Match Report

Right-back Simeon Hodson leaves the pitch when Altrincham won 1-0 at the Irongate ground in March 1999.

Bamber Bridge won the Unibond Premier as recently as 1996 but were not able to gain promotion to the Conference. However, their Irongate ground has been transformed since Altrincham's last visit (March 1999) by a newly built stand, which has replaced a structure destroyed in a gale several years ago. The recent sustained spell of wet weather, combined with the building work rendered the touchline in front of the stand virtually invisible in a patch of grass-less mud. Indeed, the referee had to switch the linesmen during the first half so that one of them was patrolling this quadrant of the pitch to ensure that the ball was in play. However, throughout the match the sun shone and the rain held off.

Bamber Bridge's new stand (and the muddy goalmouth) seen before kick-off today.

Altrincham weathered a potentially disastrous opening five minutes during which Stuart Coburn brought down Andy Whittaker, just inside the box, yet received only a yellow card for the offence. The keeper had been let down by a poorly struck back-pass from Adam Farley which, on this very wet pitch, failed to reach him. Coburn may have been saved by a slightly exaggerated dive by Whittaker but nevertheless no one would dispute the penalty award. Aspinall's kick was too central and struck Coburn's legs as he dived in the opposite direction. Against the run of play Altrincham went ahead when a deft flick-on from Landon freed Hay, to the left of goal inside the penalty area.

The on-loan striker from Tranmere finished well, striking a left-foot shot to Stewart's left and into the corner of the net (14 mins). Altrincham went on to have the better of the first half and looked to be on the road to victory. However, they did not get going in the second half till the last ten minutes. Before that play had been punctuated by a series of lengthy stoppages for injury and the loss of both Gallagher, with a bad double injury to his mouth and leg, and of Adam Farley. Ward also left the proceedings at half-time. Bamber Bridge stepped up a gear in the second half and disquieting gaps appeared periodically at the back for Altrincham. It was no more than Bamber Bridge deserved when substitute Burton equalised after 74 minutes when he headed in a corner from Pryors. Altrincham, however, finished strongly and Hay missed a good chance to win the game just before the end. However, Carey also missed a good chance in the very last minute so a draw was a fair result in the end.

Action from yesterday's game; behind the goal is Bamber Bridge's social club.

Mark Ward did not persist with his first-half experiment at Bishop Auckland of fielding three centre-backs in a 3-5-2 formation. Instead he went for a further innovation, 4-3-3 to replace Altrincham's customary 4-4-2. Leroy Chambers made only his second League start of the season. New signing, Steve Morgan displaced Steve Porter at left-back, whilst Kevin Ellison and Danny Murphy remained sidelined by injury though fit enough to engage in a pre-match game of pool with the Alty supporters in the excellent Bamber Bridge social club.

Young Mario Daniel was rested from the squad and James Glendenning, Stuart Scheuber and Ian Craney were all reduced to the bench. Gary Scott was restored to the side and Adam Farley partnered Gary Talbot at centre-back.

Yet again, Altrincham started a League match in a potentially disastrous fashion. After Bamber Bridge had kicked off defending the social club end, Whittaker and Hawes traded disappointing shots at the respective goals. Then, Adam Farley did not take sufficient account of the very damp pitch and underhit a back pass to Coburn from 20 yards out. Coburn rushed to intercept Whittaker's advance and brought down the Brig player to concede a penalty. Also, as the last man, Coburn could have expected to see the red card but, surprisingly, Mr Whitby only produced yellow (3 mins). Aspinall sent Coburn the wrong way but his shot was too central and the keeper used his feet to save the penalty-kick.

