Altrincham F.C. Reserves: Match Report.

Fielding a much-changed side, Altrincham Reserves were ultimately unlucky not to take anything from this match. Amongst the Robins' newcomers was the former Stockport County youngster, Lee Evans. With manager Paul Cuddy apparently not in attendance, Keith Mairs seemed to be in charge of the team. The first half was mostly played in torrential rain and the pitch was therefore on the slippery side, a factor which Guiseley exploited with some rugged tackling of which Alty captain Keith Mairs was a frequent but resilient victim.

It was Alty who should have taken the lead after five minutes when they had three rapid-fire shots from virtually on the goal-line, all of which were somehow kept out by the Guiseley keeper and defenders. Just two minutes later the Guiseley no.10 was adjudged to have sprung the offside trap, though this seemed a bit dubious, but he strode on to give Dale Newbrook no chance with his shot to open the scoring (7 mins). In reply, a fine ball by Wilkinson almost got Evans in on goal but the chance was cleared. Guiseley began to get the better of things with a mix of good passing and uncompromising tackling in midfield. However, Alty had two more chances to equalise inside two minutes of each other. First a fine cross from the left found Wilkinson, but his firm header was directed at the keeper.

Then another left-wing cross, from a corner, saw Wilkinson head narrowly wide. But it was Guiseley who had the next good chance when they broke free again, only for their no.11's rasping shot to crash against both upright and cross bar before being cleared. Altrincham's pacey striker, Evans, looked the home side's biggest threat to the Guiseley goal at this stage but no clear openings arose for him or his colleagues.

A particularly bad foul brought a booking for Guiseley's no.11 (41 mins) but a couple of his colleagues were lucky to escape the referee's book. With many players in their side unfamiliar to each other, it had taken Alty some time to settle and Guiseley's narrow lead was probably just deserved at this stage.

At half-time Alty changed their front pairing, replacing their number nine and number ten by Jason Anthony and Youth team player, Lee Thompson and within two minutes of the re-start Alty had equalised. The goal came from a similar goal-line scramble to that which occurred at the start of the first half. This time it must have taken at least four attempts but Alty succeeded on this occasion in getting the ball in the net after the keeper had failed to hold the ball. It appeared to be Jason Anthony who got the last touch for the goal (47 mins). Alty then went on to dominate the early part of the second half.

After 52 minutes Lee Thompson found himself clear of the defence but he was unfortunately unable to steer the ball past the advancing keeper. The keeper soon did well again when Thompson played in Anthony but the latter's shot was stopped by the Guiseley number one. After 58 minsutes, with Alty looking the more likely winners, left-back Paul Robinson came on to replace Charles Heathcote. Keith Mairs was setting a good example with some hard work in central midfield and the Alty no.11 was also showing some good skill and pace on the left, but Alty were unable to create a clear opening.

After 72 minutes, Guiseley brought on their no.12 for no.10 but another half-chance came for Alty when a long, high ball from the back found Lee Thompson closing in on it as the keeper advanced behind him. Without the benefit of eyes in the back in his head, Lee was unable to see that a firm backward header would probably have taken the ball goalward and instead he tried to control it with his feet and he was unfortunately driven away from goal (74 mins).

At the other end, the Guiseley no.9 let fly with a firm shot which Dale Newbrook did very well to push away to his right (76 mins). Having been second-best, Guiseley finished strongly.

After some sustained pressure, a break through the centre saw the Alty defence stand off and pay the price when the number 9 drove the ball low past the exposed keeper, Dale Newbrook, who again had no chance of saving the ball (86 mins). Despite a strong shout near the end for handball in the Guiseley penalty area, the Yorkshire side held on for their win which was scant reward for Altrincham's good performance in the majority of the second half period.