Match Report
29 July 2000
Match played on Thursday, 27 July, 2000, kick-off at 7.30pm
ALTRINCHAM (2) 2 BURY (0) 1
Referee: P.G. Cullen
Attendance: c.400
TEAMS
| 27.7.00 | ALTRINCHAM | versus. | BURY |
| 7.30pm | Yellow and black | ---. | White and blue |
| 1. | Stuart COBURN | 1. | John MURPHY |
| 2. | Barry CROWE | 2. | Paul O'SHAUGHNESSY |
| 3. | Danny ADAMS | 3. | Barry SHUTTLEWORTH |
| 4. | Eddie TURKINGTON | 4. | Steven ROSE |
| 5. | Gary TALBOT (capt.) | 5. | Steven HALFORD |
| 6. | Mark WARD | 6. | Ryan SOUTER |
| 7. | Stuart QUINN | 7. | Warren PAYTON |
| 8. | Steve HAWES | 8. | Adam RYDER |
| 9. | Carl FURLONG | 9. | James MARROW |
| 10. | Leroy CHAMBERS | 10. | Danny McKENZIE |
| 11. | Kevin ELLISON | 11. | Lee PRYORS |
| 12. | Carl ROBINSON | 12. | ---- |
| 13. | Mark O'CONNOR | 13. | Craig TAYLOR |
| 14. | Richard LANDON | 14. | James MORRIS |
| 15. | Jason GALLAGHER | 15. | David BARLEY |
| 16. | Stuart SCHEUBER | 16. | Adam MARTIN |
| 17. | Mark MADDOX | 17. | Chris ARMSTRONG |
| 18. | Scott WILSON | 18. | Ian HUTCHINSON |
| 19. | Phil McDIAMID | 19. | ----- |
| 20. | Paul WALSHAW | 20. | ----- |
SUMMARY
Altrincham stretched their unbeaten run to four games with a deserved 2-1 victory over a Bury XI.
TEAM NEWS
The Bury first team were involved in a competition on the Isle of Man and Altrincham fielded a squad of twenty which included several trialists, so a lot of unfamiliar faces were on show. Altrincham played a generally neat passing game throughout but lost a little of their cohesion when five substitutions were made at half-time. Only Gary Talbot and Danny Adams lasted the full 90 minutes. In the crowd, but not named in the squad was Shaun Goodwin, who therefore does still seem to be with the Club. Altrincham fielded Chambers and Furlong up front, with Crowe, Turkington, Talbot and Adams at the back. The midfield comprised Quinn, Hawes, Ward and Ellison.
MATCH REPORT
The majority of this match was played in perfect conditions on a warm sunny evening, but heavy rain arrived just before the end of the game. Play was fairly even for the first few minutes with Gary Talbot having two headers on goal in the first eight minutes, neither of which seriously threatened a goal, whilst a Bury corner was easily cleared by Coburn.
Carl Furlong (seen, right) looked lively up front and generally played much better than he had apparently done against Tranmere. Ellison made a number of promising runs down the left and Quinn had his moments on the right, as Mark Ward ran the midfield in his customary manner. Turkington and Talbot looked solid at the back, whilst Adams and Crowe made a number of forays into the Bury half. However, neither side produced any serious threats on goal until a move involving Adams and Hawes ended with the ball being played to Leroy Chambers.
Despite being clearly held by a defender, Leroy managed to turn and strike the ball firmly into the upper part of the Bury net, to the keeper's left, to open the scoring. The goal was not dissimilar to his goal at Abbey Hey last Saturday and, hopefully, marks a return to consistent goalscoring for Leroy. Bury's main threat was coming down the left but they never got into a position for a serious shot on goal and Stuart Coburn was seriously underemployed.
On the half-hour Stuart Quinn was replaced by Stuart Scheuber in midfield and almost immediately an error by Hawesallowed a Bury break but it came to nothing. Ryder tried a long, speculative shot which again caused little concern to Coburn. On 40 minutes, Barry Crowe made an interception some 40 yards out, went past a couple of defenders and played the ball low across goal to Kevin Ellison, on the left side of the box.
Ellison calmly scored from close range to put Altrincham two up. After a Hawes free-kick had been cleared, Bury's Payton and Marrow combined well but the latter's header on goal was well wide (42 mins). Then Ellison broke into the Bury box and went down under a dubious challenge but no foul was detected by the referee. Moments before half-time Scheuber tried a snap shot with his left foot from the edge of the box but it went narrowly over the bar. The home side's half-time lead was well-deserved.
Altrincham made five changes at half-time. Coburn was replaced by Mark O'Connor, Furlong gave way to Dickie Landon, Barry Crowe was replaced by Jason Gallagher, Mark Maddox came on for Eddie Turkington and Carl Robinson replaced Leroy Chambers, who had picked up a knock in the first half. The half began with a raid down the left by Ellison which ended in a shot over the bar. However, on 49 minutes Marrow beat O'Connor to a through ball after the Altrincham defence had remained static and the Bury forward pulled back a goal for the visitors.
Gallagher and Maddox slotted in well at the back but Bury offered more threat during the early part of the second half than they had earlier. Martin replaced McKenzie for the visitors (53 mins) as the play became well balanced, though neither side posed a particular threat to its opponent's goal. On 62 minutes Ellison cut in from the left but his right-foot shot went wide and two minutes later, played in by Hawes, Ellison again shot with his right foot but his shot beat the right hand post as well as the keeper.
Bury's Ryder then gave way to Craig Taylor (66 mins) and shortly afterwards Marrow was given a free header but was too far out to trouble O'Connor seriously. Mark Ward then gave way to Scott Wilson (69 mins) as Altrincham put together intermittent passing movements without ever getting into scoring positions. Hawes was relieved to see his loss of possession in the home penalty area go begging when a Bury player, in turn, misplaced his pass (73 mins). Altrincham then brought on Phil McDiamid for Hawes and Paul Walshaw for Kevin Ellison.
Both new players slotted into midfield as Landon and Robinson sought to find space up front. A foul on Robinson brought an unfortunate response from Bury's Souter who twice kicked the ball at the prostrate player yet avoided censure. Although Altrincham were enjoying the majority of the possession a header, wide of the goal, by Landon (82 mins) was their most threatening moment.
Walshaw scurried around the Bury box without ever breaking free but a high cross by Gallagher caused some concern in the Bury goalmouth as keeper Murphy dropped the ball (87 mins). After Landon won a ball in the air, Robinson shot weakly wide (88 mins) but Bury posed a late threat when, in the last minute, Marrow got free but O'Connor saved well at the expense of a corner which was cleared as Mr Cullen blew the final whistle.
Mark Ward appears to be building a useful squad at Moss Lane with last season's stalwarts, (Adams, Talbot, Maddox, Gallagher, Hawes, Landon and Ellison), all playing well. It was good to see Leroy Chambers getting back into scoring form again and also to see both Coburn and Crowe back to full fitness. Turkington enjoyed a good 45 minutes whilst Ward was as effective as ever in midfield. Furlong also pressed a claim for a place in the side before he was substituted at half-time. Altrincham head off tomorrow for a game in Dublin, against St Francis.