Match Report

This was certainly not Altrincham's most fluid performance this season but they battled effectively to keep out a sustained second-half onslaught from Runcorn and consolidated their third position in the table. Altrincham had enjoyed their best spell of the game in the middle of the first half, after going ahead when Chambers reacted quickly and took advantage of defensive hesitancy to score off the cross bar from ten yards (16 mins). Runcorn nearly equalised shortly before the interval when Coburn tipped a shot onto an upright from where it rebounded safely to him. In the last ten minutes Altrincham came back into the match but it was not until Kevin Ellison's fine 89th-minute goal that the points were secured. It was a match of contrasting styles. Runcorn took every opportunity to pump the ball into the visitors' box, whilst Altrincham tried to play the ball to feet, though they too made some hopeful rather than considered punts forward in the second half. Runcorn's style meant that Gary Talbot and Mark Maddox were kept busy and this result owed a lot to their solid performances at the back.

Adam Farley was again preferred ahead of Barry Crowe at right-back, whilst the return of Leroy Chambers meant that Phil Power joined Crowe as a spectator. Michael Garrity continued in midfield and the subs again included centre-back James Glendenning and Ian Craney, with Dickie Landon being the third man on the bench. Runcorn retained Danny Salt at full-back, the player having just returned to fitness after an eye operation. For Alty, Mark Ward is about to undergo a cartilage operation and Jason Gallagher, Mark Quayle and Eddie Turkington also remain sidelined through injury, whilst Stuart Quinn appears to be out of the reckoning altogether

Canal Street is a difficult ground to find amidst Runcorn's Expressways and its location was further disguised for this match by the presence of a circus big-top between the car-park and the stadium. The first couple of minutes saw an exchange of unthreatening attacks, with first Liam Watson having a long shot after picking up the ball some 20 yards out to Coburn's left and then Hawes put Furlong through for a low shot across goal at the other end.

A much better chance arose when Brunskill won a lucky rebound and fed Nolan but the Runcorn man hesitated only six yards out and only a corner resulted (3 mins). Runcorn fluffed another chance moments later with a miskick ten yards in front of goal but then Altrincham responded with a good move involving Scheuber which ended in an offside decision against Furlong (5 mins). For the third time in the opening six minutes Runcorn failed to capitalise on a good chance when Watson fed Moseley on the edge of the box but the number nine was too slow to react effectively. However, the early pattern of Runcorn running quickly at the Altrincham defence had been set. Some relief came when Robinson fouled Hawes in the centre of the pitch. Hawes's quickly taken kick hit the referee and eventually had to be taken three times before the man in black was satisfied. In the interim Mr Smith had words with Nolan, presumably for encroachment. The freekick by Hawes came to Ellison on the left and he cut in but his right-foot shot curled too high over Acton's goal (9mins).

With the furious pace of the opening ten minutes slackening slightly, Hawes, Furlong, Porter and Chambers combined to let in Porter for a rising snap shot which went well wide (11 mins). A Hawes freekick, from just outside the area, was cleared after a foul had been committed on Furlong as he ran at the defence (13 mins) with Altrincham now coming into the game more. A foot-up offence on Robinson only led to a scooped freekick from the same player which Coburn, sporting a newly shaven head, fielded easily. After a good move between Ellison, Garrity and Farley, the ball came to Chambers who was clattered from behind about 30 yards from goal on the Altrincham right.

Following a lecture for Runcorn's Tony Ward for dissent, Ellison took the kick and Chambers, seizing upon hesitancy in the Runcorn defence, slotted the ball home firmly off the underside of the cross-bar from about ten yards out (16 mins) to give Altrincham the lead. Furlong nearly added to the tally a couple of minutes later when he went on a fine run forward but was forced a little to the left of goal and from there he curled a good shot just over the bar. As he walked back, Furlong went down clutching the back of his leg and needed treatment. Altrincham were now enjoying what was to be their best period of the game and, soon, Garrity was chasing a ball which the Runcorn keeper only just got to before him (20 mins). Almost immediately, Ellison fired in a hard, low cross but Chambers could not apply the finishing touch (21 mins).

Runcorn recovered their composure following a freekick taken by Acton some 25 yards out of his goal. Robinson knocked it on to Moseley and he won a corner on the Runcorn left. Coburn punched the inswinging flag-kick clear but it found Nolan, outside the penalty area. After a Runcorn throw on their right by Salt, Brunskill fed Watson who went down in the box under pressure from Maddox. From Maddox's reaction, the Runcorn man may have made a meal of this challenge and, indeed, Watson subsequently received a lecture from Mr Smith (24 mins). Following an aerial foul by Watson on Talbot, whose heading was superb throughout, Coburn's 70-yard punt produced a throw for the visitors on their left. From this, Ellison unleashed a telling cross but it evaded his colleagues as well as the Runcorn defence. Runcorn wasted a freekick for a foul by Scheuber on Robinson, the ball again falling for Coburn whose long clearance once again troubled the Runcorn defence. Stuart scored in the last league encounter between these sides at Canal Street and, from time to time, the Altrincham fans urged him to go for goal in this match.

