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REPORT

Report courtesy of Phil Taylor.

The Ladies opened their 2014/15 Season by welcoming Wythenshawe Amateurs to Mersey Valley Sports Club, their new home ground.

Alty, lacking the unavailable Caroline, Louise, Chloe, Hannah Tracey, Brogan and Sarah, once again lined up in a 3-5-2 formation. Lizzie was in goal, with a back three of Becci, Cyprus and Sam, and Heather, Elina, Cloe Gail and Georgia were across midfield, the attacking threat being offered by Charlotte and Aimee.

Substitutes, all of whom were scheduled to appear during the game were Hayley, Rachael,Tallulah and Beth.

Wythenshawe kicked off the first half and initial exchanges were fairly even as the two teams tried to work out their opposition. It was something of a shock therefore when, with what may well have been their first attack, Wythenshawe took the lead on four minutes, a cross from the Alty left evading Lizzie and nestling in the back of the net.

This seemed to give Wythenshawe some impetus and, two minutes later, following a through ball, Lizzie was forced into an excellent save, beating away a shot on goal. Alty rallied somewhat, getting the ball down and starting to try to play their football. Indeed, on ten minutes, Aimee rounded the Wythenshawe keeper and rolled the ball into the net only to be called back for what was a marginal offside.

Georgia, making her competitive debut, was giving the right-hand side of the Wythenshawe defence quite a torrid time and, on eleven minutes, her good run and pass to Aimee allowed her to get off a shot which was saved.

From the resulting corner Charlotte flicked the ball on but, unfortunately, no Altrincham player was able to capitalise. After their excellent performance on Sunday the Altrincham players seemed surprisingly flat-footed at times and this was allowing Wythenshawe opportunities.

On the quarter hour, another through ball allowed the visitors a shot on goal, which went just wide. Georgia continued to pose the Wythenshawe defence problems and gained a number of free kicks as a result of this.

On eighteen minutes, the Altrincham defence was again punctured and Lizzie once again had to come to the rescue with another fine save. Altrincham, despite the occasionally somewhat subdued nature of their play, were, on the whole probably posing more problems to Wythenshawe than they were experiencing themselves so it was disappointing when a second goal was conceded on nineteen minutes.

Becci, chasing a ball back toward the goal line, seemed to get a shout from Lizzie who had come out to claim. Somehow, neither player dealt with it and the ball was stolen by an attacker and crossed into the six-yard area. Valiant efforts to retrieve the situation were sadly unsuccessful and the ball was placed into the Altrincham net once again.

Not deterred by this latest setback Altrincham once again set about their opponents, with Georgia and Aimee linking well more than once. The visiting goalkeeper, however, was on inspired form, advancing very quickly off her line to close down the opportunities.

Just as it seemed that the Altrincham pressure might tell, a third goal was conceded when a cross, again from the Altrincham left, reached an unmarked player in the area who finished without any problem.

Altrincham kept going and, in fact, at this point, seemed to shake off the comparative lethargy which had affected their first half up to this point. Charlotte made a good run down the line but, sadly, her cross just went behind for a goal kick. A minute later Cloe made an energetic burst down the Alty right but her cross was cut out.

The three central midfield players for Altrincham were all showing commendable industry, closing down as well as, where possible, initiating forward movements. On thirty four minutes, roles were reversed with Aimee, on this occasion, the provider of a good ball to Georgia, whose cross was put behind for a corner.

Charlotte, also making her competitive debut for Altrincham, was working hard and linked well withg her team mates on more than one occasion. On thirty seven minutes, a third competitive debutant, Rachael, replaced Cloe on the right-hand side of the Alty midfield.

Altrincham were now applying significant pressure and, on 40 minutes, an adroit header by Charlotte was touched over the bar by the impressive visiting custodian. From the resultant corner the ball reached Georgia at the far post but she was unable to keep her shot under the bar and the danger was gone.

On forty-three minutes however a free kick from Elina was flicked on by Aimee and Georgia’s first-time finish was emphatic to bring the score back to 1-3.

Keith was a little disappointed at half time as we had given the goals to Wythenshawe rather than them having had to work for them. The point was made that Alty were very much still in the game and that the next goal was vital.

Having kicked off the second half, Altrincham were straight onto the offensive; Aimee having a shot saved at the near post on forty nine minutes and Gail’s volley from the resulting corner going just wide.

On fifty-three minutes an impressive run and cross from Rachael was met by Elina, whose header on target was saved. Once again though and, arguably against the run of play, a Wythenshawe striker made a run and, despite seeming to be offside, collected a through ball to finish neatly at the near post.

Shortly after this Becci, who had worked hard was replaced by Tallulah. Rachael was having an impact down the Alty right and on sixty-two minutes put in an excellent ball. Sadly, Aimee could not get it to “sit down” and the chance was lost.

Encouragingly, Alty continued to play and, on sixty-four minutes, Georgia fed Aimee whose cross just evaded the onrushing Charlotte. Altrincham continued to press with the midfield triumvirate now very much in the ascendancy and the wide players causing problems whenever they went forward.

On seventy-one minutes Rachael charged down a clearance and put in a cross which was sliced against her own post by a defender. On seventy-five minutes Aimee again shot just wide as, on eighty-two minutes did Heather.

Cloe showed admirably persistence on eighty-three minutes but sadly her shot was just wide. A minute later, a superb through ball by Georgia released Aimee who was, once again, thwarted by the keeper.

The final attempt by Altrincham came on the eighty-eighth minute when Rachael fed Cloe whose shot was again saved.

Although the score makes it look like a comprehensive defeat for the Ladies there were a number of positives to work on. Three of the four goals conceded were arguably “given” to the opposition rather than earned and Altrincham made enough chances to have won two games. We will work hard in training ready for the next game.