Match Report
ALTRINCHAM (1) 2 SCARBOROUGH (1) 1
played at 7.45pm, Tuesday 22 February, 2000.
SCORERS
Altrincham climbed four places to thirteenth in the league after this pulsating victory
at Moss Lane. With Coburn, Greygoose, Ellison, Burke, Crowe, Price, Maddox,
Landon and Power all ruled out because of either injury or suspension,
Altrincham started with two players making home debuts, goalkeeper Lance
Key, signed on loan from Northwich and forward Mick Morrell. Two others,
Keith Russell and Shaun Goodwin were playing their first home matches after
lengthy injuries.
Lance Key's sure handling and prodigious kicking
were a significant feature of the game and as early as the second minute
a punt from him put Leroy Chambers through but he was foiled by the Scarborough
keeper, Woods. However, on five minutes, Chambers was obstructed and the
resultant free-kick by Adams, taken from the right-hand side between corner
flag and goal, found skipper, Chris Timons unmarked and his powerful header
opened the scoring from twelve yards.
The away team could have equalised
after seven minutes when a clear header was put well wide. Scarborough
threatened down the left side where their pace was troubling the Altrincham
defence. But, on eight minutes, Chambers was again thwarted by the goalkeeper's
pounce onto a through ball. Five minutes later, Talbot beat the Scarborough
defence in the air and headed another Adams free-kick
goalwards. Though the keeper was beaten, a Scarborough defender cleared
off the line.
The former Altrincham favourite, Paul Ellender, miskicked
(14 mins) to allow the ball to cross the visitors' penalty area but Altrincham
were unable to capitalise. Indeed, the Scarborough defence remained vulnerable
throughout the match, belying its reputation as the meanest in the Conference
in recent weeks. Morrell's pace and speedy turns were one factor in unsettling
the defenders, but Chambers's determination was also important and a pleasing
sight to home fans after his lacklustre display against Welling.
Following a foul by Russell, a 30-yard shot
from the resultant free-kick brough a good save from Key. A rare mistake
by Goodwin forced Adams into a last-ditch tackle after Timons had been
caught out of position by the pacy Scarborough attack. On 21 minutes Scarborough
put a header narrowly over the bar, which is more than Altrincham right-back,
Simeon Hodson, achieved five minutes later.
With a 'Boro attack having
just broken down, Hodson inexplicably arched a looping header well over
Key's head and into the far corner from twelve yards. The normally dependable
and undemonstrative Hodson buried his head in his hands. Things got worse
on 28 minutes when Timons dived in at a flying Scarborough player and was
justifiably booked. After a long-range shot from Chambers on 30 minutes,
a foul on Morrell led to a free-kick by Hodson (32 mins) which induced
an error by Woods and a resultant bout of head tennis before the ball ended
up in the keeper's arms.
On 34 minutes, Hodson made up for his own goal
with an important last-man clearance when he was obliged to move across
to the left to cover for the beaten Adams. The Altrincham goal had a major
escape on 35 minutes when Scarborough's Gareth Williams was clean through
but completely failed to control the ball with only Key to beat. End to
end play continued and culminated in the 43rd minute in an error by Gallagher
near the half-way line but the resultant danger was cleared.
Chambers then
attempted to wrestle past the Scarborough defence as the fourth official
reached for the '1 minute to play' card. In that minute, Key saved superbly
from a firm Scarborough header after Timons had been caught out of position.
In the melee, Talbot was injured but he hobbled on, after treatment, until
the interval.
Half-time brought bad news, as Gallagher failed to reappear and Talbot resumed but was hobbling badly. Lovelock replaced Gallagher and on 49 minutes Kielty came on for Talbot. Hawes moved to right back and Hodson to the right-hand centre-back position, alongside Timons.
Despite the changes, Altrincham continued to press and Scarborough's fortunes took a turn for the worse when Marvin Harriott hobbled off to be replaced by Renison on 55 minutes. Key's one mistake, a mis-punch (57 mins) led to a corner as Scarborough applied some pressure, with Ellender heading wide (58 mins). A sudden very heavy rain shower then started, coinciding with a marked rise in Keith Russell's game. He had had a solid first half but came to life in the last half-hour with a number of threatening runs down the left wing.
From one of these, Lovelock shot wide (63 mins) and then a tame header by Chambers was saved by Woods (65 mins). Scarborough's Jones volleyed over after a defensive scramble by Altrincham (66 mins) before excellent work by Hawes led to a low cross from the left which Lovelock swept in superbly from just outside the penalty area, into the keeper's left hand corner of the Chequer's End goal.
Left: Action from the match.
Although Scarborough were far from dead, Altrincham largely dominated the latter stages of the game with a number of sweeping moves.
On 78 minutes Craig Skelton replaced Mike Morrell who appeared to have taken a knock. A minute later Hodson's night was completed when he was booked for a less than clear-cut foul in the Scarborough half. The visitors contined to threaten from time to time but Altrincham also had their moments, including a long range shot from Hawes, deflected for a corner (84 mins). With two minutes to go an error by Kielty let in the Frenchman, Alkhatib but Key saved.
Although Chris Timons had a good game and was awarded the man of the match prize, he was perhaps a little fortunate to receive it ahead of Steven Hawes, Lance Key or Danny Adams. Indeed, the whole team played well.