The visitors came back into the match but Altrincham held their lead until shortly before half-time when Steve Morgan lunged in for a tackle which precipitated a full-scale melee involving nineteen players. These included the Bishops' keeper who raced forty yards to join in the fracas. Morgan (Altrincham) and Bell (Bishop Auckland) were booked and then, after a prolonged intervention from the linesman, Salmon was also cautioned. Steve Hawes was lucky not to be booked too and only Gary Scott, Stuart Coburn and one Bishops player remained aloof from the scrimmage.

Shortly afterwards, Murphy, who had earlier been booked for an alleged offence in a 50-50 challenge and Morgan, who was also on a yellow card, failed to challenge Gallacher in any convincing way and the Bishops' man strode through into the box to score a fine goal with as few seconds of the half left as had been needed for Altrincham to score at the start of the game. The visitors stamped their authority on the second half and equalised after 50 minutes when Lee dribbled through to the edge of the box before chipping the ball, with the aid of a deflection, over a stranded Coburn.

Altrincham remained under the cosh until Mark Ward lashed in a superb equaliser from twenty yards on the hour mark. A lunge by Morgan led to his dismissal (71 mins) but the weakened home side dominated the final twenty minutes. Referee Gerrard inexplicably failed to see Scheuber chopped down in the box after he had superbly dribbled past two defenders as Altrincham's continuous attacks failed to deliver the winner.

Adam Farley had recovered from his knock and partnered Gary Talbot at centre-back whilst new signing, Steve Morgan, continued at left-back. Danny Murphy had also recovered from recent injuries and started on the left side of midfield in a 4-4-2 formation with Hay and Landon up front. The Bishops fielded the same side, albeit differently numbered, from that which beat Altrincham last month.

Murphy scored cleanly to the keeper's left with a firm low, left-foot shot from the edge of the penalty area (1 min). Altrincham were soon pressing again with Murphy, Landon, Hay and Hawes involved before Mark Ward was dispossessed (3 mins). The visitors were unable to make any forward progress as first Talbot and then Farley broke up attacks a long way from goal. After a foul by Shaw, Ward's free-kick from forty yards out was played short to Hawes.

He passed to Morgan who sent in a swerving shot from 20 yards which narrowly cleared the bar (7 mins). Next, Murphy skipped skilfully past two defenders before his pass to Hay ran out for a goal-kick. Murphy and Craney prompted further unsuccessful forward movements before a mis-kick by Morgan led to Bell feeding one of his colleagues for an overhit cross which came easily to Coburn (10 mins). After Hay had won the ball well soon afterwards, Hawes and Hay combined to give the ball to Morgan whose cross was poor and ran easily for Jones in the visitors' goal (11 mins).

Ian Craney was the next to initiate an attack, winning the ball well and setting up Hay for a firm shot which went just wide of Jones's left post (13 mins) as Altrincham dominated the proceedings. The visitors' manager, Tony Lee, was sufficiently concerned to abandon his seat in the stand and spend the rest of the game on the touchline.

The next danger to his side's goal came after Talbot cleared a ball played in by the visitors and, via Hawes and Scott, it came to Craney who battled well to get in a toe-poke towards goal which ran to Jones (14 mins). Craney soon played a superb 40-yard ball for Murphy but the ball ended in Jones's hands. The incident which first broke up Altrincham's almost complete dominance of the opening stages was a bad injury to Craney.

The young midfielder went for a fifty-fifty ball with "Snapper" Shaw, the Bishops' big striker, some forty yards from the home goal. After a stoppage for treatment, Craney left the field on a stretcher with a leg injury and he was replaced by Stuart Scheuber (18 mins), who thereby retained his record of appearing in every match this season.

Danny Murphy continued to be a thorn in the visitors' side, regularly winning the ball in the air. One such interception gave Scheuber a shooting chance but this went wildly wide. Moments later, Alex Hay put in a testing cross from the left which Jones was glad to claw away across goal (20 mins). Following a foul on Scheuber on the edge of the Bishops' penalty area, Dickie Landon powered a free-kick into the wall. From the rebound, Ward's cross found Murphy's head but the ball came safely to Jones. After another Talbot clearance of a hopeful ball forward by the Bishops, Landon held off a challenge and got in a good 25-yard shot which Jones saved well (22 mins).

