In Monday's replay, Hednesford Town had two men sent off; Macpherson went for an alleged "elbow", whilst Bailey picked up a second yellow, believed to be for kicking the ball away.

SKRILL NORTH NEWS

McCone, 22, skippered the Glassboys last season as they pushed Brakes all the way in the Southern Premier Division... He spent ten years at Wolverhampton Wanderers as a youngster before being snapped up by Gary Hackett on his release in 2010. He was a mainstay of the Stourbridge side over the last few seasons, making 144 appearances (plus four as a substitute) and scoring thirteen goals for the Black Country outfit.

He signed for Leamington towards the start of the season having been on trial with Kidderminster Harriers".

Grimsby Town report that their "striker Dayle Southwell is set to go to Harrogate Town for an initial one month loan. Harrogate have been looking for an attacking player for some time and their manager Simon Weaver and his assistant John McDermott were impressed with the striker during Tuesday’s practice game against Scunthorpe United".

Still in Lincolnshire, This is Lincs tells us that "Ashley Timms has reaffirmed his commitment to Boston United after ending his spell training with Sheffield United. Timms has been working with the League One Blades, who sacked manager David Weir last week, on top of training with Dennis Greene’s side.

The highly-rated Pilgrims keeper has made no secret of his desire to return to the full-time game one day and is believed to be catching the eye of Football League clubs. However, Timms insists Boston are his priority this season. The former Manchester City man wants to make up for his costly error in Saturday’s FA Cup defeat at Brackley and help the club win promotion to the Skrill Premier...

'Obviously I came back in the summer injured and didn’t play in the first few pre-season games, so the idea of training at Sheffield United was for me to gain some match fitness and train every day', explained Timms. 'It was to the benefit of Boston United and myself as it would make me sharper but the manager just felt I was coming to training a little tired having trained all day with Sheffield United. He just wants the best for the club and the players, which is right, so we’ve agreed that I’ll stop training there. It’s been a mutual decision really. At the moment it’s important that I concentrate on Boston United and try to help us win promotion.

I’m ambitious and I want to get back to the full-time game. So, if anything came up at the end of the season, I’d be interested. But, if we were to go up, there would be more money around and maybe we would go full-time'...

'It was very disheartening to make a mistake like that in such a crucial game', added Timms... 'I was expecting to catch the ball, but it dipped sharply. Almost a thousand times out of a thousand I would save that... I feel particularly bad for the fans who travelled in big numbers again. They’ve paid out money to get to the game and I felt I let them down... but the support I’ve had on social media has been really encouraging. We’ve got two big home games now, against Harrogate and Altrincham, and I want to repay that faith'".

In the Shropshire Star we read that "AFC Telford United manager Liam Watson missed last night's 2-1 friendly victory at Chester to run the rule over a player figuring in Nantwich's visit of Chorley.

Assistant boss Dominic Morley took the team at the Deva Stadium, where the Bucks ran out winners through a goal from Sean Cooke and a Tony Gray penalty. Watson was taking in an Evo-Stik Northern Premier League fixture where Chorley prevailed 1-0, with the resurgent [ex-Alty loanee] Mat Bailey playing as a late substiute for the home side. The towering 6ft 7in former Crewe man rehabbed at Telford over the summer from a cruciate ligament injury, before returning to the club he left in the close season.

Watson is planning to offer the 27-year-old a deal when he is convinced he is fully fit... Morley revealed...'Liam was watching Nantwich last night but it wasn't just to see Mat Bailey, he was watching some else on a recommendation he had. We are not actively looking for signings but we are always on the look-out for better players, if they can fit into the club's budget'...

Telford defender Dan Preston, who has been transfer listed at his own request, didn't start at Chester last night as he was stuck in traffic... so was introduced for Neill Byrne at half-time".

According to She Kicks, "Birmingham City are moving to play their home games at Solihull Moors FC from the start of the 2014 WSL season. The decision to move came about after it was that Blues Ladies current home venue at Stratford Town, did not meet the improved criteria set out by the FA for the next four seasons.

Solihull Moors have implemented some management changes over the last eight or nine months and The Autotech Stadium has undergone an initial revamp, with major improvements to both the playing surface and spectator facilities. Our recently formed Development Squad will play their home games there this season starting on Sunday October 6th, and the first team will begin next season in mid March.

Steve Shipway, Birmingham City Ladies' Chief Executive commented 'This is a great time to adopt Solihull Moors as our landlords and, with the changes being made there, we will combine with them on several initiatives to heighten our profile in the area and make Solihull our home. Watch out on our website for details of these schemes in the coming months'".

SATURDAY YANKEE

MATCHDAY SPONSORS

FA CUP

Tuesday 15th October 2013

• Rugby Town 0-2 Worcester City
• West Auckland Town 2-2 Hednesford Town aet, Hednesford won 4-2 on penalties. They finished the game with nine men.

Wednesday 16th October 2013

• Gloucester City v Yate Town

SKRILL NORTH NEWS

He tweeted, 'Happy to confirm the signing of ex Halifax Town striker Marc Williams, someone I chased pre-season. Happy to finally sign'.

A club spokesman said, 'He did well at Chester last season and it was somewhat surprising that they decided to release him. Frank has been a long-term admirer of the player, who was eager to return to a higher standard of football', reports the Nw wales Pioneer.

According to the Boston Standard, "Boston United are closing in on the signature of left back Rene Steer. The 23-year-old began his career as an Arsenal trainee and has also played for Gillingham and St Neot's Town".

