Match Report

BACKGROUND

Altrincham's unsuccessful run continued with this home defeat which means they have just one win from their last ten league games since New Year's Day. Weather conditions were bad, especially when heavy, lashing rain was added to the already strong, gusty wind midway through the first half.

Altrincham failed to make the most of the wind advantage in the first half although they went ahead when Finney finished off a free-kick from Hawes with a well-placed header after 13 minutes. However, just three minutes later Coburn tripped up Whittaker when the Brig striker appeared to be heading nowhere, wide to the right of goal. There were few complaints when the ref awarded a penalty and Phil Robinson converted, though Coburn got close to it (16 mins).

The visitors then enjoyed a good spell before equilibrium was restored and the half ended at 1-1. Following a melee of players on the Popular Side touchline, just inside the Altrincham half, Bamber Bridge were awarded a free-kick. This was headed past Coburn from close range by McCann (56 mins). Altrincham went on to dominate the rest of the match as Bamber Bridge offered very little other than hopeful wind-assisted punts for the final half-hour. Alty thought they had equalised through Scheuber just after the hour mark but Murphy was adjudged to be offside. However, the Robins just could not score and, once more, the lack of an out-and-out striker was evident.

Mark Ward fielded another very young side, with the experience of Gallagher, Scott and Landon missing from his selected fourteen. Apart from Ward himself, surprisingly starting this game despite his awaiting a cartilage operation, only Mark Maddox remained of the veterans. Whether all of the missing players were injured or whether some were simply omitted is not clear. Altrincham played with a back four, with Finney up front, supplemented by Murphy and Craney concentrating on making progress along the flanks.

Mark Ward gave Neil Wakefield a place on the bench but he was not to make his league debut in this match. Bamber Bridge included new men Karl Robinson, from Marine and Andy Moran, on-loan from Hereford, in their starting line-up. Moran and Whittaker played up-front in a 4-4-2 formation. Brig's starting line-up showed five changes of personnel since our game at the Irongate; the Robins's side showed seven changes in the starting eleven. For Alty's Terry Bowker it was a match against a team for whom he had himself played once earlier this season, before injury led to his return to Moss Lane.

In front of a small crowd, Altrincham changed ends to play with the wind behind them, attacking the Golf Road End. Much of the early play took place down the Alty right, the side towards which the diagonal wind was also blowing. After the customary early mutual probings by each side of their opponent's defences, the first incident of note arose when a neat ball from Ward went forward to Craney. As the young midfielder turned past his man he was felled just outside the box in a central position (7 mins). Mark Ward hit the resulting free-kick superbly and produced a fine save, low to his right, from Billy Stewart, the former Southport keeper and Brig's captain. The keeper's parry came to Finney whose close-range reaction shot was also well saved by the Stewart (8 mins).

The strong wind was causing problems with Altrincham overhitting forward passes with some regularity. However, Altrincham continued their good start when Finney got to the left by-line and set up Craney whose blast hit a defender and looped over the bar for a corner on the Alty right (10 mins). Shortly after this, Steve Finney was crudely fouled, about 40 yards from goal, as he was about to get past Phil Robinson. After a stoppage for treatment to Finney and for Robinson to be shown a merited yellow card, Mark Ward lined up the free-kick.

He angled the ball slightly to the right from a fairly central position where it was knocked left by an Altrincham head (Scheuber's?) to Finney, near the back post. Extracting his just desserts for the foul on him which had started this move, Finney headed the ball home through a crowded goal-line (13 mins). Altrincham nearly added to this immediately. Ward and Hawes, who combined well in the first half, got the ball to Porter. He and Murphy exchanged passes in the left corner and as Porter advanced on goal the left-back shot firmly towards Stewart's right upright. The keeper got down well to save (15 mins).

Just as it looked as if Altrincham were cruising, they gave away a penalty out of the blue. Mark Ward came off second best from a 50-50 situation with Moran near the centre-circle. Moran, who looked the pick of the Bridge side, fed the ball into the box where Whittaker pursued it across the face of the advancing Coburn. As Whittaker headed from towards the by-line to the right of goal, Coburn dived at his feet and inexplicably tripped up the Bridge striker with his hands to concede a needless penalty. This was the tenth penalty conceded in the last 23 league games and the twelfth in all competitions since 8 October. Although Coburn guessed correctly, he did not repeat his feat at the Irongate when he saved a Brig penalty from Aspinall, which he had conceded. The shot from Phil Robinson was firm and low and entered the net just inside the keeper's right-hand post to give the visitors undeserved parity (16 mins).