The animated opening continued when Ward was badly fouled by the frustrated Aspinall and the Bamber Bridge man was immediately booked (5 mins). Richard Landon started Altrincham's first meaningful assault on the home goal when he won the ball and via Ward and Chambers it came to Morgan , whose long range shot went wide (10 mins). Denny had an equally long-range shot soon afterwards before Keeling's well-aimed shot struck his team-mate, Whittaker, and rebounded to safety (13 mins) as Altrincham continued to look less than totally convincing at the back. It was therefore against the run of play when Landon, in the centre, twenty yards out, flicked the ball on to Hay in the left-side channel. Hay moved forward and struck a fine left-foot shot wide of Stewart's left hand, from 15 yards, which ended up in the corner of the Bamber Bridge net (14 mins).

Hay, Landon and Chambers then caused problems for the home defence over the following minutes and League debutant, Steve Morgan was also prominent in prompting forward movements. Landon's many flicks-on showed that there is more to his game than striking for goal. Chambers, too, was showing an appetite for the game, though he was caught offside several times at this stage of the game. Bamber Bridge's tall pairing of Denny and Whittaker were quite a handful for Talbot and Farley, but it was pleasing to see Gary Talbot showing much of his old authority at the back after one or two below par performances of late.

After Denny had threatened goal, a fine tackle from the Alty captain gave a corner to Bamber Bridge (26 mins). Pryors's short corner to Carroll resulted in an overhit centre. However, the most dangerous shot of this period was Aspinall's 30 yarder, from a Pates pass which skimmed just wide of Coburn's right-hand post but the Altrincham keeper had it well covered (29 mins). For Alty, a neat flick-on by Chambers found Landon, who turned well but his shot from 20 yards was only half-hit and reached Stewart without causing him discomfort (30 mins). Then, after Keeling lost possession to Scott, Chambers's pass found Gallagher but his shot was well wide (31 mins). Gallagher had another shooting opportunity after 35 minutes when he picked up a loose ball outside the box, had time to tee the ball up for himself, but then his scissors-kick was so high that it struck the upper area of the windows of the social club. Soon after this, Scott won possession and the ball then came from Morgan to Chambers but his shot was also too high (37 mins) as Altrincham were carving out the better chances.

Next, Landon closed down Billy Stewart as he attempted to collect the ball and the Altrincham man was unfortunate not to be awarded a corner. A good passing move then ended with a Landon shot which did win a corner. Altrincham's sustained pressure continued when Ward's corner was headed out by Jones for another flag-kick, this time on the Altrincham left. Hawes then had a surging run past Aspinall but let himself down with a poor final pass.

Bamber Bridge, for their part, were being caught offside in their occasional offensives. Hay then had a 20 yard shot at the Bamber Bridge goal but only half-connected with the ball, which fell for Stewart. Altrincham sustained their pressure as half-time approached, as Ward and then a chip from Hawes led to Stewart having to move smartly to intercept before Gallagher could take advantage (44 mins). However, it was Denny who wasted the last chance of the half when the referee ruled in Scott's favour as the striker got free.

Coburn was nowhere as Robinson slid in at the far post but the ball went over the bar. An abortive flick from Landon to Chambers led to Bamber breaking again but being caught by the offside trap (52 mins). Talbot then made a rare mistake, completely missing an aerial through ball, but the danger was cleared before Farley lost the ball and Whittaker got in a good shot from 15 yards, to the left of goal, which Coburn saved well with one-hand, at the cost of a corner (53 mins). Altrincham continued to make life difficult for themselves when Chambers gave away a free-kick 25 yards out in a central position.

Carroll and Whittaker stood over the ball before the latter put in a good shot which Coburn caught well at the base of his left post. (54 mins). At last, Altrincham got into the opposition box via Morgan, Hawes, Landon, Gallagher and Scott only for Landon to be pulled up for a foul in the box. Leon Smith replaced Carroll for the home side (55 mins).