From the Shropshire Star we learn that "AFC Telford United are set to try out Mike Phenix in an out-and-out striking role during their friendly at Chester tonight as they look to get more goals out of the winger.

Phenix has netted twice this season, both from the bench... [The] trip to the Deva Stadium [is] the first football Watson’s men have experienced for 10 days, with Phenix set to spearhead the attack. Sean Cooke, Adam Farrell and Tony Gray are likely to play just behind the lone striker, sitting in front of central midfield pairing Charlie Barnett and Russell Benjamin.

Ryan Young will be in goal as Andy Pryce is feeling the effects of illness, which has plagued Phenix, Gray, Wes Baynes and captain Simon Grand in the Bucks' camp during recent weeks.

However, skipper Grand and Neill Byrne are likely to be excused from duty with Baynes, transfer-listed defender Dan Preston, Chris Lever and Matthew McGinn in defence. Watson said... 'Martyn Jackson is very doubtful, though, with an ankle injury. Hopefully, Jake Bennett will get some part of the game. Mike will play as a centre-forward".

Reports in the Telegraph & Argus tell us that "Bradford Park Avenue’s fourth qualifying round FA Cup tie against... Kidderminster Harriers at Horsfall Stadium looks set to be played a week on Sunday...

Avenue finance director Kevin Hainsworth said, 'I always want the easiest draw possible but this is one of the hardest'...

Hainsworth quipped, 'I’m surprised we got the team in second place and not the Conference leader’s (Cambridge United) – but you have got to beat teams like Kidderminster if you are going to go all the way to Wembley... We are in the process of trying to get the game switched to Sunday (October 27) because [Bradford] City are at home to Wolves and Huddersfield are at home to Leeds on the Saturday. We have to get confirmation from Kidderminster and the FA in order to switch the day but it will probably happen'".

LADIES ADVANCE AND SUPPORT MARK'S CAMPAIGN

On Sunday, Altrincham FC Ladies defeated AFC Stockport 3-0 in the First Round of the Challenge Cup, with a hat-trick from the prolific Tracey Blanchard-Webb. In the second round the Ladies play Blacon LFC on the 17 November at Beech Field, Timperley k.o. 2pm

A match report on the Ladies' First Round win over AFC Stockport, kindly provided by Phil Taylor, is to be found here, together with a photo (above) of the Ladies supporting the Mark Maddox MNDA campaign.

YOUTH MATCH REVIEW

FA CUP WITH BUDWEISER AFFECTS LEAGUE FIXTURES

• Macclesfield Town v Vauxhall Motors
• Stamford AFC v Hednesford Town/West Auckland Town
• Worcester City/Rugby Town v Lincoln City
• Bradford Park Avenue v Kidderminster Harriers
• Workington v Stourbridge
• Colwyn Bay v Corby Town
• Tamworth v Solihull Moors
• North Ferriby United v Alfreton Town
• Brackley Town v Barrow
• Dover Athletic v Oxford City
• Yate Town/Gloucester City v Hampton & Richmond Borough

• AFC Telford United v Vauxhall Motors OFF
• Barrow AFC v Stalybridge Celtic OFF
• Gainsborough Trinity v Bradford Park Avenue OFF
• Gloucester City v Colwyn Bay OFF
• North Ferriby United v Leamington OFF
• Oxford City v Workington OFF
• Solihull Moors v Brackley Town

• Boston United v Altrincham
• Hednesford Town v Harrogate Town - subject to Hednesford's replay
• Histon v Stockport County
• Stalybridge Celtic v Leamington
• Worcester City v Guiseley - subject to Worcester's replay

• Harrogate Town v Workington
• North Ferriby United v Guiseley
• Stalybridge Celtic v Vauxhall Motors

SKRILL NORTH NEWS

Williams admits Worcester need to be more clinical in front of goal and is confident they will finish the job off. He said, 'We are disappointed that we didn’t get the win but it’s not the end of the world, we’ve got tomorrow to get the win and I’m confident we can go there and get a result. We knew they were going to come out flying and they did well in the first 20 minutes but after that we started to get the ball down and created some chances. I think what we lacked was that finishing edge...

I think we’re a stronger team'...

Saturday’s game was the first time Williams had started a match since hobbling off with an ankle injury at Colwyn Bay a month ago... The former Loughborough University player said, 'It would have been nicer to get a win but it’s good to be back playing'. Manager Carl Heeley added, 'Willo has been out for a few weeks but he gives us a threat going forward'..

Meanwhile, it is looking increasingly unlikely that the one-month stay of midfielder Phil Trainer will be extended. Parent club Nuneaton denied permission for him to play in the Cup and he is due to return to the Skrill Premier club after tomorrow’s reply. The City boss said, 'Nuneaton have had a few injuries so they wanted to monitor it a bit closer to the end date which is the middle of this week. I don’t anticipate anything changing'”.

According to NL Daily, "Workington Reds banked another £7,500 from their latest FA Cup victory at Guisborough , but the cash is already spoken for. With a ground grading inspection coming-up at Borough Park at the end of the month, Reds have already earmarked the money for some ground maintenance work.

But the 4-1 win at Guisborough does give Reds an opportunity to add another £12,000 to the coffers... Manager Darren Edmondson said, 'We know how vital the money from a Cup run is to a club like ourselves and it’s great that we have progressed... The important thing now is that we maintain that sort of approach and carry it into our League programme. We have two hard games coming up – Hednesford at home on Saturday and Harrogate away the following Tuesday. We have to start picking-up some Skrill North points'.

