked a ball in anger this season after being injured in pre-season, following his move from Hyde United. However, with a broken nose, Hargreaves could not have been playing with much comfort (84 mins). Darlington were now showing their professionalism by keeping possession well and winding the game down to its conclusion. The fourth official showed a "5 minutes to go" board and the game continued in the control of the visitors.

As the seconds ticked away a big shout for handball by Clark in the Darlington penalty area went up but whether this was justified was difficult to see. Anyway, Mr Webb was not impressed and Alty's fine cup run ended, as at this stage in 1983, with a Second Round defeat to a deserving Darlington side, whom we wish good luck in the next round and beyond. Steve Hawes was a merited Alty Man of the Match but the Altrincham captain will now have to turn towards motivating his team for the "six-pointer" at Burton Albion next Saturday. Indeed, apart from the gate-money and TV revenue gained today, another pleasing bit of news on this otherwise disappointing day was that UniBond Premier leaders Burton Albion had lost at Emley. Though defeated, Altrincham had given a good account of themselves in a game whose highlights were broadcast nationally and, despite Mark Lawrenson's dismissive comments on Match of the Day, it was an entertaining game. Had they converted one of their early chances or been able to hold on at 1-1 for longer than four minutes, things might have been so much different for Altrincham!