For the Vics, Jimmy Quinn was cup-tied by dint of having turned out for Nantwich in their nine-nil drubbing by Crewe in the preliminary round of this competition. The injured Colin Rose was reduced to the role of sub.

Crowe then played a fine ball for Furlong who beat his man on the right before being dispossessed six yards out (4 mins). From the ensuing corner on the Altrincham right, Steve Hawes's hard, low cross caused mayhem in the packed Vics' goal area and in the confusion the ball seemed to enter the home side's net once, if not twice, before being cleared (5 mins).

Fans behind the goal reported that the keeper, Rigby, had scooped the ball out from behind the line. However, the referee gave no goal and this was the only arguable flaw in Mr Brand's customarily excellent performance and even this was really a linesman's decision. Altrincham fans will remember the man in black as the referee who gave an entertaining exposition of the refereeing arts to the Supporters' Association before last season's home match against Southport.

Furlong was soon again marauding up front and won a corner on the right (7 mins). Once again Hawes tried a low, firm cross and this time it was Maddox who met it well but his shot was cleared. A through ball then set Chambers in pursuit from the half-way line but the Altrincham man half-checked his run as everyone else stopped expecting an off-side flag which never came. In the end, Rigby beat Leroy to the ball. A minute later, the increasingly impressive Ian Craney unleashed the first of his four 25-yarders in this match; like the subsequent efforts this one was well-struck but in this instance narrowly over the bar (9 mins).

His second long-range attempt came only a minute later after good work by Hawes had won a freekick in the Altrincham half. Scheuber, who like Craney, is an improving young player, fed his colleague but Craney's shot was once more just off target, this time slightly wide. Perhaps, this time, a lay-off to the left would have been a better option, however.

For Northwich, Stuart Terry's replacement, the former Crewe youth player Laurie proved a first-half handful for Steve Porter but the full-back stuck well to his task against this exceptionally fast wing-man. A Laurie cross was half-cleared to Vicary but his cross was poor (11 mins). Altrincham replied with a flowing movement between Scheuber, Furlong, Power and Crowe but the full-back's final cross was cut out by Northwich (13 mins).

The fast pace of the game continued as the rain continued and after Vicary had been halted on the left, Chambers won a freekick 40 yards from goal. Next, Furlong was fouled on the right wing and in collecting Hawes's freekick the keeper, Rigby, collided with Chambers and the Altrincham man was briefly injured. Crowe, Furlong and Power then combined to set Furlong free on the right but his cross was blocked by Walsh, who also blocked the Alty man's second attempt from the rebound. Furlong was proving an awkward customer for McDermotte who, more than once indulged in off-the-ball tugs of Furlong's shirt.

After being played in by Scheuber, Furlong's next attempt at a cross was also blocked (22 mins) and then Holcroft earned a lecture from Mr Brand for a foul on Scheuber as Altrincham dominated the game.

Porter put the freekick into the wall but from the rebound Craney unleashed his third long-distance shot at the Northwich goal and, again, his shot was only narrowly over the bar (26 mins). However, the dangerous Laurie got free up the right wing, passed to Holcroft who beat his man well but the Northwich number eight's rising shot was wide of Coburn's left upright (30 mins).

Each side then had attacks which broke down before Scheuber cleared a freekick at the second attempt from inside the Alty penalty area (34 mins). It was then Porter's turn to beat Laurie but his probing ball for Furlong was just a little too long for the striker to control. After Phil Power had lost possession, Hawes regained it with a stirring tackle on Vicary and instigated a move which included touches from Craney, Scheuber and Maddox before Chambers was called offside (36 mins). The Vics replaced the limping full-back, Bates, with Wes Simpson (37 mins) before Chambers ran at the Northwich goal but sliced his shot.

Next, Laurie skipped past Porter but only a throw resulted before Chambers erred when he got under a header from a Power chip and directed the ball badly wide (42 mins). After his enforced absence, Leroy will need a game or two to recover his match fitness. As half-time approached, Northwich stepped up their play and after Vicary had passed to Devlin, McDermotte, Davies and Holcroft combined to get the ball to Laurie on the right. Maddox headed his cross clear (43 mins).

Three misfortunes followed in the two remaining minutes of the half. Firstly, Mr Brand stopped play to deliver a prolonged lecture to Mark Ward on the Alty bench; presumably the manager had objected to the award of a dubious freekick against Chambers for a foul on McDermotte on the touchline in front of the Northwich dugout. From the freekick Coburn was forced to overstretch as he came out and the keeper could not hold the ball but it was cleared by Scheuber and Furlong. The second misfortune was a tackle by Talbot on Kimmins as the number nine got away from the Alty captain in the left-centre of the visitors' defence, some 25 yards from goal. Not only was the tackle adjudged a foul but Talbot was booked (45 mins).

After a delay for treatment to Coburn's shoulder, presumably caused by his earlier overstretch, the freekick was taken. The third slice of misfortune was the in-swinging freekick by Holcroft which crossed the Altrincham penalty area and seemed to get the lightest of touches from Devlin as it did so. Its trajectory continued unaltered into the corner of the net, to Coburn's right. Although the announcer initially awarded the goal to Holcroft, after the interval he declared it to be Devlin's effort. Only some twenty seconds of play were allowed after the goal before the half-time whistle blew.