Edmondson made four changes from the side which had lost 2-1 to Leamington, with skipper Kyle May among those moving to the bench. 'Kyle has still a problem with his shoulder and, as Dan Wordsworth can't play next Saturday, I'm hoping he will be fit enough to come back in then... Others like Danny Forrest are finding their fitness. I played Danny from the start again at Guisborough and I thought he did really well', explained the manager" to the News & Star.

Boston United "have issued a statement in relation to an incident which occurred against Gainsborough Trinity on February 2. The statement reads, 'Following the crowd disturbance at The Northolme during the Conference North fixture against Gainsborough Trinity in February of this year, the club issued temporary banning orders against a number of Boston United supporters and have subsequently worked closely with Lincolnshire Police over the matter.

'Three people were interviewed by Gainsborough Police in relation to the incident, which resulted in one male being cautioned for assault... The same male has received a ban from all Boston United fixtures until the end of the season. The other bans have now been lifted. We will not tolerate this type of behaviour either at The Jakemans Stadium or at away fixtures. We will always co-operate fully with the Police and pursue matters to a conclusion".

News of Alty's next opponents is to be found in the Banbury Guardian, which reports that "Brackley Town are just one game away from their second appearance in the first round proper of the FA Cup. Saints will meet Barrow in the fourth qualifying round tie at St James Park where goals at the end of each half secured a 2-0 victory over Boston United in Saturday’s third qualifying round clash.

Dominating the first half, it took a 43rd minute goal from Walker to give Saints the lead their possession and control warranted. In a moment keeper Ashley Timms will want to forget, Walker’s shot trickled through his legs just as the Pilgrims sensed they could reach the break still level.

The corner count of 7-0 told the story of the first half... Saints sought the crucial second goal which came in the 86 minute when Walker broke from inside his own half dancing past a clutch of defenders to set up Diggin who made no mistake with a classy finish".

SUPPORT MARK AND THE MNDA

ALTRINCHAM 2 1874 NORTHWICH 1

Match report here.

ADAM STARS

SATURDAY GAMES

• AFC Telford Utd v North Ferriby United
• Altrincham v Brackley Town
• Boston United v Harrogate Town
• Colwyn Bay v Bradford Park Avenue
• Guiseley v Histon
• Leamington v Stalybridge Celtic
• Oxford City v Worcester City
• Solihull Moors v Gainsborough Trinity
• Stockport County v Gloucester City
• Vauxhall Motors v Barrow
• Workington v Hednesford Town

YOUTH CUP SUCCESS

SKRILL NORTH NEWS

This is Lincs tells us that "Boston United boss Dennis Greene has admitted crashing out of the FA Cup is a financial blow to the club.. They lost 2-0 at fellow Skrill North high-flyers Brackley Town. Victory would have netted United £7,500...

'Financially it’s a big blow, for the club, the supporters and myself', said Greene. 'We wanted to stay in this competition, but we got a really tough draw and couldn’t get through it'...

Greene admitted a rare error by keeper Ashley Timms, which led to Walker’s goal just before half-time, drastically altered the course of the game. 'I’m just really disappointed. To go a goal behind in the manner we did was very disappointing', added Greene. 'I wouldn’t say we were comfortable at that point but they hadn’t really had a shot at our goal. It was 0-0 just before half-time and we were happy, then Timmsy makes a complete clanger and we were 1-0 down. We then had to chase the game in the second half, had a bit of pressure and opportunities to score. Then we got caught on the break (for Diggin’s goal), but if it had been 0-0 we wouldn’t have been caught.

It’s one of those things (Timms’s mistake). It sticks out badly because it put us 1-0 down in an FA Cup game. It meant we had to chase the game'. Last night, following talks with Greene, Timms revealed he will stop training with League One outfit Sheffield United. 'After speaking to the manager I'm going to stop training at Sheffield United and concentrate 100% fully on trying to get Boston United promoted', he said on his Facebook page".

Football Conference says that "Ricky Marheineke has stepped down as manager of Huntingdon Town following the game against Wellingborough Town yesterday to become Brian Page’s assistant at Histon. Marheineke, 32, was offered the position at tassworld Stadium five weeks ago, prior to the brawl at Sleaford Town which resulted in both clubs being kicked out of the FA Cup, but only informed his chairman and the club’s board of directors on Tuesday that he would be accepting the offer".

ACTION PLAN

• Sat. 19 Oct, 3pm @ J Davidson Stadium: ALTRINCHAM v BRACKLEY TOWN - Skrill North
• Sun. 20 Oct, 2pm @ Trafford FC: ALTRINCHAM FA YOUTH v MID-CHESHIRE - CCFA District Cup
• Sun. 13 Oct, 2pm @ Beech Avenue, Timperley: ALTRINCHAM LADIES v AFC STOCKPORT - Cheshire Women's League
• Wed. 16 Oct. 2pm @ Hale Country Club, Clay Lane, Timperley: ALTRINCHAM YEP v GUISELEY - FCYA League Cup

FIXTURES

• AFC Telford Utd v North Ferriby United
• Altrincham v Brackley Town
• Boston United v Harrogate Town
• Colwyn Bay v Bradford Park Avenue
• Guiseley v Histon
• Leamington v Stalybridge Celtic
• Oxford City v Worcester City
• Solihull Moors v Gainsborough Trinity
• Stockport County v Gloucester City
• Vauxhall Motors v Barrow
• Workington v Hednesford Town

OLD BOYS

Elsewhere, "Kidderminster Harriers secured a 2-1 victory against Southport on a blustery afternoon at Haig Avenue... James Smith levelled for Southport 3 minutes before the break when he headed past Nathan Vaughan

And, still on Merseyside, "Goalkeeper Ryan McMahon has returned to Skelmersdale United after spending just over three years with rivals Marine. McMahon was a very popular member of the side when he last played for Skem. However, he left to join the Mariners in 2010. He made 123 appearances for the Mariners".