Bamber Bridge continued to enjoy the majority of possession until Chambers's flick gave Hay a chance which he took well but which Stewart beat out (59 mins). Played then stopped for the first appearance of the Alty physio in the match as Adam Farley lay injured. Before the re-start of play, Denny gave way to Burton for the home team (59 mins). The restart itself was not the friendly lob to Coburn that everyone expected in the circumstances of Farley's injury but a crafty chip which Coburn did well to hold. Landon then won a free-kick some 30 yards from goal and really got hold of the free-kick himself, but it flashed wide of the target.

Steve Hawes then produced the worst pass of the game, inexplicably trying to find Coburn from 35 yards out on a cloying surface. Burton seized on the ball but made a hash of a great opportunity striking the ball wide both of Coburn and his left post (61 mins). This marked the watershed for Altrincham as almost immediately Jason Gallagher went down in centre-field clutching the back of his left thigh. However, it soon became apparent when the physio came on that he had a more serious injury to his mouth.

After a lengthy stoppage, the unfortunate Gallagher was lifted off the pitch in a hand-cradle, with blood-stained wadding inside his mouth to compound his misery. Scheuber immediately came on as his replacement (65 mins), thereby maintaining his record of appearing in every League game this season. Next, it was Chambers whom was in trouble. Taking exception to a challenge, he appeared to strike the prostrate Robinson and a melee ensued but no booking resulted. Immediately afterwards, however, Landon was booked for what seemed a fairly innocuous challenge which the referee seemed to construe as illegal use of the elbows (68 mins). Altrincham had by now completely lost their first-half rhythm and a mistake by Talbot let in Aspinall for a long-range shot, wide of goal (69 mins). Whittaker then played a good ball forward to Burton inside the box but Farley produced a superb tackle to win the ball cleanly in a dangerous situation. However both he and Burton then needed treatment. Although Farley got to his feet, he was limping badly and was immediately replaced by Glendenning (71 mins).

Things were now going wrong for Altrincham; a loss of rhythm and two injuries. As Bamber pressed up the right, Talbot cleared the ball for a corner to the hosts. Pryors's inswinging effort found Burton unmarked in a central position, six yards out and he headed neatly into the net for the equaliser (74 mins). Soon after, Bamber won another corner before yet another stoppage for treatment, this time to a home player. At last Altrincham strung together a passing move which ended with a shot from Craney, blocked on the edge of the penalty area (78 mons).

Bamber Bridge then brought on Carey for Aspinall before Chambers had a deflected shot from an offside position. Morgan, who had a disappointing second period after a good first half, lost the ball and was outpaced by a Bamber player before Talbot stepped in to save the day at the cost of another corner. Coburn punched this out but Smith's 30 yard strike from the clearance produced another corner on the right (81 mins). This was cleared before Craney effected a good, low shot which went just wide from 18 yards at the other end (83 mins). Altrincham now began to find some rhythm and finished the stronger side, Landon and Craney joined forces to feed Hay but his punt from 35 yards was over ambitious and easy-meat for Stewart (84 mins).

Denny was even more speculative with a poor attempt to lob Coburn from 40 yards before Scheuber found Landon's head in the home penalty area but the ball was cleared. Scott, Landon, Hawes and Hay then got Chambers in but a goal-kick resulted. However, following a free-kick, Talbot's block tackle on Jones yielded a goal-kick when a corner seemed to be the real outcome. However, a corner was given moments later when a poor ball from Glendenning led to Talbot having to intercept once more. Morgan headed this clear and the ball was played over the top to Hay who with only Stewart to beat failed to hit the target as he raced towards goal in an inside-left position. (89 mins). However, before Altrincham could dwell too much on this lost opportunity to grab all three points, a punt forward found Carey outpacing Morgan but shooting badly over the bar with only Coburn to beat (90 mins). A draw was a fair, if disappointing, result for Altrincham and their promotion aspirations. After a poor opening, they had played well for much of the first half before losing their rhythm in the second period. This was partly due to the injuries to Gallagher and Farley but not entirely so. Several players' performances dipped in the second period and it was not until the last ten minutes that sustained pressure was mounted on the home goal.