ALTRINCHAM FC YOUTH TEAM MATCH REPORT


ALTRINCHAM FC YOUTH (4) 7 ASHTON ATHLETIC YOUTH (2) 2

NWYA Premier League
Sunday, 1 December, 2013, 2pm.


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ALTRINCHAM YOUTH (Red & white striped shirts, black shorts and red socks) 1. Steve BULLEN, 2. Matt HANCOCK, 3. Matt GRAETZER, 4. Tom CLARKE, 5. Derek UBAH, 6. Pat CRILLY, 7. Joe COFFEY, 8. Spencer CUNLIFFE (capt), 9. Max POUNCEY, 10. Kane HUGHES, 11. Tom WESTALL. Subs: 12. Matt TODD, 14. Louis BROWN, GK. Josh SAMBERG.

REPORT

Altrincham were without the injured Louis Potts and Rob Gilroy, whilst David Brown was involved in the England Schools trials. Also, Matt Todd was only on the bench after a recent knock. This gave Matt Hancock, Joe Coffey, Kane Hughes and Tom Westall the chance of starting the game. It was agreed that the match would comprise two halves, each of forty minutes.

Ashton, however, had only seven players at the 2pm kick off time but an eighth player arrived and the game kicked off eleven minutes late. Remarkably, the eight men took the lead inside two minutes when their number nine made an impressive run through the Alty midfield and defence before passing to the left where the no.7 scored.

It could have got worse as the Ashton no.9 soon won a corner, following which the no.4 headed narrowly wide (3 mins). After Hughes had forced a save, Altrincham began to settle and won four corners before Coffey scored a good goal from the edge of the box to level the game at 1-1 (8 mins).

A minute later, Westall also scored from a similar distance to give Altrincham a 2-1 lead (9 mins). Westall then fed Pouncey who made it 3-1 after 16 minutes. But though Alty's corner count had risen to seven, when the visitors won a flag-kick themselves, their second of the match, slack defending allowed the no.4 to make the score 3-2 (22 mins) "That defending was terrible” shouted manager George Heslop to his team.

When Cunliffe was tripped to win a freekick just outside the Ashton box, Alty surprisingly left four men back against no opposing player. Just after the half-hour mark, a neat move involving Graetzer, whose fine pass found Westall, ended with Cunliffe making it 4-2 (31 mins).

Half time arrived with Altrincham 4-2 up having won twelve first-half corners.


Half-Time: ALTRINCHAM FC YOUTH 4 ASHTON ATHLETIC YOUTH 2

At the interval, Todd came on for the injured Coffey. Four minutes after the break, Westall's excellent cross from the left was met on the half-volley by Pouncey to make it 5-2 (44 mins). At this point, Steve Bullen, who seemed to have a groin problem, was replaced in goal by Josh Samberg. It was now one-way traffic towards the Ashton goal but, to their credit, the eight men kept going and did not resort to fouls or time-wasting but continued to harry their opponents.

Three more corners came and went for Altrincham before Louis Brown came on for Kane Hughes (56 mins). The pressure finally told, after 62 minutes, when a cross from Todd evaded a defender and Cunliffe lashed home Alty's sixth goal (66 mins). A good Alty move was finished off by Westall in the 71st minutes, completing the scoring at 7-2 (71 mins).

After a sluggish start, Altrincham had imposed themselves to record a convincing win against spirited but depleted opposition.


Full-Time: ALTRINCHAM FC YOUTH 7 ASHTON ATHLETIC YOUTH 2