Match Report

SUMMARY

Altrincham have played better than they did today and not won as comfortably. They got the ideal start with a tap in from Steve Finney after five minutes after the Whitby keeper failed to hold the ball and added to this after 28 minutes when Finney swept home a half-cleared corner. Half-time arrived with Altrincham well in command. The best goal of the game was Finney's third, when he headed home a Barry Crowe cross from the right (70 mins).

Only when Whitby brought on their substitutes and put three men up front did they start to threaten in anything approaching a sustained manner. They scored a strange goal with nine minutes to go when a shot from Ludlow seemed to take Coburn unawares as Altrincham switched off for the final stages. Nevertheless, Altrincham won with something to spare.

Gary Talbot returned to captain the side after injury, replacing James Glendenning, whilst Adam Farley was replaced by Steve Morgan in defence. Mark Ward rested himself and whilst Kevin Ellison warmed up once more, he was still not fit enough to be named in the playing squad. For Whitby, Graham Robinson came in after an absence through injury. Craig Skelton was in the Whitby side, having recently joined from Darlington who had loaned him to Altrincham last season.

Whitby kicked off towards the Hale End and without threatening in any way had the better of the opening few minutes. Altrincham finally put together a sustained passing movement after four minutes in which Steve Hawes was prominent, before the ball fell to Hay in the box. He laid the ball off and after a shot came into the crowded goal area from the right -possibly from Scott- the Whitby keeper Campbell failed to hold the ball as it went across him. It fell for Finney, who calmly converted a simple chance from close range (5 mins) to record his first goal for Altrincham. From the restart, Whitby's Rennison went down in the Altrincham box under a challenge but Mr Bramley showed no interest in a penalty award. Talbot then repelled two subsequent probing moves by Whitby before a fine ball from Hawes to Finney led to blocked shots from both Finney himself and Hay, who had picked up the rebound (9 mins).

A bad foul on Scheuber by Goodchild produced a free-kick but no further punishment for the offender. Hawes's free-kick came through to Scott on the right and Hay met the full-back's cross but his header was well wide of Campbell's left post (10 mins). However, Whitby soon won a corner after a muddle in the Altrincham defence following a free-kick into the box from 30 yards out by March. Morgan cleared March's corner, from the right (14 mins). Danny Murphy, as ever, was prominent in the early stages before once more having to be substituted in the second half. An impressively firm tackle by Murphy not only won the ball but also burst it quite spectacularly- the second time this has happened at Moss Lane this season (15 mins).

After a foul on Murphy by March, the Altrincham man eye-balled the offender menacingly as Whitby began to make their presence felt. Goodchild again climbed all over Finney and then Scheuber was knocked over by Key who conceded a foul but received no caution. Whitby also showed a repeated urge to steal ground at every free-kick, a tactic which only belatedly was noticed by the officials. The match was hardly a classic at this stage, with Whitby offering little punch and Altrincham not firing on all cylinders. Alex Hay harried Taylor into losing possession in the centre of the pitch and throughout the game the on-loan Tranmere striker was impressive in the way in which he pressurised the Whitby defence. Hay got the ball to Finney but the return pass found Hay offside to Mark Ward's obvious annoyance on the touchline (27 mins).

Hay repeated his harrying, this time against Goodchild and won the ball before getting in a shot which was deflected both by a defender and the keeper, for a corner on the Alty left. Hawes's corner was punched upwards rather than outwards by Campbell but a defender hacked the ball away in a melee near the back post. However, the ball came out to Finney who, from about ten yards, slotted the ball into the net (28 mins). Almost immediately Hay was threatening again, going up the left before Whitby countered with their first serious threat of the game. This followed good work by Rennison on the left which led to Robinson's chipped shot just over Coburn's bar (30 mins). Robinson and Skelton then collided and the latter needed the physio's treatment before he recovered.

For the third time in the first half, Hay seized on ponderousness in the central Whitby defence, this time dispossessing Dixon. However, it was soon Murphy's turn to lose the ball and from the break Hawes was drawn into a foul tackle on Pitt, 25 yards out from the home goal. The free-kick from the right set up Whitby's best chance to date as the ball found a Whitby head at the back of the box and came to Skelton to the right of goal. He failed to hit the target, shooting wide of Coburn's right post when he should have done better (35 mins). Skelton soon had another chance after a mis-header by Hawes but he chipped well wide from 20 yards (36 mins). Talbot cleared up a couple of Whitby forays before a foul by Taylor, climbing all over Finney, produced an Altrincham free-kick in centre field. This came to nothing and then Murphy and Pitt tangled, with the referee giving Pitt the free-kick 25 yards out from Altrincham's goal from which March and Dixon contrived a corner, also off Murphy. Robinson got in a good header which was looping into the far corner before Scott cleared it off the line (42 mins).

