Match Report

Gary Talbot (right) keeps an eye on "Snapper" Shaw, as Danny Murphy (nearest camera) looks on.

After their home defeat by Gainsborough, Altrincham were expecting a hard game against in-form Bishop Auckland. However, they made it even harder for themselves with a major defensive shake-up, as outlined below. The new 3-5-2 formation did not work and was scrapped at half-time in favour of 4-4-2. Although all of the back four were centre-backs, the performance improved and Alty were unlucky not to level the scores when Maddox had a header cleared off the line and Daniel's thumping shot was tipped wide by Jones.

Alty had been chasing the game since the 9th minute when Farley allowed "Snapper" Shaw to dispossess him in the right corner and the Bishops' man scored a fine goal. Despite being on top, an Altrincham defensive lapse after 77 minutes gave the Bishops a penalty conceded by the already booked Maddox, which Lee put away. Very oddly, Maddox was allowed to remain on the pitch after this second offence as no red card was shown. Altrincham offered little after this second goal and slid to their second consecutive defeat and their first away League game of the season without scoring a goal. The Bishop Auckland main stand is pictured, left, before kick-off.

Mark Ward scrapped his previously employed 4-4-2 formation by dropping both full-backs, Gary Scott and Steve Porter in a move designed to tighten the defence. Instead Farley, Glendenning and Talbot were deployed at the back, with five in midfield and Landon and Hay up front. Ward started his first League start since the Worksop game and despite the presence of three centre-backs in the starting line-up, recovering centre-back Mark Maddox was named as one of the subs, alongside 16 year-old Mario Daniel and Stuart Scheuber. The Bishops brought local hero, "Snapper" Shaw, back into their starting line-up as striker.

Although he had only lasted 25 minutes of last Saturday's game, Danny Murphy started this match but was soon in trouble again. He went down with a leg injury in the first minute and needed treatment again a minute later before carrying on in a less than full fit state. The home side were soon pressing when Hutt picked up a good headed clearance by Talbot and slipped the ball to Smith who won a corner for his side on the right side (3 mins). However, Coburn was alert to the resultant flick on from Mellanby. A foul on Jason Gallagher, 30 yards out, gave Altrincham their first real sight of goal but Landon's free-kick cannoned, low, off the wall. Ward picked up the loose ball but his cross was too long for Murphy at the back post (5 mins).

Following a home-side free-kick in their own half, the Bishops attacked up the left side. As the impressive Mellanby got past Glendenning just outside the box, the Altrincham defender pulled him back to concede a free-kick- one of many awarded to both sides during this game. Lee's free-kick hit the wall but the Bishops' momentum continued as a cross came in to Bell and Mellanby relayed it to Nelson who fired well over the bar (8 mins). Another Bishops' probe up the left, capitalising on lost possession by Altrincham in midfield, appeared to be safely under Farley's control near the Altrincham right corner flag when, perhaps trying to shepherd the ball out, the Altrincham man allowed Shaw to dispossess him, move inside and smash the ball cleanly past Coburn for the opening goal (9 mins). (Although both the Pink and NLP blame Glendenning for the lapse, it was certainly Farley). As last Saturday, Altrincham were again chasing an early deficit.

Soon afterwards, Mellanby prompted the winning of another home corner when his ball to Bell led to a corner on the attackers' right (10 mins). Altrincham endured a couple of minutes of severe pressure and were happy to hack the ball clear before pressure was relieved by a poor shot, well over the bar, from Bell following a move initiated by Hutt via the much-involved Mellanby (12 mins). At last Talbot broke up a move and his ball to Murphy was passed to Ward but the visitors' advance was halted and Lee broke forward through the left of centre. As he entered the box he fell dramatically over Glendenning's tackle and the referee booked the Bishops' man for diving (13 mins).

Following Coburn's free-kick, Gallagher lost possession before Craney did the same after an Alty throw-in. Bell and Mellanby again combined well before a foul on Gallagher gave Altrincham some respite (15 mins). The Alty forwards were seeing little of the ball but Hay was active in trying to pick up possession. For their part, the midfield finally put together a six-pass move, albeit sideways rather than forward, from Ward via Murphy, Hawes and Farley before Hawes and Ward were involved again, but a foul on the Altrincham captain brought play to a halt. A minute later Craney fouled Nelson ten yards inside the Bishops' half and a small melee developed as a consequence of which the Alty midfielder was booked (16 mins). Another free-kick to Bishops soon followed as the game became punctuated by fouls of an annoying rather than serious nature.

After Gallacher had got past Murphy on the right, Glendenning stepped in to concede a throw (18 mins). A good Bishops' cross resulted but was cleared to Ward who then lost possession 30 yards out but a bad pass meant that the home side did not capitalise on this error. After a Craney ball had been intercepted, Danny Murphy could be heard telling him "we're losing possession every time", which was an accurate summary of the proceedings. After Talbot, Ward and Craney had successfully combined to get the ball forward to Hay, on the left, the striker was robbed of possession. Altrincham simply were not functioning effectively yet in this game. Hay did better, however, when he won Altrincham's first corner after 22 minutes.

