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For the home side, Steve Hawes responded with a long, low shot which went wide (5 mins). However, it was Stocksbridge who should have scored again when from a corner on their right, a free-header was put wide from close range as the Altrincham defence again went missing. Coburn then had to punch clear off the head of Fothergill and when the ball was played back in from the left, the keeper caught it well in a swirling wind (10 mins).

The Yorkshire side continued to press and some good movement up their left wing allowed Hurlstone to cross, low from the left for Fothergill to slide the ball home from close range (11 mins). With Moss Lane stunned, Stocksbridge produced a flowing passing movement which culminated in a free header, put wide by Askey. By this stage (16 mins), Altrincham could easily have been four goals down; two goals had been scored and two straightforward chances spurned.

It was Stocksbridge who were winning most of the 50-50 balls; the normally accurate passing of Ward and Hawes was not much in evidence; the few balls played into the Stocksbridge box were consistently misdirected and, up front, Altrincham were posing no threat at all to Turner's net. It could and should have got worse when James Glendenning punched Fothergill by the touchline, close to the visitors' bench (21 mins).

Glendenning, whose sending off at Hyde cost us three league points, still has some serious lessons in self-discipline to learn. For some reason the young centre-back went across to the Steels' man, said a few words to him and then cuffed him on the head. Whilst it was not a punch of Lennox Lewis ferocity it was, nonetheless, more than a pat and totally inexcusable. Fothergill went down with a little more vigour than the strength of the punch demanded but a red card seemed to be the only option for the referee. However, only a yellow card was produced. When Brownrigg was booked for a routine trip on Scheuber (25 mins), objections were raised by the small but vocal Stocksbridge following in the stand.

At two goals down, Altrincham still struggled to get their game together. When they won a corner on the right, it was poorly delivered by Hawes but after this they did at least string together a sustained passing movement which ended in a 30-yard shot from Mark Ward which was well struck but which Turner got behind and caught at the second attempt (37 mins).

Soon after this, Scott delivered a good cross which Murphy chested down, but the ball ran away from him in the box. Torrential rain, which had started mid-way through the half, now stopped (40 mins) as Altrincham still faltered despite an improvement in their play. The last significant action of the half, however, was a Stocksbridge corner, which was cleared by a Maddox header.

However, it fortuitously found Murphy on the left wing, who promptly lost possession. As played stopped for lengthy treatment to Scheuber, the home crowd reflected on fifty minutes which had not witnessed a decent shot from the home side. Following a foul on Craney, Ward lashed a free-kick narrowly wide from just outside the box (53 mins). At the other end Biggins fired far too high from long range (57 mins). Murphy then got the ball in a good position for Altrincham but dithered inside the box rather than getting in a snap shot and the opportunity was wasted.

A clumsy challenge by Fidler on Scott gave Ward a freekick by the touchline 30 yards out. This came to the head of Scheuber who directed it well over the bar (59 mins). Just as signs were emerging of an improvement in the Robins's play, they went three goals behind. A ball in from the left was headed out firmly by Maddox but it found Biggins, 20 yards from goal, slightly to the left. His well struck shot was heading straight for Coburn only for it to take a massive deflection off Wakefield and screw into Coburn's net to the keeper's right (61 mins).

Longden was booked for a foul but the same Stocksbridge man immediately transgressed against Scheuber; the referee diplomatically waved play on (62 mins). Liam Robinson replaced Hurlstone for the Steels and Keith Mairs came on for Mark Ward (63 mins) as the rain lashed down still. Soon, Hawes did put the ball in the net from close range (65 mins) but the whistle had already gone for offside.

Following a fine pass to Scott by Farley, the full-back's cross was handled by a defender. However, Turner palmed away Hawes's free-kick before Danny Murphy gave way to Bowker for Altrincham (70 mins). Much more threatening was a shot from Fidler for Stocksbridge, following a Biggins free-kick. The number three struck a fine 20 yard shot which Coburn did superbly well to palm away as he dived to his left (72 mins). The Steels now brought on Siddall for Longden (73 mins) but play came to a sudden halt moments later as the referee, Mr Dale, collapsed to the ground (76 mins).

After treatment he was carried off in a seated position on a hand-cradle. The assistant referees also left the pitch and the players and crowd were left without any action for some six or seven minutes. This interlude was enlivened by Brian Flynn, the voice of Altrincham's club-call telephone service, who announced over the tannoy, "Would Mr D Elleray of Harrow-on-the Hill report to the referee's room immediately". When the officials returned it was not the Harrow schoolmaster who appeared but an unknown man in a black anorak who acted as linesman whilst one of the official linesmen was upgraded to referee.

The home fans' half-serious hopes that the game might be abandoned for lack of a replacement official were not to be fulfilled!

After the restart, a short corner by Stocksbridge produced a header over the bar (79 mins). For Altrincham, Terry Bowker attempted to get things moving down the Altrincham right and he was one of the few Alty players to emerge with any real credit from the night.

The last ten minutes saw Stocksbridge on the back foot and it took fouls on Hawes (not given) and Scott (given) to halt Altrincham's advance. Scheuber's free-kick for the latter offence was just too high for Bowker, arriving at the back post (81 mins). Scheuber and Craney then combined, with the latter firing low, but just wide of the post (83 mins). The Altrincham pressure finally told when an efficient interchange of passes up the left side took Craney to the by-line, where he was brought down for a penalty.

Finney stepped forward and scored, slotting the ball low into the keeper's left-hand corner, with five minutes of play left. Ashton immediately replaced Askey for Stocksbridge (85 mins). There was not enough time for Altrincham to mount any further serious threat and the referee blew the whistle on a game which left Altrincham needing Ossett to beat Ashton if they were to progress to the President's Cup. However, in this Unibond Cup system, elimination from one cup competition will simply mean enrolment in another.

If Altrincham are consigned to the Chairman's Cup (for the six best third-placed teams and two worst runners-up in the Challenge Cup group stage), they could meet Emley or Barrow, both of whom have already secured third-place finishes in their groups. This was Stocksbridge's first win in the competition and they deserved it.

Although they themselves carved out few opportunities in the second half they created enough chances in the first period to have won even more comfortably. In short, they showed the greater desire to win the match and got their reward. According to several of today's national newspapers this match did not actually take place; they recorded it as "postponed". If only we could believe what we read in newspapers!

Altrincham will need to improve greatly if they are to take anything from Saturday's visit to Lancaster, who lie one place below them in the League. The unsettling effect of the financial difficulties and the resulting off-loading of players was bound to take its toll but the Club should still have enough talent on its books to arrest its current slump on the field and consolidate its position in the top six of the League.