SKRILL NORTH NEWS

Dale is playing football and putting himself on a good stage. If Dale wants to come here and work his nuts off every single week, then he's got the platform to do it. He's playing every week and if he doesn't want to stay at Barrow then, fair enough, he can go and sign for a Stockport or whoever, a bigger club. But if Dale comes and doesn't showcase what he's worth and what he's about then nobody's going to take him. But Dale's a really good player and that's why we signed him. But I want more out of Dale and I expect more of Dale and I don't think I've had it out of him in the last four games.

I don't think he's been anywhere near what he wants to be. I don't think he's looked fit enough, and we've told Dale all of this and his head is a little bit all over the place because he's had no response from Halifax. So I think he needs to sort himself out at Halifax to see where he goes from there and then we'll move on from there and see what we're going to do."

The BBC reports that "Atherstone chairman Rob Weale apologised to Barrow supporters after disturbances at half-time delayed their FA Cup third qualifying round tie. Visiting fans were allegedly approached and abused at the interval of Barrow's 4-0 victory, leading to police attending and a 20-minute stoppage.

'I am personally embarrassed about the scenes here at half-time', Weale told BBC Radio Cumbria. 'It was unacceptable, obviously we will be pursuing the perpetrators'...

Atherstone had progressed through five rounds to get to the third qualifying stage, with the visit of Conference North side Barrow one of the biggest games in their history. 'It's wrecked it and it makes me feel sick', manager Ivor Green told BBC Coventry & Warwickshire. 'The second half just fizzled out, both sides were affected by it'".

Alty are scheduled to travel to Boston when the next round of the FA Cup takes place so Saturday's defeat for the Pilgrims ensures that the Skrill North fixture goes ahead as planned. Boston United tell us that they "bowed out of the FA Cup with Budweiser after suffering a 2-0 defeat at the hands of league rivals Brackley Town {Alty's next opponents]. Glenn Walker fired the hosts in front two minutes before the break, following an [ex-Alty keeper] Ashley Timms gaffe, while Steve Diggin applied the killer blow four minutes from time.

Ben Milnes saw a second half free-kick rattle the post, but Brackley held the upper hand after the break".

On the same match, Buckingham Today adds that "Saints could now face the likes of Luton Town or Wrexham in the fourth qualifying round... It took Brackley 10 minutes to get going... Brackley continued to shade a scrappy first half, Brett Solkhon’s header brought a fine save from Timms, but constant soft fouls disrupted the flow of the game...

Three minutes before the break a howler from Timms gifted Saints the lead. Walker was the scorer after he cut in from the right and scuffed what looked like a harmless shot goalwards, but Timms let it through his legs and the ball trickled into the net... The second half followed a similar pattern to the first – Saints again shaded the play...

Brackley: Turley, Odhiambo, Sharpe, Austin (c), McDonald, Reid (Kaziboni 69), Solkhon, Towers, Walker, Diggin (Jarvis 88), Mulligan. Subs not used: Story, Nisevic, Sandy, Griffin, Worby".

In the Shropshire Star there is news that "AFC Telford United player-coach Alan Moogan will go under the knife next Saturday to have groin surgery... The midfielder has already missed eight games, but at least has a date for surgery with the operation paid for by the Professional Footballers' Association...

Bucks' manager Liam Watson said 'I think we are looking at Christmas before we see him back'. The Telford boss also revealed that midfielder Martyn Jackson’s ankle injury is still bothering him and he may miss Tuesday night’s friendly at Chester as a result. Watson said... 'It’s ligament damage. It’s not serious, though, it’s probably just more niggly than anything'".

Reports from the Football Conference include the news that "Giant defender Exodus Geohaghon has been released by Worcester City. City boss Carl Heeley said, 'Exodus would not commit to playing in the FA Cup as he did not want to be cup tied in later rounds should another club sign him. Whilst I understand his decision to a degree, my priority is the team and getting through to the next round of the competition. Commitment from every player has to be is 100%, if it isn't they will be moved on'.

An addition to the squad... is Reece Hales from Birmingham City. The 18-year-old striker, who made his debut for the Blues against Leeds United in the FA Cup earlier in the year, has come in on a month's loan period".

This is Hull informs us that "North Ferriby United chairman Les Hare admits the club may have to relocate to a new ground should their success on the pitch continue. The Villagers sit joint top of the Conference North table after five straight league wins, and although still early in the season, Hare admits he is having to think ahead.

Securing promotion to the Conference Premier Division would mean their current Church Road ground does not meet the necessary requirements....

'If we win promotion, of course we will take it, but we would have some big decisions to make as a club', he told the Mail. 'There may be a couple of grounds within a reasonable distance we could share but it has to be practical for us. We could lose our identity as a club'.

Adapting the Eon Visual Media Stadium for the next step up, to achieve a Grade A licence, would involve raising the capacity to 4,000, adding new turnstiles and adapting the main stand to four rows of seating instead of three, at an estimated cost of around £2m.

That though, would leave Ferriby ready for a push towards Football League status.

'Upgrading our current ground may cost around £2m, and we wouldn't get funding from grants', Hare explained. 'Moving to a new stadium might be better than trying to make adjustments to a ground with limited development opportunities, but it would have to suit all 20 teams we run. If we had a new stadium built on a 12-acre site, it might cost us between £6m and £8m but we would be able to apply for grants from the Football Foundation, local authority and European Community Fund. All options will be discussed'.

