Match Report

This was the first-ever game between these sides and Altrincham's first match of any kind since 22nd December. They came into the game on a run of five successive replayed ties in the Trophy over the last three seasons. North Ferriby is a very pleasant commuter town for Hull and just behind the main stand runs the River Humber, with the Humber suspension bridge clearly visible a mile or two away. The ground itself, with a good clubhouse, is compact, with the Selby to York railway line running between the stand and the river estuary. The pitch has a slight slope across its full length and the surface was a little slippery after overnight rain.

Three defensive lapses cost Altrincham this Third Round Trophy tie in Humberside. In a disappointing first half they fell behind when a through ball was missed by Mark Sertori and Ferriby's Vill Powell got behind him to score (34 mins). In a very entertaining second half Lee Poland equalised early on when he hooked the ball home after Murphy's nod-down of a Taylor free-kick (48 mins).

Against the run of play North Ferriby went ahead again when a corner was nodded across his own goal by Maddox, and Ryan failed to clear at the back post, allowing Dewhurst to score for the hosts (64 mins). Poland then scored his second with a neat header (75 mins) before being immediately substituted, to the disbelief of the travelling supporters. A draw looked to be the outcome till Stuart Coburn failed to hold a low shot from Knight and the ball squirmed out of his hands over the line, with just four minutes remaining. One brighter note was the promising debut of Youth and Reserves' player Lee Thompson as a substitute for the final quarter of an hour.

Altrincham were without Jason Gallagher, Chris Adams and Carl Furlong, who are all still injured but also unexpectedly had to do without Kevin Hulme who was involved in a car crash yesterday and, though not injured, was unavailable. Also missing for some reason were two players who have appeared in the first-team recently; David Wills and Anthony Hargreaves. Both played last Wednesday for the Reserves. From that same Reserves' line-up of last week, centre-back Pat Claffey, midfielder Keith Mairs and striker Lee Thompson were all on the bench, along with Dave Swannick and Kurt Edginton. None of the five substitutes had started a league game this season. Alty played right-back Neil Ryan in central midfield whilst Gary Scott and Paul Taylor occupied the full-back positions. With Poland and Thornley up front, Alty played their customary 4-4-2 formation.

Then Craney, again, sent Poland in on goal but Sharp was alert and smothered the ball at the striker's feet (13 mins). The North Ferriby captain, Dewhurst, was soon in need of further treatment when he ducked into Thornley's boot as he tried to head a low ball (14 mins). After a weak shot by Powell had run easily to Coburn, Murphy was penalised for an accidental elbow as he rose for a ball (19 mins) as Altrincham and North Ferriby both seemed a little rusty after the bad weather lay-off.

Most of Alty's best action was coming along the left flank. In the absence of Gallagher and Hulme there was little outlet on the right, until Scott at last began to get forward from the back. After 22 minutes his good cross found Murphy but Fisher cleared well. The game went through a period of misplaced passes from both sides until Alty's best effort to date arose when Hawes's pass was relayed by Taylor to Poland. His low shot nearly crept in at Sharp's left post (30 mins). Maddox then stopped an advance by Knight and from the next attack Powell ran out of space as he got threateningly to the by-line to the right of goal. Soon, Powell was running at the defence again and this time he got in a shot which Coburn saved comfortably (32 mins). But then a routine ball through the middle of the Altrincham defence embarrassed Sertori, who completely failed to latch onto it, and Powell got behind him to run on and score past the exposed Coburn (34 mins). After the restart, Sharp thwarted Poland. Hawes then conceded a free-kick against Perrin but it was not until the 38th minute that Alty won their first corner through Hawes's efforts. This came to nothing as the sides proceeded to trade possession.

However, a fine diagonal ball forward from left midfield found Scott overlapping on the right and he, in turn, located Poland in the box. Lee's pass set Craney running to the by-line where he was clearly tripped but, unfortunately for Alty, the whistle had already gone for offside (41 mins). Altrincham were now playing with a bit more cohesion as the half drew to its conclusion. Ryan, Scott, Hawes, Craney and Poland all combined to feed Thornley who attempted to pirouette and shoot but in doing so completely missed the ball (42 mins). It was not to be one of Rod's more successful afternoons. After Coburn had won a free-kick when he was fouled catching the ball, Alty went to the other end and Murphy won the ball well in the air. Poland latched onto it and struck a fine low shot which Sharp saved well at the cost of a corner on the Altrincham right (43 mins). Ryan's corner went straight to Sharp. The half had got better as it neared the interval but, overall, it had seen a disappointing performance from Altrincham.