Talbot's through ball found the striker on the left side of the pitch and he won the corner off Gallacher. Ward's flag-kick from the left was half cleared for an Alty throw on the right. Two free-kicks in quick succession came Altrincham's way and from the second Hay and Landon conspired to get the ball to Murphy. Yet another Altrincham free-kick resulted as Murphy was bundled over by Gallacher, five yards outside the box. Landon took the kick but the preceding dummy run by Ward seemed only to force Landon to shoot from an awkward angle rather than confuse the wall, which held and the ball cannoned off it to the keeper.

Following these few minutes of Altrincham pressure, Mellanby fell in the Alty box but no penalty was given. The Bishops were back again when Gallagher, fed by Ward, lost the ball to Lee who played a one-two before unleashing a decent, low shot from 20 yards which Coburn collected (25 mins). For the third time in the game the home crowd called for a penalty when Smith went past two Altrincham men and went down as Glendenning challenged him. However, the referee rightly awarded a goal-kick (26 mins). Altrincham's improvement continued as Murphy, Landon and Hawes worked the ball to Craney whose snap shot from the edge of the box took everyone by surprise and needed Jones to dive to his right to tip the ball away for a corner (28 mins). Nelson cleared the corner of Talbot's head.

Bishops almost took advantage of Talbot's dithering a moment later when Shaw gained possession on the right touchline, 25 yards from goal but his cross was poor. Nelson then got past Murphy on the right but Talbot saved the day with a great tackle outside the penalty area (29 mins). Glendenning prompted Alty's next move with a fine ball to Craney who turned and shot well, the keeper getting the ball away as he dived to his right. It was now the Bishops' turn to lose possession; first Landon robbed Hutt and then Hawes took the ball from Nelson but both moves came to nothing. It was then Mark Ward's turn to surrender possession again, twice in quick succession.

A route one clearance from Coburn was chested to Hawes by Landon on the half-way line. Via Murphy, the ball came to Hay but Salmon put in a fine blocking tackle on the striker. The fouls continued to accumulate as Craney was tripped 35 yards from goal after getting past his man. Although Ward's kick was cleared it came back to Craney whose cross was met by Hay's header, directed at Jones (33 mins). Another foul on Craney in the middle of the field led to nothing before Ward was fouled by Smith. Ward patted the offender's head and Smith reacted angrily enough to get himself booked (36 mins).

Yet again the free-kick produced no danger to the home goal. The sides traded possession before Bishops' free-kick by Lee brought out a routine, low save from Coburn (40 mins). Coburn next came out to catch a loose ball on the left edge of his box and was pushed clearly by Smith as he did so, causing him to step outside the box with the ball. The ref and linesman surprisingly penalised Coburn but justice was done when Lee's free-kick ended up in Coburn's arms. Altrincham did put together a decent move before half time when Coburn's ball to Talbot was moved on to Murphy on the left. He got past Gallacher to supply Hawes, before Craney's cross was caught by Jones ahead of the advancing Landon (42 mins). An Alty free-kick led to good work between Ward and Landon before Murphy allowed the ball to run to Jones but the last Altrincham action of the half was a deflected shot by Craney after the midfielder had done well to beat his marker. As half-time arrived, Altrincham could reflect on an improving performance as the 45 minutes progressed but, nevertheless, there was a lack of spark and incisive forward movement in a game littered with fouls.

Mark Ward's defensive experiment ended at half-time as he reverted to a back four, bringing on Mark Maddox, who had not played a League match through injury since the Runcorn game, in place of Murphy. Young Mario Daniel also appeared, replacing Alex Hay for reasons which were not immediately clear. Although Altrincham now had a back four, all of its members were centre-backs, though Farley has also figured at full-back this season. By omitting full-backs Scott, Crowe or Porter from the bench, Mark Ward had left himself little room for defensive manoeuvre.

Maddox took up a left-back position whilst Farley took the right-flank, with Talbot and Glendenning between them. Maddox was to have an eventful 45 minutes and he was soon in action winning the ball well and feeding Daniel, whose advance was stopped by Lee on the Bishops' right (47 mins). Gallagher was soon fouled and from the free-kick, 25 yards out, Ward produced a superb strike which Jones did well to save as he dived at full stretch. The home side were caught off-side for the first of a staggeringly large number of times in the second half but it was Altrincham who soon began to improve on their first-half display. First, Landon got the ball to Gallagher, on the right, but his cross found the box bereft of colleagues.

A double-foul by Bayles gave Altrincham a free-kick 45 yards out but an eventual cross from Hawes came to Jones (50 mins). A break by the Bishops involving Smith, Bell and Lee ended with a wild shot from Mellanby which was both high and so wide that it ended on the adjacent cricket pitch. Farley conceded a corner kick from a centre but the Bishops committed a foul as the in-swinging corner came in before they were caught off-side again in a subsequent move. Ian Craney was then fouled, 30 yards from goal and though Ward's free-kick found Landon's head it went out for a goal-kick (54 mins).