The same source says that "Chairman Les Hare believes manager Billy Heath is certain to attract the attention of bigger clubs. Heath has guided the Villagers from the bottom end of the Evo-Stik Premier Division to top of the Conference North in just two years... Hare says the hard work of Heath and assistant manager Mark Carroll, who have only suffered 20 defeats in 116 matches, will not have gone unnoticed...

'"Billy is going nowhere', Hare told the Mail... 'We are one of the smallest clubs with the smallest budget around but right now we are joint top of the Conference North. The credit for that goes to Billy and Mark... This is a football love affair made in heaven and Billy is green and white all the way through... I can't speak highly enough about the job he has done so far and as far as I'm concerned he's going nowhere'...

'A good cup run can mean the world to non league clubs like ourselves', he said. 'If we can beat Runcorn Linnets, [they did], we'll equal our best ever achievement in the FA Cup... A live TV game could take us close to £200,000 in total income, which would be like winning the lottery for us. We've never been in the first round before but we had never been in the Conference North before this season. We are setting new records and hopefully we can continue to do so'".

TRIALISTS

Shaun Pearson

Adam Cowen

Altrincham deployed two trialists in their friendly today against 1874 Northwich.

1. Shaun Pearson 23 year-old goalkeeper Shaun Pearson (dob 16.8.90) played the whole match. Signed by Barrow from from Llangefni Town in Wales in 2010, he is the younger brother of Barrow defender Mike Pearson. He marked his Alty debut with a penalty save. After leaving Holker Street in Spring 2013, Pearson headed for Australia.

2. Adam Cowen Born in Christchurch, New Zealand, Adam is a 6ft 6ins central defender who played the second half against 1874 Northwich. He has recently been playing in the United States. He is not to be confused with the older Adam Cowan, who is also a New Zealander!

YOUTH GAME OFF

FA CUP

• Atherstone T 0-4 Barrow
• Brackley T. 2-0 Boston U.
• Bradford Park Avenue 2 - 1 Penrith
• Carlton Town 1-3 Vauxhall Motors
• Colwyn Bay 2-1 Ossett Town
• Concord R. 2 -1 Histon
• Corby Town 4-2 Trafford
• Eastleigh 2-3 Oxford C.
• Guisborough Town 1-4 Workington AFC
• North Ferriby United 2-0 Runcorn Linnets
• Solihull Moors 4-0 Worksop Town
• Stockport County 0-1 Rushall Olympic
• Worcester City 0-0 Rugby Town
• Yate Town 2-2 Gloucester City

SATURDAY'S FRIENDLY

There will be no Radio Robins coverage of Saturday's friendly against 1874 Northwich.

This website will provide its usual Matchday Updates.

YOUTH CUP NEWS

The next round pits Altrincham against Nostell Miners' Welfare from Wakefield, at the J. Davidson Stadium on Thursday, 24 October at 7.45pm.

Whichever team wins that match will be at home in the First Round Proper to either Wrexham or Selby Town (both previous opponents of Alty in this competition). That game will be in the week of Saturday 9 November 2013.

ADAM GOES ON LOAN

SKRILL NORTH NEWS

Skrill Football report that "Harrogate Town have announced the departure of Alan White after he signed for Darlington 1883. The 37-year-old defender had become a firm fan favourite since his arrival at Wetherby Road in December 2011 from rivals Boston United...

'Making the decision to leave Harrogate was a really tough one', he told the club's official website... 'Working alongside Simon and Macca has been an absolute pleasure. They're both exceptionally professional and gifted coaches but more importantly lovely blokes and very good friends. It's a club with a bright future, an ambitious chairman and ambitious manager and, most importantly, a talented squad of players...

In the end my decision all boiled down to playing regular football and getting the most out of however many years I have left. To remain at Harrogate this season would, if I'm being realistic, mean sitting on the bench with limited starting opportunities'...

Town boss Simon Weaver added, 'We are sorry to see Whitey go but he's been offered a deal with his home-town club that he just couldn't turn down'... White made 58 appearances for the Yorkshire outfit, scoring three goals in the process".

OLD BOY

ALTY PROGRESS IN FA YOUTH CUP

A good ball forward from David Brown prompted an interchange between Louis Potts and Max Pouncey, with Potts firing home well inside the third minute of the match. Vauxhall responded with an equalizer after 18 minutes through Hughes's header.

In the 56th minute Alty captain, Spencer Cunliffe expertly lobbed the keeper from fully 50 yards out on the right flank, before an impressive volley from Matt Todd made it 3-1 in the 68th minute. Cunliffe completed the scoring when a slick interchange of passes opened up Vauxhall, nine minutes from time. Report to follow.

SKRILL NORTH NEWS

He joined the Canaries as a schoolboy in 2002 and progressed all the way through to the Premier League’s development squad in 2012/13... The teenager made two appearances for Boston — against Oxford City and Gloucester City."

And Non-League Pitchero also reports that "Rob Smith, manager of Hednesford Town, has stressed in no uncertain terms that his Pitmen side, on an absolute roll on all fronts this season, will ensure they do not take West Auckland Town lightly in their FA Cup Third Qualifying Round tie at Keys Park on Saturday.

Hednesford, currently sitting top on goal difference, face a team from two divisions below as they look to progress into the next round where a Conference Premier giant could be lying in wait.