However, as so often happens, the equaliser gave the visitors a fillip as Altrincham twice in quick succession overhit balls forward which ended up as goal-kicks for Stewart. Altrincham's defence then parted down the centre again to allow Whittaker a free shot at Coburn but this time the keeper saved and Ryan could not capitalise on the rebound. In fact Ryan's miss was a bad one, from ten yards, as he struck the ball wide of the target beyond Coburn's right post (19 mins).

Craney, Hawes and Ward, however, soon restored some calm to the home side and following a throw, Scheuber put in a good shot from just outside the penalty area, to the right of centre, which went just over the crossbar (22 mins). Nevertheless, Moran was doing well for the Bridge and Bowker had to be alert to clear his ball into the Alty area. Following a foul on Bowker in the centre-circle, Ward's free-kick came to Craney who overhit his intended pass for Murphy (25 mins). Adam Farley and then Hawes gave Bridge free-kicks but the worst that came of these was a corner won by Whittaker off Porter on the right. From this Woodward's header was deflected for a second corner which was cleared to Ward, who was flattened by Lee Pryers but received no free-kick.

A deflected cross from Moran was well caught by Coburn and his clearance led to a wild shot from Finney, wide of the target, from a Scheuber lay-off. Hawes was soon equally wayward from a Ward headed pass (29 mins). After Bowker had been caught holding an opponent, Brig's Andy Farley put in a free-kick which curled so wide that it nearly hit the corner flag. Altrincham's anxiety was such that even the experienced Ward was affected. Trying to take a free-kick in the centre of the pitch quickly, he was twice illegally hampered by Bridge players who failed to retreat and indeed stood immediately in front of the ball. At the third attempt, in his haste, Ward hit the ball to a Bridge player (32 mins).

Murphy managed to get to the by-line but could not capitalise (34 mins) before, at the other end, Moran and Karl Robinson conspired to feed Ryan inside the Altrincham box. However, Ryan clearly controlled the ball with his hand and was penalised (35 mins). Altrincham continued to struggle to overcome the difficult wind, with a fine ball from Hawes which the keeper got to just before Murphy, being an exception (36 mins). Craney also managed to get in a shot, off balance, after riding two challenges well, but Stewart saved comfortably. When Altrincham did win a corner, their desire to take a short and quick one ended with Hawes centring into the penalty area before any of his colleagues had got into threatening positions (40 mins). A free-kick was awarded when Maddox was dubiously adjudged to have fouled Ryan. Coburn flapped at Pates's free-kick and Moran got in a shot, which was blocked.

By now the rain was sweeping across Moss Lane. As the half drew to a close Ward fed Farley but the young defender's cross from the right was so high that it bounced on the roof of the Golf Road End.

Altrincham nearly suffered an early reverse when a Stewart punt evaded the central defence and left Moran through on goal. The on-loan striker from Hereford United lifted the ball narrowly over the crossbar (46 mins). However, Altrincham also came close in the 49th minute when an excellently threaded ball from Craney got to Murphy as he moved into the box. Murphy's shot hit the keeper and went for a corner, from which Scheuber directed a clear header wide. Mark Ward, who is nursing a cartilage injury, gave way to Glendenning in midfield (51 mins), opting to bring on the young centre-back rather than the midfielder amongst his subs, Keith Mairs (51 mins). The turning point of the game came after Whittaker got the better of Bowker just inside the Alty half, on the visitors' right.

The Bridge man was then halted by a foul, followed by a melee of players, which included Maddox, who appeared to push an opponent aside. When order was restored, Mr Rawcliffe took aside three players; Maddox and Porter of Altrincham and one of the visitors. All three appeared to be booked (55 mins). Just as in the first half, Alty's goal had punished a foul, so too now a free-kick led directly to a goal. The free-kick, taken from near the touchline some 35 to 40 yards from goal, was helped on its way by McCann who rose unimpeded in the centre of the Robins' penalty area. The ball continued its trajectory into the net, to Coburn's right (56 mins). When play resumed Altrincham were yet again too keen to take a free-kick quickly and lost possession (57 mins).