Robinson was rightly booked for a bad foul on Hawes (27 mins) to produce a freekick which Mr Smith, once more, required to be retaken. Although this led to a good passing movement there was no end product. Steve Porter then prompted Garrity, who found Furlong but again the move broke down. Runcorn came back into things when Moseley got free up the right-hand side after the ball had spun past Gary Talbot but the Runcorn man's cross for Watson was cleared by Hawes. Runcorn then threatened up the other wing but the final cross was overhit. However, Runcorn sustained the pressure and Robinson, Brunskill and Watson combined to set up Salt for a right-wing cross but the defender overhit the ball.

Brunskill's freekick produced yet another corner, though Coburn was not happy at this decision as he appeared to have let the ball go believing it to be a goal-kick (37 mins). Runcorn were the better side at this stage and looked particularly threatening down the Altrincham defence's right-hand side. More Runcorn pressure ended with an overhit pass and an Altrincham goal-kick before the Linnets almost grabbed an equaliser. Moseley got clear in a central-right position and hit a good low shot from about 15 yards, to Coburn's right. The keeper seemed to get a slight touch on the ball which was enough to tip it onto the inside of his right-hand post from which it rebounded back into his grateful arms (40 mins). Having been penned back for the previous ten minutes, Altrincham could not have complained had an equaliser been scored.

Altrincham did gain some respite as Chambers harried a defender into conceding a corner on the visitors' left. Acton held Hawes's kick at the second attempt. Chambers again did well to pass to Hawes whose ball on to Scheuber was moved on via Farley but he was forced to play it back to Maddox who, in turn, laid it off to Coburn. The keeper was busy again when a Talbot back-pass obliged him to rush out and kick clear (43 mins). After a poor cross by Salt, Runcorn won a throw, then a corner in quick succession. Steve Porter needed treatment before the kick could be taken from the Runcorn right but Brunskill made a mess of it, knocking it straight behind Coburn's goal (44 mins). Half-time came with Altrincham fortunate still to be ahead after conceding half a dozen corners to a fast-moving but wasteful Runcorn team.

Whether for tactical reasons or otherwise, Adam Farley was replaced by Ian Craney at the start of the second half; certainly Runcorn had been a threat down the right-back's channel in the first half. This substitution meant that Steve Hawes moved to right-back and Craney slotted into midfield. Although Hawes did well at the back, his loss to the midfield was significant as Altrincham fought back a tide of Runcorn pressure in the second period. For Runcorn, the only half-time change was of the goalkeeper's jersey; he swapped his blue top for a red one as the former had been very similar to the Altrincham strip's colour.

After Chambers had been caught offside, play stopped for treatment to Nolan before Runcorn resumed their attacks. Maddox repelled their advance with a bullet-like diving header (47 mins) before Watson was caught offside in the follow-up move. Nolan was soon in the wars again, being fouled about 25 yards from goal. Brunskill's curling free-kick was won at the far post by a Runcorn man but the ball was scrambled clear. Carl Furlong then clashed with Ellis as they both chased the same ball near the centre-line. Both men went down but Ellis's injury was the worse- a badly cut head. The Runcorn coach came onto the pitch and started to reorganise his side and this earned him a well-merited lecture from Mr Smith before John Benson replaced the bleeding Ellis (51 mins).

Play resumed with a free-kick for Runcorn but Coburn caught what was another poorly taken Runcorn free-kick, by Brunskill, with ease. The second half had been scrappy so far, with Altrincham on the defensive for the most part. Both Ellison and Chambers were unable to make an impact; a header from Ellison fell to Acton and Chambers was fouled for an unproductive free-kick (53 mins). Coburn then had to be watchful to tip a looping Runcorn header over his cross-bar as it dropped out of the sky. From the corner an overhead kick was met by a Runcorn head which went over for another Runcorn corner. This was half-cleared to Robinson whose 25-yarder curled wide (55 mins).

Altrincham's frustration at being penned back seemed to affect Furlong. Firstly, the young striker was pulled up for off-side with a clear path to goal. He chose to carry on and put the ball past Acton into the net; the goalkeeper took exception to this and a dispute arose. Both players were lucky not to be booked (55 mins), but the Altrincham man did not learn his lesson for he promptly fouled a Runcorn player. A rare passing movement from Runcorn saw Watson, Ward and Robinson combine to sweep the ball forwards and leftwards but only a throw-in resulted. At this point Landon came on for Chambers (59 mins) who was getting little service up-front. Ellison was also having a quiet game but he got the ball to Hawes whose swerving shot was saved comfortably (61 mins).