After another free-kick, conceded by Murphy, had been cleared, Altrincham won a corner which arose when Hawes fed Scott on the right. Hawes's corner came back to him and his cross was held under the bar by the keeper (44 mins). Mr Bramley proceeded to play a remarkable four minutes of injury time in a half that had witnessed relatively few stoppages. In this time Altrincham's Finney won another corner on the right from which came a second flag-kick on the left. Although the uncertain Campbell dropped the ball, the danger was cleared.

Hay again won possession well before Whitby responded with another move forward involving Williams and Skelton, which Talbot tidied up with a pass back to Coburn. Maddox then produced the tackle of the game to stop Robinson as he threatened to get clear (55 mins). Danny Murphy was soon replaced by Barry Crowe; the ex-Mossley man seems unable to get through ninety minutes without succumbing to injury (57 mins). Crowe slotted in at right-back, with Scott moving to left-back and Morgan moving into central midfield. Steve Hawes was lucky to escape a booking from the referee when he showed dissent at a decision against him (58 mins) as the game went into a scrappy phase.

Crowe was soon embarrassed by Skelton's neat turn inside him but the Whitby striker shot well over the bar (59 mins). Good work by Scheuber got Finney into a forward position but he lost the ball. The half-clearance came to Hawes who swept the ball left to Scott. His cross found Hay whose attempt to bundle the ball home led to the ball running loose, close to the goal-line. Finney appeared to be obstructed as he attempted to slot it into the net and the danger was cleared (61 mins).

By now the Golf Road choir, which had moved to the Popular Side at half time, was in full chorus in homage to Barry Crowe, a song they maintained for a quarter of an hour or more. Morgan then won possession for Hay to get in a rising shot from 20 yards (63 mins) before Rennison got the ball to Robinson who swivelled and shot but the ball looped easily to Coburn. Finney and Crowe next combined well before Finney overhit the ball to Campbell.

Responding to the chorus in his favour, Crowe next found Hay in a dangerous position, but the striker miscued his shot badly (65 mins). After Morgan had fallen over whilst in centre-field, Whitby's Robinson took advantage but the move petered out as did a surging run from Hawes which resulted in a poor cross from Hay on the right (67 mins). Skelton then set Robinson in on Coburn but the Alty keeper saved at the South African's feet on the edge of the box. The sides traded attacks before Coburn foiled a move by Pitt and Skelton when the latter should perhaps have scored. This was an expensive error as, almost immediately, Crowe received a pass back from Craney and hared up the right wing. The Altrincham substitute produced a firm, lowish cross which Finney, slightly stooping, headed home well from close range for his hat-trick (70 mins). This prompted a renewed chorus of the Barry Crowe hymn. Finney nearly added a fourth from the next move, producing a fine shot from the edge of the box just wide of Campbell's right upright after a good lay-off by Hay (71 mins).

After Skelton had done well on the right, played stopped for Ludlow to replace Pitt, the sub going into he forward line as Whitby now employed three men up front. During a stoppage, Goodchild appeared to throw the ball into the Altrincham spectators and was booked for his pains (75 mins). Messer then came on for Robinson, who had done well in his first game back after injury (76 mins). Craney, Finney and Hawes progressed to the Whitby box before Finney's weak shot ran to Campbell. Scott and Hay then won a corner on the left but the ball ended up eventually with the Whitby keeper.

Altrincham now replaced Morgan by Glendenning (79 mins), who slotted into midfield rather than his normal centre-back position. He almost immediately lost possession in the centre of the pitch and Skelton set Ludlow up the right channel. The Whitby sub's shot was low and reasonably firm but Coburn seemed hardly to move for it, his half-hearted stoop to collect resulting in the ball flashing past him into the net for a goal which amazed the home crowd (81 mins). After the restart, Taylor lunged at Finney but escaped any booking before Graham replaced Goodchild for Whitby (82 mins). Whitby pressed forward with the three-man front line of Skelton, Messer and Ludlow looking lively.

Mark Ward then sent on Eric Seekie for Stuart Scheuber (85 mins) and the sub was soon pulled up for a nudge on a Whitby defender. Altrincham were on the back foot in these closing stages, with Glendenning again losing possession in midfield. Fortunately, Skelton once more failed to produce as good a shot as he might have done as Coburn saved to his right (88 mins). The game ended with Altrincham comfortable winners. Steve Finney was named Man of the Match and Alex Hay also had a fine game. Barry Crowe made a good impact when he came on and Steve Hawes underlined his importance to the side after turning down a move to Southport in midweek.