After a spell of unproductive work by Altrincham along the left-side, Danny Murphy produced a bit more incision when he cut in from the left and fed Ian Craney, who was tripped on the front edge of the box, left of goal (61 mins). Glendenning knocked the free-kick weakly into the foot of the wall. Altrincham then thought they had equalised when Scheuber gained possession from Pryers and passed to Murphy by the back post. The ball came back off Murphy to Scheuber, who drove it into the net (63 mins). However, offside was given, presumably against Murphy.

By now Bamber Bridge were showing little positive intent; punts from Stewart were their most dangerous stratagem and these nearly paid off when Whittaker got behind Maddox and Coburn had to rush out to save the day. Brig now replaced Pryers by Simon Burton (65 mins) before Woodward was caught pulling at Murphy's shirt. Hawes's free-kick from the right found Finney's head but, under pressure, he could only knock it out for a goal-kick. A rare Bamber foray saw Andy Farley feed Karl Robinson. The former Marine player turned well but shot high and wide. After another punt from Stewart went straight to his opposite number Coburn, Altrincham made progress down the left which was ended by a defensive hoof into the adjacent allotments. It was not cultured stuff at this stage (71 mins).

The visitors made another change with Lee Westwood, who is a work experience lad on loan from Crewe, replacing Ryan (73 mins). Within two minutes Westwood had been booked for his role in a foul on Craney, with Mr Rawcliffe pointing clearly to the location of an earlier transgression to justify his action (75 mins). Alty yet again wasted the set-piece, Glendenning trying to execute a clever chip onto which he seemingly planned to run for a return pass. Unfortunately, his chip just went to an opponent.

When Hawes was knocked over a minute later, Glendenning once more exercised his monopoly on set pieces and again drove it into the wall. Murphy, however, soon won a corner on the right as Altrincham enjoyed almost constant possession. Hawes's corner evaded everyone's head; some variation in the flat trajectory of his corners would have been welcome. Scheuber, for example, can curl a corner kick and some alternation of this ploy with Hawes's corners might have helped. The rugged Westwood clearly pushed Finney but the ref discreetly chose to ignore it as otherwise the youngster's stay on the pitch could have been curtailed after only five minutes.

The rain was still lashing down as Altrincham applied pressure without getting into clear goalscoring positions; a situation all too familiar in recent weeks. Bamber Bridge continued to defend in depth. Rare respite for the visitors came when Adam Farley was judged to have fouled an opponent in midfield. Following this Bamber summed up their intentions when Pates headed for the corner flag and attempted to waste time; he failed in his goal of securing a corner, conceding a goal-kick instead (87 mins). Porter then moved forward and this led to a corner on the left won and taken by Hawes.

The corner evaded both Bowker and Stewart and was half-cleared only to be played back into the box where Stewart made a good save. Whittaker had a token shot from 30 yards after a pass by Phil Robinson before Hawes and Craney got together for the latter to get in a blocked shot, which was immediately followed by a block on Glendenning's follow-up. As the Brig bench shouted to their players to "keep the ball", the game drew to an end in disappointing fashion for the home team.

The game saw a repetition of many of the failings of recent weeks; a goodish start and the opening goal of the match, the conceding of a penalty (our twelfth in five months), plenty of possession - but few clear-cut chances. Obviously, with no money available, the solution to our problems on the pitch is not an easy one. The hurried taking of free-kicks and the lack of guile at corners are, however, aspects of the game which potentially can be improved without spending money. Steve Hawes was named man of the match though Ian Craney also showed plenty of industry.

Although there is a tendency to wish the season away, given that we are not going to win the league or (barring some bizarre results) be relegated, it would be a welcome boost to morale if we could get back to winning ways and close the campaign on a high note. There is now no league match till 17 March when we entertain Droylsden (and Barry Crowe), who themselves are having a lacklustre run.