However, before play continued it was an Altrincham player who was sent off by Mr Brand; Farley was pointed to the touchline not for any offence but to remove an un-taped ring from his finger; Mr Brand also had another lengthy word with Mark Ward about this or some other contentious issue. Play resumed with a flowing passing move between Craney, Power and the ringless Farley which ended when Craney beat his defender but ran out of space. When Hawes made a fine interception from Devlin moments later, he moved the ball on via Chambers to Furlong. However, the ball came back to Hawes and Northwich forced Altrincham to play it back to Coburn. The Vics' substitute, Simpson, found some space on the left and hit a low 25-yarder which passed Coburn's post without troubling the Alty keeper before there was a stoppage for treatment to Kimmins. After 58 minutes Farley played a forward ball to Furlong but Rigby advanced to smother the ball at the forward's feet as Altrincham's fine passing continued on the wet surface. Chambers's good knock-on to Furlong led to the latter being forced wide but the ball came to Power who seemed to want a touch rather than a shot as Rigby again rushed out to smother the ball (60 mins).

Chambers's last contribution to the match was a very wide 25-yard shot before he was replaced by Otis Thomas, making his first-team debut. Lee Poland replaced the injured Kimmins at the same time (61 mins). Northwich now enjoyed a better period with Holcroft, in particular, showing some good skills. Altrincham's last throw of the dice came with Power's removal and the arrival on the pitch of Dickie Landon (64 mins).

Almost immediately Rigby was obliged to dribble round Landon to clear danger and the keeper was even more fortunate moments later when the frame of his goal was struck hard twice inside thirty seconds. Firstly, Otis Thomas played a good ball to the right which then came back through the driving rain to Furlong, some 20 yards out to the left of goal. Furlong's crashing drive hammered the crossbar but rebounded back into play and it very soon came to the feet of Landon, some 12 yards out slightly to the right of the penalty spot. He took aim and his firm, low shot ricocheted back of the keeper's left-hand post and was cleared (66 mins).

Northwich replied when Holcroft swept the ball to the left wing but the move broke down and ended in a goalkick to Coburn. The Alty keeper nearly threw away a goal moments later. He came out to take a freekick some 25 yards from his goal but succeeded only in playing it short to a Northwich player. As Coburn raced back to his goal and Northwich advanced down the centre, Maddox was forced into a saving block on the Northwich man and was justly booked for his offence (70 mins). Laurie then shot over the bar from the right after a feed from Vicary, which was countered by Craney's fourth long-range shot of the night which once again just cleared the bar. Farley was lucky to evade a booking when, in frustration at losing possession, he fouled an opponent near the half-way line (74 mins) before Maddox's foul on the lively Holcroft yielded a freekick which Coburn only held at the second attempt. The fouls were becoming frequent now as conditions worsened and legs grew tired; Furlong was the next victim, of a push, and a freekick was given not far outside the box, slightly to the left of goal. Dickie Landon hit the ball low and powerfully round the wall but Rigby dived to his left to keep it out, though he could not hold it. Unfortunately, the attendant Talbot could not get onto the rebound (76 mins).

Poland went to the other end and won a corner before the same player fouled Talbot. Altrincham conspired to produce an equaliser and their next chance came when Hawes's fine long ball found Thomas whose well-hit shot from the right went past the post (82 mins). The Alty substitute nearly got through again before the visitors won two freekicks. A fine passing move up the left by Altrincham ended when Farley was dispossessed but Norris's good through-ball to Lee Poland found the sub offside (85 mins).

Two corners on the right in quick succession underlined Altrincham's pressure and after the second had been punched clear, Furlong needed treatment. The next threat came from Thomas, on the right, but his cross was too long (86 mins). The tannoy then announced that the Man of Match was Malcolm Rigby, the Vics' keeper, which underlined the pressure placed on the home side by Altrincham.

Before the end, Landon harried a defender into giving away a corner on the left and Laurie went off to be replaced by Rose. Rigby then held a corner well from Hawes's kick before Altrincham's last chance came and went when a great chest-trap by Furlong let in Scheuber but the midfielder was dispossessed on the edge of the box.

Although Altrincham lost, they played a lot of good football in this match and were unlucky not to score. Carl Furlong was a thorn in Northwich's side throughout and had Kevin Ellison been fit the result might well have been different. Steve Hawes worked hard throughout in midfield but the absence of wide-men on both flanks was unfortunate. Ian Craney gave a very promising performance in midfield and showed that he has a powerful shot in his armoury too.

Otis Thomas's appearance also suggests that, at last, one or two good reserves are making the first-team grade. Jason Gallagher's injury is apparently not as bad a hamstring-pull as it might have been and with Leroy Chambers back in action and Mark Quayle on the mend, Mark Ward is beginning to have a wider pool of players from which to make his team selections.

With the Cheshire Cup out of the way, he can now concentrate his efforts on the League, with a trip to Spennymoor on Saturday. Anything less than three points against the bottom of the table side will be a disappointment. Altrincham dropped to fourth tonight as other Unibond matches were played but they now have games in hand on many of their rivals at the top of the league.