'From the outside we may be big favourites but we are not really looking at it like that', Smith said. 'West Auckland are unbeaten in what is a very strong league indeed, in my opinion it is not the equal of the same levels in the Midlands, it is a much higher standard, so we will not be fooled into believing we are massive favourites'.

Smith's fifteen-goal leading scorer Elliott Durrell, who won the coveted FA Cup player of the round award for his superb performance against former club AFC Telford United in the previous round, will be buoyed by the recognition coming his way...

'To me they are not a lesser side, they have players well capable of playing in our league. They will come to us pressure free and full of confidence so will prove very difficult to beat'" concluded the manager.

According to the Worcester News, "When it was announced Worcester City would be sharing with Kidderminster Harriers, it is fair to say there was a great deal of scepticism... Fears that crowd numbers would drop off a cliff and the team suffer as a result were rife. In short, this was the beginning of the end.

How wrong we all were. Yes, City still face an uncertain future but, thanks in no small part to selling 500 £100 season tickets, they are surviving and, it could be argued, prospering in the short-term at Aggborough. They no longer have expensive maintenance bills to pay at the Lane and are keeping their heads above water financially.

Beating Coventry Sphinx in the FA Cup earned them £4,500 and they can add another £7,500 in prize money by repeating the feat against Rugby Town on Saturday. So far, it seems, the move has been more successful than anybody expected, on and off the pitch...

Gates are down but not dramatically... two topped 700, which is more than respectable in Skrill North. The club helping fans get to games has also played a key role with the reduced train fares to season-ticket holders proving popular...

City are paying a substantial rent but they have been welcomed by their neighbours and can even use the Aggborough Suite, reserved for hospitality packages when Harriers are at home... Watching their team play in a high-quality Football League-standard ground has whetted the appetite and made them wonder what could be achieved if the supporters’ trust plans for Perdiswell were to come to fruition, albeit on a smaller scale. Above all, there is now a more professional feel to City and, for now at least, the scepticism has disappeared".

FA YOUTH CUP

PLANNING GO-AHEAD FOR ALTY'S COMMUNITY SPORTS HALL

More information, along with ways to donate can be found on the Community Sports Hall website.

LEE PRAISES PLAYERS

A stunning hat-trick by James Walshaw, against his former club, put the gloss on an irresistible second 45 minutes, as third-placed Alty roared back from a 1-0 half-time deficit to win 4-1.

Right: Alty celebrate one of their goals against Guiseley.

‘We were caught cold early on and never got going in the first half,’ said the Alty manager. ‘I knew changes had to be made and different personnel were needed to make them work. Some people might have thought I would blister the paint in the changing room, but, as a manager, you have to think carefully about which approach is likely to get the required response.

‘You can’t go in there bellowing at them every time something isn’t right. I know from my time as a player that if you keep getting that, it becomes like a humming noise. You think “here we go again” and switch off to a degree. It goes in one ear and out the other and ends up defeating the object.

‘You have to be careful, so the emphasis at half-time on Saturday wasn’t on tearing a strip off them but making sure they understood what was needed to turn things round. The midfield needed tinkering with, because we weren’t getting a stranglehold there. We were playing too deep. Midfielders were collecting the ball too deep, and, with too much of a gap to make up, the forwards were getting isolated.

‘The system needed changing, and, naturally enough, I was delighted with the way it worked out. We pushed out more and started playing a good 25 yards further up the pitch, which is a lot in football terms. As a consequence, we began to play at the level we are capable of. It was an attacking formation that allowed Shaun Densmore and Nicky Clee to get forward but still placed a responsibility on those at the back to be ready for runners coming through.

‘Credit to the players for that. Systems don’t work by themselves. It’s players who put them into practice and make sure they are implemented properly. I always want them to express themselves, but it is good they can do it within whatever framework you put before them.’

Walshaw is now out on his own as top scorer with nine goals, and Sinnott made light of suggestions that the summer signing from Guiseley doesn’t always hit the target.

‘Nine goals by the beginning of October is some return, and he can miss as many as he likes for me, because if he carries on at the rate, he’s going to finish the season around the 40-mark,’ he said. ‘The point is, James gets himself in the right position time after time, and, like any striker who does that, he will miss on occasions.

‘But he has a hunger about him that you can’t help noticing in training and in games. He’s in his late 20s, but it’s like watching a kid. When it comes to sheer enthusiasm and wanting to score all the time, he’s like a nine-year old. It’s great to see. I’ve faced him a few times down the years, but this is the first time I have worked with him, and he has made a really good start.

’It was good to see Damian Reeves on the scoresheet as well. That’s exactly what I want to see, forwards who are hungry and on fire, because there is competition for places. If you’ve got that, you’re chances of winning games increase considerably. It is the way to challenge people and bring more out of them, and it’s got to be good for us that there is fierce competition for places up front and in midfield.’"

LEADING SCORER?

So, who is Alty's leading goalscorer this season, so far? Damian Reeves? No, he's 'only' got six. James Walshaw? No - he's 'only' got nine. The correct answer is Tracey Blanchard-Webb of the Altrincham FC Ladies' team who has hit ten goals in just four outings this season. Phil Taylor has kindly provided a match report on the Ladies' latest game, their first defeat of the season, by a narrow 4-5 margin, against Warrington Wolverines. The report can be found here.

Next Sunday the Ladies are at home to AFC Stockport at Beech Avenue, Timperley, k.o. 2pm in a Challenge Cup match.

Dave from the "Blue Dog Bar", Altrincham, has kindly agreed to sponsor a Player of the Match award at Alty Ladies' home fixtures this season. Here he is seen presenting Louise and Hannah with their free drink for having played well. Tracey Blanchard-Webb was Woman of the match (not pictured) and was presented with a bottle of wine for her performance.

