It was only after substitutions had been made in the second-half and after the award of a controversial opening goal that Altrincham became second-best. The substitution of the towering Gary Talbot was perhaps the biggest single reason for Altrincham's second-half demise.

The elusive Shaun Goodwin, after 45 minutes in the Manchester City friendly, was once more nowhere to be seen. However, two unexpected sightings at Haig Avenue were Mick Morrell who, having deserted Altrincham for Leigh RMI, was present in the stand. Mick is currently recovering from a leg operation and will be out for at least a month of Leigh's Conference season. Also in the stand was Southport manager Mark Wright's old crony, John Barnes.

Altrincham took to the field in their new away-kit and the blue and white shirts revealed the names of the Club's new sponsors to be "Heyrod", a construction firm. Whilst it is a longstanding football joke that away teams often have to play the referee as well as the opposition, the fact that the programme revealed that three of the four officials were from Southport and the fourth was from Liverpool, threatened to make that nightmare come true.

To be fair, the referee, Mr Miller was correct in most of his decisions though the controversy surrounding Southport's first goal did not reflect well on him. The Southport side included new signings Simon Parke from Guiseley, Mike Marsh from Kidderminster and the former Mansfield player, Dave Linighan. The Sandgrounders side was probably close to their first choice team.

Kevin Ellison then found some space on the left but his cross was poor but after Ward had fed Jason Gallagher, the Altrincham right-back neatly nipped between Marsh and Whittaker to set up Carl Furlong, but the front-man's shot was blocked (7 mins).

Carl's partner, Leroy Chambers then trod on the ball and seemed to turn his ankle as he then limped through the next few minutes. Turkington redeemed his reputation with a fine tackle on the lively Parke as Altrincham enjoyed the majority of the possession. Stuart Quinn has added the long-throw to the Altrincham armoury but his throw-in in the ninth minute came to nothing. However, shortly afterwards, his cross-ball in to Furlong saw the number nine turn ex-Altrincham player, Phil Bolland, to get in a shot at Steve Dickinson.

The referee had reason to talk to Kevin Ellison after his late lunge at Stuart (14 mins) which preceded a menacing move by Southport which, nevertheless, did not produce a shot at Coburn. Likewise an impressive move involving Quinn, Furlong and Chambers broke down on the edge of the box. At the other end, the ball skimmed off Gallagher's head to allow the speedy Whittaker to get to the by-line. However, his cross was slightly overhit and went for a goalkick. Mark Ward gave Jason a telling look (17 mins).

Gary Talbot was more than holding his own against the athletic Parke and was unfortunate to concede a corner when the linesman had flagged for a goalkick, a decision which Mr Miller overruled, as he was to do more controversially later in the match. After a foul on Furlong, Kevin Ellison produced a low cross but it went straight to the Southport 'keeper. Furlong then gave away possession and Whittaker fed Stuart, on the left.

The veteran full-back's cross was punched clear by Coburn who suffered a facial injury in the process, for which he needed treatment (21 mins). Eddie Turkington broke up another Southport attack as both sides found it difficult to get into good shooting positions. Parke then required treatment before Stuart Quinn and Stuart Scheuber (twice) were fouled in quick succession. None of the resulting three freekicks produced anything, however, though the third, by Quinn, found Leroy Chambers.

Leroy's header went well wide (28 mins). Mark Ward continued to impress in midfield, more than once holding possession with clever turns. However, Clark and the burly Pell broke on the right side and the latter's cross was well saved by Coburn at the feet of the incoming Parke (30 mins). Stuart Quinn responded with a fine run down the right and his cross found Kevin Ellison's head. Dickinson managed to scoop out the header for a corner, as Simon Parke decided he had enough and walked off the pitch and took off his shirt before any substitute could be prepared (31 mins).

Adams played in Ellison, whose cross was cleared before Lee Elam appeared in Parke's place. Altrincham then came very close again to scoring when after a corner by Adams had been half-cleared, the full-back combined with Ellison to play the ball back in to the area where Carl Furlong's goal-bound shot was saved well from close range by Dickinson.

Ellison then embarked on a long crossfield run before being dispossessed as Ward and Scheuber ably prompted Altrincham from midfield. A questionable freekick for a foul on Marsh led to Coburn having to dive at the feet of Pell as Southport attempted to reimpose themselves (36 mins) whilst Turkington made another impressive tackle on Whittaker to halt a menacing Southport attack. Sean Teale then provoked a fracas with Quinn which led the referee to speak to both players.

Some impressive passing play from Southport culminated in Coburn once more diving at the feet of the Southport attack but on this occasion Stuart clearly kicked the ball out of his hands and caught the keeper a glancing blow; however, a corner was awarded (39 mins). Guyett headed Marsh's corner wide as play went from end to end. Ellison once more overhit a cross after good work by Gallagher before the ailing Chambers was replaced by Phil Power, two minutes before the interval.

After Adams had been clattered 40 yards from the Southport goal, his freekick found its way to Stuart Quinn whose hard low cross from the right found Ellison on the left edge of the box. His fine shot brought the best out of Dickinson at the cost of a corner. Power then showed some skill in the box to set up a Scheuber shot but the midfielder failed to find sufficient power to trouble Southport.