North Ferriby replaced Graham Botham by Wainman at the interval. Soon, Lowthorpe had tripped Murphy to concede a free-kick on the left. Paul Taylor's well directed free-kick found Danny Murphy at the back post and his downward header reached Lee Poland, who hooked the ball firmly into the net from close range for the equaliser (48 mins). Altrincham now took a grip of proceedings and when Poland fed Thornley, the striker went past Dewhurst only for the Ferriby captain to trip him. The referee only showed him a yellow card (50 mins). Ryan disappointingly put the free-kick straight into the defensive wall. Then Murphy put the ball in the net well after an offside whistle as the visitors seemed to be in control (51 mins). A good attack put together by Taylor, Murphy and Thornley ended with the ball in Sharp's hands, then Thornley got on the end of a lengthy punt by Coburn but again the danger was cleared. Murphy was then clipped after the ball had gone and went down injured but play continued for a good minute before a Ferriby player sportingly brought the ref's attention to the prostrate Murphy (56 mins). Next Scott overlapped up the right and his excellent low cross only just evaded Thornley in front of goal (58 mins).

Scott soon surged forward again and fed Thornley whose first effort was blocked but his second attempt was ballooned over the bar. Amidst all this pressure, North Ferriby broke away and won a corner on their left. From Fisher's flag-kick, the ball came off Maddox's head at the near post and went across the face of goal to beyond the back post. Ryan seemed to be in a position to clear but was unable to do so and Dewhurst stepped in to force the ball home from six yards, to the right of goal. The goal had clearly come against the run of play (64 mins).

Despite their setback Alty continued to press. Poland and Thornley combined well but the ball came back to Gary Scott who drove a fine shot just over the bar (67 mins). From another attack, goalkeeper Sharp dropped the ball, under pressure, but Poland's resulting shot was blocked and came to Murphy who contrived to hook the ball badly over the bar from close range. In the aftermath of this incident, Perrin was booked for protesting (69 mins). Paul Taylor then committed a dreadful and unnecessary foul on Powell when he steamed into the striker on the touchline, some 40 yards from goal. Taylor was lucky only to see yellow (70 mins).

Soon, a long free-kick by Coburn won Alty a corner at the other end. Following Ryan's kick, the ball was lost under a melee of players from which Sharp emerged with it in his hands. Craney then mishit a shot as Alty pressed for parity. Alty soon won a left-side corner and from Ryan's kick Lee Poland, unmarked, scored neatly with a close range header (75 mins). North Ferriby immediately replaced Fisher by David Botham and, to the disbelief of the Alty fans, the Robins took off their double goalscorer, Lee Poland (76 mins). Onto the field came Lee Thompson, the Altrincham Youth and Reserves player, who was making his first appearance in the first-team.

North Ferriby won a corner which was cleared before Danny Murphy was clattered into the advertising hoardings near half-way by Botham in only a slightly less reckless challenge than that by Taylor earlier in the game on Powell (78 mins). From a Coburn freekick, Murphy did well and fed Thompson. He held off a challenge impressively and got in an excellent cross from the left which yielded a corner (81 mins). Dave Swannick now replaced Murphy (83 mins) and the substitute went into midfield. Play was now end to end but the game looked to be heading to a replay when a shot from 20 yards by Knight looked to be a relatively comfortable challenge for Coburn as he dived low to save it. Sadly, the normally excellent keeper allowed the ball to squirm from his grasp and roll just over the line for North Ferriby's third goal (86 mins).

In the dying minutes Coburn himself went upfield when Alty won a corner and, indeed, got onto the loose ball and hooked it at goal, only for Sharp to hold it. With Coburn out of his goal, Powell attempted to lob the ball into the unguarded net from 45 yards out on the right wing but he was very wide with his effort (89 mins). Time then ran out for Altrincham and their cup horizons for 2001-2002 were reduced to the UniBond President's Cup and the Cheshire Senior Cup as they bowed out of the Trophy.

A draw would have been a fair result but Altrincham's defence lapses left them little room for complaint at their defeat. Gary Scott and Steve Hawes were probably the best of the Alty players on the day, though Lee Poland also looked lively up front until his surprise withdrawal. Despite their disappointment, Altrincham will wish their opponents good luck in the next round and beyond and in Vill Powell they look to have a very useful striker.