After an initial clearing header by Maddox, a Bishops' man got behind the Alty sub and was brought down by Maddox's tackle from behind. Maddox was booked (55 mins) but Farley headed the free-kick clear. An offside decision saved Altrincham soon afterwards, when Talbot gave possession away to Mellanby. Then, Ward lost the ball allowing Bell to give Smith a shot from 20 yards which was straight at Coburn (56 mins), before Gallagher also lost possession following a pass from Landon. Following a free-kick in the Altrincham half for a foul on Farley, Landon got the ball to Hawes, near the edge of the box but the midfielder produced an air-shot- completely missing the ball.

As play became end to end, Glendenning stepped in very well to halt a break by Smith. Ward, Hawes and Landon then got the ball to Daniel but he was dispossessed on the edge of the box. An uncompromising tackle by Maddox was punished by a free-kick but not by a red card (58 mins). As the hour mark passed and the sides traded attacking probes, Mellanby ambitiously tried to lob Coburn from 35 yards but hit the ball well over the bar. The fouls continued with Maddox now the victim but few of the free-kicks in this game produced much danger or displayed much guile. Hawes and his opponent then clashed in midfield and he became the third Altrincham man to be booked (63 mins).

Mellanby went up the left and got Bayles in for a shot from 25 yards which was far too high. However, it was now Altrincham who applied some sustained pressure as Gallagher belatedly got involved and it was from one of his crosses that Altrincham won a corner on the right, which Ward took (65 mins). From this Craney got in a good long-range shot at Jones. Bell became the next name in Mr McDermid's book for a foul on Ward (67 mins). Following an Alty throw Talbot played a good forward ball to Daniel. Mario raced towards goal and fired in a superb goal-bound shot which Jones did well to palm away from the top corner of his net for a corner-kick to Altrincham (68 mins).

Play stopped as Talbot and Nelson clashed heads from the corner, the Bishops' man requiring lengthy treatment. "Snapper" Shaw was now replaced by Brunskill but Altrincham sustained their pressure with a good cross from Gallagher (70 mins). Another foul on Maddox allowed Altrincham to keep up the momentum but only a throw-in ensued (71 mins). Yet another foul by Bishops, on Gallagher, near the corner flag led to a free-kick by Ward from which Hawes won a corner on the Alty left. Maddox met this well but his header, which had beaten Jones, was hacked off the line by a defender (73 mins). The Bishops' woes continued as Bayles was booked for hand-ball in midfield (74 mins). After the free-kick had produced nothing a ball over the top of Farley allowed Smith to break-away and get in a shot which Coburn saved, low, at the near post (75 mins).

Just as Altrincham seemed to be getting the better of the match, Maddox allowed Brunskill oceans of space on the right wing. As the sub cut inside, Maddox took him out at knee height for what seemed to be a certain red-card (77 mins). After a delay whilst the victim was treated, Maddox amazingly escaped expulsion but the referee awarded a spot-kick for an offence which must only just have been inside the box. Lee's penalty kick was not as good as it might have been but, although Coburn got a hand to it, the ball still entered the net (78 mins). This goal, against the run of play, knocked the stuffing out of Altrincham who now brought on Scheuber to replace the player-manager, Mark Ward.

An almost immediate corner for the home side ended up in Coburn's hands before the Bishops brought on substitute Dunwell (80 mins). Daniel and then Gallagher were dispossessed as they tried to advance whilst Glendenning did good work at the back to halt Smith. Shortly before this, the Altrincham man had been pushed over, off the ball, by Smith and now now needed treatment for an injury sustained in his fall. Bishop Auckland now replaced Lee by Dunn (82 mins) as they now dominated a dispirited Altrincham. A Maddox foul led to a free-kick which Coburn held before Coburn's poor kicked clearance gave Bayles a chance to shoot into an empty net from 30 yards but he failed. The Bishops never mastered the offside trap and twice in thirty seconds fell for the ploy (85 mins). The speedy Brunskill caused Glendenning some problems before Talbot half-cleared and the ball was scrambled away. As the final minutes ticked away, Altrincham never looked like redeeming themselves; their spirited fight-back had been stifled by the penalty award.

Mark Ward's defensive line-up for the next League match will be eagerly awaited. not least by Steve Porter and Gary Scott. The experimental back three did not produce the desired effect and playing with four centre-backs is also clearly not the answer. However, it was not just the defence which faltered in this game. The midfield gave away possession far too often whilst up front we rarely threatened. For their part, Bishop Auckland are a well organised side who, despite very poor attendances, have put together a strong side from an entirely local group of players.

As a spectacle the game was littered by stoppages for fouls by both sides, as well as numerous off-sides and the refree cannot be blamed for this. However, his decision to allow Maddox to stay on the pitch after the penalty, although gratefully received by Altrincham, was bemusing to spectators. Altrincham meet Bishop Auckland in the Trophy at Moss Lane on 2nd December and a much improved performance will be needed if we are to progress towards the final.