YOUTH EDUCATION PROGRAMME

SATURDAY'S FRIENDLY

The forerunners of Northwich Victoria, Northwich Hare and Hounds and Football Club were founded in 1874, hence the new club's name. The club's motto is also that of The Cheshire Regiment who had associations with the Vics' former ground at the Drill Field.

The NOrthwich Guardian reported recently that "Adam Foy believes 1874 Northwich are capable of competing for promotion at the first attempt, predicting the newly-formed club already has a squad equipped to play at a higher level. After seven successive wins in the North West Counties League, and only one defeat in Division One all season, the captain says his teammates’ confidence is high.

Tuesday’s win at Leek CSOB, when leading scorer Mike Brandon took his goals tally to eight, leaves Ian Street’s men with a share of the lead with fellow pacesetters – and newcomers – Hanley Town.

'This group is good enough to challenge for the title, without question', said the 32-year-old. 'We feel as though we can beat anybody at the moment, and there’s a buzz around the place... It’s a whole new team that was put together from scratch and many of us, including me, arrived late in pre-season. We’ve all needed time to get used to each other and how we play, as well as adapting to a formation that a lot of the lads haven’t tried before'.

Manager Ian Street has continued to add to his squad even during 1874’s winning sequence, recruiting forward Matthew Ward from higher-ranked Droylsden... Picked as the North West Counties League Premier Division player of the year after netting 21 times for Winsford United the season before last, he will share the scoring load with Brandon.

On-loan teenager Thomas Peers, Stuart Wellstead and Dean McGregor are alternatives in attack too... And Foy, skipper at landlords Winsford for the past two seasons, says he has no regrets at dropping down a level to play for Northwich. He added, 'It’s been great so far; the support we have as a team is fantastic'".

SUPPORTING MARK AND THE MNDA

Before Saturday's game against Guiseley a number of current Altrincham players posed for photos (by Gavin Rathbobe of GR Photography) to assist the publicity campaign for the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA). The MNDA seeks to raise funds and to make people more aware of the disease. Right, we see Mark Maddox's former team-mate, goalkeeper Stuart Coburn, "saving" the MNDA's striking poster which features Mark.

This website now has a page devoted to Mark's campaigning for the MNDA, which can be found in the Community section of the site, here.

SKRILL NORTH NEWS

I would like to put on record our sincere appreciation for all the hard work that Jim has put in over the past 3 1/2 years and we wish him every success in his future career. Colin Chambers, our excellent Academy Coach, will take control of training from tomorrow morning until a new appointment is made".

According to the Holker Street Newsletter, "Barrow's decent home run of late took a turn for the worse when we lost 4-3 at Holker Street against Stockport County... This was Dale Johnson's last game in a Barrow shirt, as whilst his loan spell doesn't come to an end until Saturday, his host club, FC Halifax Town haven't granted him permission to play in the FA Cup, so he'll miss this weekend's game at Atherstone Town.

However his short-term permanent contract with Halifax expires in a month, so whether he'll be back remains to be seen. Before the Stockport game, he told the Mail, 'It would be nice to score against a big team, it's always nice for anyone to score against a big team like Stockport. I don't feel like I've had as many chances as I would have liked. Whether it's just not falling for me, I don't know what it is'".

According to the Football Conference, "Solihull Moors` goalkeeper Jasbir Singh was awarded the Asian Non-League Footballer of the Year last night... at the prestigious awards dinner at held at Wembley Stadium... which forms part of the Football Association’s 150th anniversary celebrations"

NL Daily states that "New-boy Alex Wimmer hopes a starring role for Workington Reds could see him join Brad Friedel and Tim Howard as the latest American keeper to play in English football. The 6'5" goalkeeper from Philadelphia gave up basketball at the age of 16 to focus on his football.

He was offered a place at Middlesbrough’s Academy but turned it down to continue his education after going on to study at Ohio University. Wimmer arrived in Britain in June to attend the International Football Academy (Lancashire), run by England keeper coach Billy Stewart...

The 23-year-old hopes playing in competitive games will provide him with the opportunity with a full-time club...

'I've played football since the age of four, and I've come over here following my dreams after watching the Premier League on TV', said Wimmer, who also holds a British passport through his mother.... 'I would like to stay over here as long as possible and play a few games for Workington. My agent set me up with a trial game and Darren Edmondson saw me and signed me... I train with Billy Stewart on days I'm not training with Workington. I feel as if I have improved as a goalkeeper since I came over here... There is good team chemistry, and there are no divisions"

Pitchero Non-League reports that "Oxford City have signed young midfielder Josh Baines from neighbours Banbury United. Baines, who played for Salisbury City reserves towards the end of last season, signed for Banbury at the end of August. He has also played for Marlow and Chinnor".

At Guiseley, the club "confirm the signing of forward Ryan Williams and the return of goalkeeper Steve Dickinson as well as the departure of two players from Nethermoor. Ryan, currently a student at Sheffield University, has signed after impressing in training over recent weeks and will fill the gap up front left by Adam Priestley who has returned to former club Farsley AFC.

Steve, who last played for the club in the 2007/08 season, will replace goalkeeper Jon Worsnop who has returned to FC United of Manchester".

OLD FOES

The Board of Directors would also like to inform all supporters, sponsors and shareholders that their intention is to attempt to continue with a new football club playing at the Greene King Stadium and it is our intention that they will honour, where possible, any promises that have been made to shareholders in the past".