Craney soon played a fine ball, left, to Porter and after several passes the ball fell to Landon but his header ran to Acton. Furlong was then clattered without receiving a free-kick before Scheuber and Landon attempted to contrive a goal on the edge of the box as Altrincham had their best spell for some time. Having won a throw on the right, Furlong appeared to take a kick at Chantler and was rightly booked. Carl Furlong at times succumbs to a kind of "red mist" and in such situations Altrincham fans wonder what he will do next in his charged-up state. In this respect, as well as for his habit of sticking his tongue out, Carl recalls Paul Gascoigne. Whilst this keeps the fans entertained it can lead him into trouble.

A free-kick won by Robinson, who was fouled by Craney, was wasted by the victim before Furlong was removed from the fray to be replaced by centre-back Glendenning (65 mins). Whether this move was to spare Furlong the risk of a further booking or for tactical reasons is debatable but it did have the benefit of allowing Hawes to return to midfield as the tall substitute took over at right-back. Almost immediately Hawes went up the right but the ball ended up in the Runcorn side-netting. At the other end, Nolan hooked a shot just wide of Coburn's left post but then Altrincham broke when Landon won the ball. His pass to Scheuber was relayed to Ellison who was bundled off the ball in the box (68 mins) but then Brunskill raced down the right wing to threaten the other goal but his cross was awful. Glendenning was then beaten on the right by Watson and Coburn saved bravely at the player-manager's feet. As Coburn stayed down, Maddox rushed in and a scuffle occurred between Maddox, Watson and another Runcorn man- presumably Maddox had taken exception to the challenge on Coburn but his action was unnecessary and resulted in a booking (71 mins). Watson continued to have a go at Maddox as play was about to resume after treatment to Coburn and the referee spoke to both men again.

A rare mis-header by Talbot was compounded when the Altrincham captain also fell over but the resulting danger was cleared (74 mins). Altrincham finally got a shot on goal when Hawes won the ball, passed to Ellison and Kevin's left foot curler smacked firmly into Acton's midriff as he caught the ball. At this point the Runcorn assistant manager, Neil Whalley, was shouting "Wardy, go down" to his number ten, and his number ten duly obliged so that play could be stopped and that Griffiths could replace the injured Tony Ward (75 mins). Glendenning was having a difficult time out of position at right-back and the home side won another corner when the substitute was beaten. The corner was cleared and Altrincham's Craney was soon shooting very high from 25 yards at the other end. Craney next cleared up the danger from a Maddox mis-header and Scheuber and Porter combined with him to set up Hawes for a low, hard shot which the keeper held (81 mins).

Altrincham were now belatedly coming back into the match and after Garrity had been tripped as he took up a pass from Landon, Hawes's free-kick from 30 yards out was caught in the air by the Runcorn keeper (84 mins). Landon and Garrity then combined again before Craney produced an excellent cross-field ball to Landon on the left. Porter took the ball up but knocked it too far ahead, resulting in a goal-kick to Runcorn. Ellison served warning on Runcorn that he was coming to life when he beat two men and was only stopped when a prostrate defender appeared to knock the ball clear with his hand (87 mins). It was now Runcorn who were under pressure but after Landon had been fouled, Garrity's freekick was hoofed into the adjoining circus compound by the Runcorn defence (88 mins). As the last minute approached, Scheuber won the ball from Robinson in the centre of the pitch and slotted it through to Ellison. Ellison took off for goal, brushed aside a couple of challenges and just when it appeared that he might have gone too far, he slotted the ball from left of goal, across the goalkeeper, and into the bottom corner of Acton's net to make the game safe for the visitors (89 mins).

The scoreline was, in truth, a little flattering for Altrincham as Runcorn had dominated long periods of the match. However Talbot, Maddox and Porter had stood firm at the back and Coburn had been as efficient as ever. Runcorn's pace and constant use of the long ball into the box was not matched by their composure at the many corners and free-kicks which they won. Despite rumours of discord at Canal Street the home side certainly played with commitment before their largest crowd of the season and it was difficult so see why they had started the campaign so badly. However, Altrincham can pride themselves on a battling performance which brought them a fourth consecutive win.

Now that they have acquired the knack of winning without Mark Ward's playing presence and with injuries affecting other members of the squad (Gallagher, Turkington, Quayle and, until today, Chambers), they are well-placed for a challenge for the title. One troublesome area is still the full-back slot. Whilst Porter seems to have made the left-back position his own, the right-hand side is still unsettled. In this game Farley, Hawes and Glendenning all had spells in that slot but Barry Crowe, who is arguably the best in that position only looked on as a spectator. This report cannot be complete without a word of praise for Kevin Ellison; despite having a fairly quiet game till the final stages, Kevin scored his fourth goal in consecutive games and his seventh in ten starts this season. So many of these have been fine goals, including the one tonight where he held off challenges before finding the corner of the net. After the FA Cup interlude this Saturday, next Tuesday's sees a big clash at Moss Lane against unbeaten Stalybridge Celtic, with Altrincham due for a win over the side who had the Indian sign on them last season in three FA Cup encounters.