Next, Murphy beat Gallacher on the left and after passing to Hay, he received the ball back before an interception was made. The Altrincham pressure continued as Scheuber shot wide from 20 yards (24 mins). Even when Talbot conceded a free-kick forty yards out, the visitors made little use of the ball with Bayles eventually putting in a woeful, low, diagonal shot which went well wide. However, Bishop Auckland were now beginning to get some possession but after Lee's cross was cleared by Farley, Mellanby was caught offside (26 mins).

A minute later, Shaw got in the visitors' first shot at Coburn, then Smith got past Scott but the ball was cleared. However, Gallacher and Bell soon progressed up the right, before Nelson got the ball to Shaw. He nutmegged Talbot, but Morgan made a saving tackle. After Scheuber's cross at the other end had been cleared, arguably with the help of a hand, the visitors attacked again through Gallacher on their right, but Morgan once more intercepted the ball. After a stoppage for treatment to Nelson, Scheuber won possession well from a Coburn kick. The midfielder got in a fine volley from 30 yards which just dipped over the bar (32 mins).

Scott then had two unsuccessful probes up the right wing, in the first case his cross was cleared and in the second, his ball towards Hay was intercepted. However, Hawes won the ball back and gave it to Hay, whose 25 yard shot whistled low, past Jones's left upright (34 mins).

The Bishops' response was a looping header to Coburn from Shaw after good work by Smith. Smith's cross, soon afterwards, was taken by Coburn as he fell on the ball without difficulty (35 mins). Twenty yards from the Bishops' goal, Murphy and Gallacher went for a fifty-fifty ball from which the Durham man emerged injured. Although the challenge had seemed innocuous, Murphy was booked (36 mins). After a stoppage for treatment, the sides traded abortive attacks and free-kicks. This undistinguished few minutes was brought to a dramatic end when Morgan lunged in on Bell just inside the Bishops' half.

The two players then tangled on the ground before their colleagues waded in en masse. Only Scott and Coburn for Altrincham and one Bishops outfield player remained apart from the conflict. Both Salmon and Hawes were in the thick of it and Mellanby appeared at one point to have Hawes by the throat. After calm had been restored, Mr Gerrard booked Morgan and Bell. Before play could resume, the linesman had a long discussion with the referee, as a result of which Salmon was also cautioned.

The Bishops' captain had adopted the behaviour of all guilty players by feigning ignorance and pretending to sort out his socks as the referee beckoned him over. This unseemly incident, after 42 minutes, ruined what had been an absorbing first half and clearly unsettled Altrincham. After Talbot had broken up one attack, Shaw got in a header at Coburn. Then, Gallacher took on Murphy and Morgan on the Altrincham left.

Confronted by the only two Alty players whose names were in the referee's book, Gallacher was allowed to by-pass both players, with Morgan particularly at fault, and skilfully shoot past Coburn from the right-hand side of the box (44 mins). Thirty seconds later the half came to an end with Altrincham on level terms after dominating the majority of the game so far.

But Bishop Auckland then snatched a second goal when Lee was allowed to dribble skilfully through some half-hearted challenges on the edge of the box before his chipped shot cleared Coburn and went into the net. The ball seemed to have been deflected en route (50 mins). The goal precipitated a period of dominance by the visitors. Talbot cleared the first subsequent danger by hoofing clear after Shaw and Smith had threatened. Next, Mellanby blasted high of the target when he should have scored from 15 yards (53 mins) after he and Bayles had combined well. Then, Smith found Shaw completely unmarked in the box but Coburn's dive saved the day when the keeper should not really have had any chance.

Altrincham were on the rack at this stage. Mark Ward was clearly not a happy man when he was fouled for he responded by pushing the offender but escaped censure and won a free-kick (58 mins). The player-manager had an opportunity to get an equaliser when he was fouled again to gain a free-kick on the corner of the visitors' penalty box. The free-kick was cleared for a throw to Altrincham. The resulting move was half-cleared but the ball fell for Ward, advancing from midfield and he lashed it hard and low into the net from 20 yards or more (60 mins).

