Altrincham F.C. Youth Team: Match Report.

In the picture above, Paul Robinson scores his penalty against Burscough today.

Altrincham were without a number of Youth Team regulars including the suspended Mario Daniel and the injured Domain Esdale and Wes Wilkinson. Paul Coverley was also unavailable as manager George Heslop and coach Neil Thomason adopted their customary 4-4-2 formation.

Lee Shillito and Richard Smith led the attack, with McDonald, Jennings, Tilley and Drew in midfield, whilst Rowland, Phythian, Marley and Robinson made up the back four. After an early Alty attack had broken down, a speculative ball through the middle of the Altrincham defence left keeper Broxson having to rush from his line, with just four minutes gone. He was unable to make the necessary interception and as Rowland chased a Burscough forward towards the empty net, the defender fouled his opponent to prevent a certain goal.

The inevitable penalty followed and Burscough's number eight scored, though Broxson got close to it. Altrincham had a lot of possession and spent plenty of time in the opposition half but Burscough were a strong and well-drilled side who managed to keep out the darting runs of Shillito and Smith. Lee McDonald fired a good shot just wide after 21 minutes and his midfield partner Paul Tilley also produced some good moments but, against thr run of play, the Altrincham central defence parted and Burscough's number ten latched onto a routine through ball to double the visitors' advantage after 23 minutes.

James Jennings was beginning to make his presence felt in the Alty midfield but Burscough were still a threat and Broxson did well to stop a 25 yarder from their number three. Soon, the visitors' number eight was given too much time to turn and chip the ball just over the bar (30 mins). For Alty, Drew beat two men but shot over the bar (33 mins).

The Burscough number ten then troubled Chris Phythian in Alty's defence but the danger was eventually cleared. But then for the third time, a ball through the centre of the Alty defence caused consternation. Broxson rushed out of his area but his attempted kick did not connect with the ball and the Burscough number nine strode on to score into an empty net (39 mins). So, all three goals had come through the centre of the defence. Just before the interval, a corner from the right found Drew at the back of the box but he shot wide (43 mins).

Watched by a good crowd of some sixty people, Altrincham started the new half well and good play by Jennings soon set up Shillito, whose shot came back off the crossbar (51 mins). Then, Shillito (seen, right) was involved again before an overhead kick from Tilley hit the inside of the upright and the Burscough keeper appeared to scoop the rebound out from behind the line but no goal was given (57 mins).

Mark Drew, who had been limping, was replaced on the left by Lee Thompson and the substitute soon made quite an impact on the game (61 mins). However, Burscough then wasted a chance before they replaced their number ten with number fourteen (64 mins). McDonald was then badly caught after he had played the ball but with him lying injured off the pitch, the game continued. A surging run from Jennings led to a Thompson cross which won a corner on the Alty left.

From the near-post corner, the ball came out to Jennings who volleyed it neatly into the top right corner of the Burscough net from 12 yards (68 mins). Thompson and Shillito then combined for the substitute to shoot just wide of the upright (70 mins). Altrincham were now dominant but Burscough still made some useful breaks. Phythian's ball forward for Alty found Shillito, who won a free-kick on the left (78 mins).

From this there was a ruck in the box, with three Alty players trying to poke the ball home but a Burscough defender went down and handled the ball on the ground to concede a penalty. Paul Robinson stepped up and scored cleanly from the spot (79 mins) to set up a promising finale. Another nice ball forward from Jennings forced the Burscough keeper out to smother the ball at Thompson's feet (87 mins). A tussle between Marley and the Burscough number nine led to a free-kick for Burscough on the edge of the Alty box, from which a corner followed - but this was cleared.

With Altrincham pressing for a deserved equaliser, Tilley was dispossessed in midfield and Burscough broke away, with their number nine taking the ball round Broxson, to the right of goal then clipping the ball neatly into the vacant net to seal the game and give the visitors a flattering margin of victory. Just seconds later the referee blew for full-time.

Alty's second-half performance was far better than their first-half showing with Broxson having virtually nothing to do. The Alty midfield became more cohesive and the defence looked better organised, whilst the introduction of Thompson gave added punch up the left side.

Indeed, the second half display gave good grounds for believing that once the team has become more accustomed to playing together and the full squad is available once more, the team will achieve some good results this season. Alty's next match is at Moss Lane on Tuesday when they entertain Gretna in the second preliminary round of the F.A. Youth Cup. For all of the YOUTH TEAM FIXTURES, click here

Altrincham Team:-
1. Jordan BROXSON, 2. Vernum ROWLAND, 3. Paul ROBINSON, 4. Chris PHYTHIAN, 5. Dean MARLEY, 6. Lee McDONALD, 7. James JENNINGS, 8. Paul TILLEY (capt.), 9.Richard SMITH, 10. Lee SHILLITO, 11. Mark DREW. Subs. 12. Lee THOMPSON, 14. Stephen LUNT, 15. Ian TAYLOR, 16. Chris SPENCER, 17. Paul GLYNN.
Footnote: The Burscough scorers were Hussey, Richardson and Mason (2)