Turkington then cleared from Pell before Jason Gallagher's run past Whittaker was halted by a Southport defender. The half ended curiously with Bolland skying the ball over his own keeper from outside the box but Dickinson made up his ground and gathered the ball comfortably as it headed towards goal. Altrincham had arguably had the better of a fairly even first-half.

After an uncharacteristic lapse by Adams, who was beaten by a cross-ball, Stuart got in a fierce shot which Coburn saved well. On 57 minutes, the effective Gary Talbot was substituted by trialist Adam Farley. Almost immediately, a fine cross from the left by the marauding Stuart evaded Farley's head and dropped invitingly for Pell near the edge of the box and the ex-Northwich man cracked the ball home firmly past Coburn (58 mins).

However, the one non-Southport official on view, Mr Claro from Liverpool, was resolutely waving his flag having become rooted to the spot more than half-way inside the Southport half. He had clearly seen an offence by Shaun Teale and had kept his flag in the air throughout the time it took for Southport to move the ball forward by sixty yards and score a goal. The referee was persuaded to go and consult his assistant and after a lengthy deliberation had a protracted talk with Teale.

Perversely, although the linesman had clearly seen an offence and had persuaded the referee of its occurrence, Mr Miller allowed the goal to stand. Altrincham responded with firstly, another sub-standard cross from Ellison and then a better cross from Adams which found Scheuber. The ex-Stoke man found a good shot but Dickinson beat it out well (59 mins). Gouck then felled Adams before Phil Power responded with a foul on Elam (61 mins).

The referee gestured for Power to go off and the fiery Altrincham man was immediately substituted by Dickie Landon (61 mins). The visiting fans behind the Southport goal continued to goad the referee for his goal award before Furlong produced a firm shot from the edge of the penalty area which went straight at Dickinson (63 mins) as Altrincham played well again once more. Quinn and Adams set up a header for Scheuber which went well over the crossbar prior to a bewildering 5-man substitution in the 68th minute.

Altrincham replaced Furlong and Ellison with Steve Porter and, curiously, a second-coming for Phil Power. Southport brought on a new keeper, Phil Morgan, as well as McCaulay and Linighan. Shaun Teale was one of those displaced, which may have displeased his formidable wife who amusingly figures in Ron Atkinson's autobiography, My story as Big Ron's bête-noire. Guyett was the other player to make way.

Mark Ward and Jason Gallagher.

As with the earlier substitution, Altrincham were soon in difficulty. A cross from the right was met by Elam whose sharp header left Coburn rooted to his line before the ball came back off his right-hand post and bounced conveniently on to the keeper's foot. The visitors responded with Landon supplying Scheuber whose shot went narrowly wide but should have been on target from 18 yards. The Altrincham central defence was looking less assured without Talbot but Hawes was doing his best to prompt Altrincham forward.

His attempted shot from the edge of the box was blocked and Clark took exception to Hawes's attempt to get at the ball. The Southport full-back appeared to take a kick at the Alty man and had to be physically restrained from further action; he was not booked. Altrincham then replaced the effective Quinn with Barry Crowe (71 mins), who slotted into midfield. Yet again, a substitution seemed to unsettle Altrincham though initially the danger appeared to have passed when Elam shot powerfully but well over the bar from Grayston's pass.

Then, Phil Power lost the ball to Stuart, who had been Altrincham's chief tormentor in the 0-2 defeat at Haig Avenue in the Conference last season. The balding full-back found Robert Pell whose shot from 25 yards was firm but not outstanding. Much to the Altrincham fans' surprise, Stuart Coburn, who had played so well, seemed to have the ball covered but then somehow allowed it go through his dive to the right and into the net for Southport's clincher (75 mins). Although Landon responded with a firm shot straight at 'keeper Morgan, Southport got the upper hand in the final portion of the game.

Turkington commited a late foul on Gouck after making a good tackle moments earlier on Pell as Southport threatened to score again. Another break by Stuart led to Coburn making a great save from Elam at the cost of a corner and then as the game entered the last ten minutes a looping header from Bolland clipped the stanchion behind the cross bar, though Coburn had it covered. Elam then broke clear again but his attempted chip was marvellously saved by Coburn, diving to his right.

Stuart even attempted a 30-yarder but Coburn saved it comfortably. A rare Altrincham attack saw Crowe's cross go beyond Landon to Porter but only a throw-in resulted. As Phil Power attempted a break from the centre, he went past Clark whose blood-curdling yell suggested acting prowess of Gielgud class- or an elbow in the ribs from the Altrincham man.

The referee thought the latter and gave a free-kick. After the three-minute board had been held up, Altrincham enjoyed some possession but lacked invention and it took the final whistle to put Altrincham out of their misery. Had this been a competitive game and the Altrincham side been left unaltered at half-time, the result may well have been different for they had shown that they could more than hold their own with the Conference team in the first half.

Whilst five games without a goal is not the best encouragement for the new season, the overall performance in the pre-season friendlies has been good with Mark Ward's influence clearly evident in his new side's passing skills. Without the need to make unforced substitutions and when pitted against less exalted opposition, Altrincham should confront the new Unibond Premier season with confidence.