Altrincham should then have taken the lead after Hawes's fine ball into the box for Landon. The big striker's first touch was poor and the chance was gone (61 mins). Play now stopped as Farley was down injured but after treatment, the centre-back hobbled on. Two Bishops' attacks were foiled before Landon and Hay played in Hawes but his control let him down as he shot under pressure from a tackle. Landon earned a lecture for a clash with Lee before Murphy, who was having a quiet second half, gave way to Leroy Chambers (67 mins). Leroy was soon in the thick of things but a cross from Landon went behind him as he closed in on goal.

Chambers soon showed admirable commitment as he won possession as Altrincham continued to push forward. However, soon afterwards, Morgan was dispossessed in somewhat dubious circumstances on the half-way line, on Alty's left. He responded by lunging at the advancing Gallacher and earning a red card (71 mins) in only his third game for Altrincham.

At this point, Brunskill replaced the injured Gallacher who left the field at a snail's pace. Altrincham won a free-kick for a hold on Hay and although Talbot won a header from the kick, play was stopped for an offence. Then, Hawes gave away a free-kick 22 yards out from his goal but Shaw headed Lee's kick wide (75 mins).

After Chambers had held the ball up well, Hawes played it back to Ward who hit a tremendous low shot from 35 yards which Jones saved well (76 mins). Scheuber was then flattened as Altrincham began to impose themselves. However, play soon went to the other end as Bishop Auckland won a rare corner which Chambers cleared to Ward who was fouled and seemingly also caught by a boot after he fell. However, it was Gary Talbot whom the ref called over for a lecture for some reason (78 mins). Hawes and Landon soon got the ball to Chambers, who went past Lee before winning a throw deep in the Bishops' half.

After a stoppage for treatment to Salmon, the ball eventually found its way to the left wing. Here, Stuart Scheuber showed brilliant skill in going through three challenges and entering the box from the left. As he reached the six-yard line he was clearly upended but rather than awarding an obvious penalty the referee played on (83 mins). The man in black did give Alty a free-kick a minute later when Chambers was fouled after beating two defenders, twenty yards from goal. Ward's free-kick was slightly too long and went for a goal-kick.

Then, Steve Hawes, who had a superb second half, went through Smith and Lee to win a throw near the corner flag on the right. From Scott's resulting cross, Landon headed well over the bar. Altrincham were running the show now with a tame long shot from Bayles the best that the Durham side could muster (86 mins). Mr Gerrard again failed to spot a clear foul before his very eyes when Chambers was wrestled to the ground a matter of feet away from him. Chambers, who played very well throughout his period on the pitch, next beat his defender and got in a fine cross from the right but it was slightly too hard to find a colleague.

Scheuber was then flattened thirty yards from goal and Ward and Landon employed a pre-rehearsed free-kick. Unfortunately, Landon's tap to Ward resulted in a poor shot, wide of target, by his manager. Dunn now replaced Lee for Bishop Auckland (88 mins) and Steve Hawes was rightly announced as Man of the Match, as the visitors sought to spin out time. However, Scott soon tormented them again down the right and won a corner. Ward's kick came off Landon's head for a throw to the Bishops. Altrincham's last chance came after Chambers had been fouled 20 yards from goal, but Ward's free-kick came off Chambers's head for a goal-kick.

This was a match which Altrincham let slip after a fine opening period. Morgan's rash tackle and the ensuing mass brawl just before the interval unsettled their composure and resulted in the Bishops' equaliser, seconds before the interval. It then took Altrincham a quarter of an hour to reassert themselves after the interval, during which time they had conceded a second goal. Morgan's second offence in an unthreatening position was not what one would expect from such a vastly experienced player. Nevertheless, his dismissal focused his remaining colleagues' attention on the task in hand and Altrincham went on to dominate the closing stages of the game.

Mr Gerrard's failure to spot as clear a penalty as you could see, when Schueber was brought down just as he was almost certainly going to score, has condemned Altrincham to a very tricky replay in Durham on Wednesday evening. Most of the Altrincham side acquitted themselves well and it was particularly pleasing to see Chambers getting involved in the fray when he came on in the second half.

Although the local police were in attendance, their presence presumably prompted by the disgraceful behaviour of Bishops' fans during their 1997 visit, there was no hint of crowd trouble though the players' brawl before the interval might have been a flashpoint had the spectators not been segregated.