OLD BOY

PLANNING GO-AHEAD FOR ALTY'S COMMUNITY SPORTS HALL

"Altrincham Football Club has been granted planning permission to build a community sports hall following overwhelming support from councillors and local residents.

The next challenge for the club is to secure financing for the project. The Robins recently set-up a non-profit company and are now in the process of applying to the Premier League and other organisations for funding.

The cost of the development is expected to be in the region of £750,000 with the club expected to raise around £200,000 from fund-raising activities and sponsorship.

The hall will host after-school clubs, disabled groups, ballroom dancing and sports such as yoga, martial arts, indoor bowls and badminton. The project is part of Alty’s London 2012 Olympic legacy.

Chairman Grahame Rowley said, 'We want to provide a facility that benefits the whole town and gets people of all ages active and involved in sport, not just football. The hall will provide a real community hub but, to make it happen, we need local people and businesses to help. We will have a great facility here and we want it to serve the community, not just on match day. We have some fantastic sponsorship opportunities and events planned, so please get involved!'

Altrincham supporters and members of the community can be part of this legacy building by sponsoring the community sports hall.

Options include:

• Donate £1,000 or more to the project and be recognised as a GIANTKILLER on our glass honours board. Local companies and partner organisations can donate £250 towards the project and have their logo displayed on our ‘Band of Community Businesses’ within the Sports Hall (30 x 15 inches per donation).
• Donate £50 or more and be recognised as a Community Supporter on our glass honours board.

Notes:

• Altrincham FC has been based at Moss Lane for more than a century
• The club runs a variety of community programmes and supports 37 junior football teams
• The Community Sports Hall will be used by young people, the elderly, and disabled groups
• The hall will be suitable for many sports including minority sports
• The hall will be available for local sports clubs and schools
• The hall will provide a facility for seminars, workshops, and local health/wellbeing groups
• The hall will be used by the club on match-days

The Sport Business CIC has been taken on by Altrincham FC to oversee fundraising and communications for the proposed development. The Sport Business is a Sale-based social enterprise. For more details, contact 0161 969 2242 / 07968 326541 or e-mail".

ALTY GAME ON SATURDAY

Admission to all areas of the ground this Saturday will be £5 for adults, £3 for concessionaries and there will be free entry for under-12s.

ALTY YEP TEAM WINS AGAIN

Match Report:

Result: MMU 1 Altrincham FC Youth Education Programme 4. Scorers: Luke Crompton (15mins), Tom Clarke (35mins & 85mins), Louis Potts (65mins)

Match Report:

"Altrincham FC’s Youth Education Programme put in a dominant performance to beat a spirited MMU side 4-1 at Sandbach United FC.

On a massive 3G pitch the game started very scrappily with both teams giving up possession too easily. The game started to settle when Alty worked out how to deal with MMU punting the long ball on every occasion.

Alty took the lead on 15 minutes when a shot by Louis Potts was saved, but fell at the feet of Luke Crompton who couldn’t miss from two yards.

MMU continued to use the long ball tactic and, following a mistake and rash challenge by Sam Heathcote, a penalty was awarded but, for the second week running, Matthew Johnson in the Alty goal saved low to his right.

Alty now started to dominate and pile on the pressure and it came as no surprise when they doubled their lead when, following good link play between Ben Reid and Matty Hancock, the ball fell to Tom Clarke at the back post who headed the ball in via the crossbar.

Following the break the second half started pretty much the same as the first with no team interested in keeping possession and a mixture of under-hit passes and poor decisions. Dan Jones was again dominant in midfield and, after winning a crunching tackle, sent a long diagonal pass to Luke Crompton on the left wing, who took on the full back and won a corner. Crompton took the corner himself and found the near post run of Louis Potts who flicked the ball into the bottom corner to give Alty a 3-1 lead on 65 minutes.

MMU made their subs and changed formation, going three at the back but were creating no goal scoring opportunities. On the other hand, Alty were pressing forward and creating plenty of chances, going close with efforts from Jake Foy and Ben Reid. After another marauding run by Matty Hancock down the right, he came away with a corner, which was taken hard and low by Tom Westall. Tom Clarke called for Louis Potts to dummy the ball and, following a great first touch, Clarke smashed the ball home.

There were no more chances in the last five minutes so the match finished 4-1 to Alty.

Alty’s Team: Johnson, Hancock, Clarke, Heathcote, Westall, Jones, Walker, Potts, Reid, Foy, Crompton, Graetzer, Simpson, Longley".

LADIES' NEXT GAME

TWO JACKPOTS TO BE WON

MID-WEEK

• Barrow 2-4 Stockport County
• Vauxhall Motors 0-1 North Ferriby United

SKRILL NORTH NEWS

Phenix made sure Telford rebounded from their Cup defeat at home to Hednesford with a 1-0 win at Histon on Saturday, netting a second-half winner. The 23-year-old had only been on the pitch for three minutes and Watson revealed he had seen the player have a similar sort of impact for Skelmersdale United last season.

The club gave him the chance to step up two leagues to the Skrill Conference North and Phenix has already chipped in two goals, both coming from the bench. Watson said, 'He’s done it a couple of times for us and he was used off the bench at Skelmersdale, too, and you used to wonder why. But he does seem to have a major impact that way'...

A change in formation did the trick for Telford at the weekend with a 4-2-3-1 system making way for Watson’s favoured 4-4-2. Watson said, 'We played two totally different systems on Saturday... I would always like to play 4-4-2 but we have had to counteract problems where teams are coming and playing five in midfield'".

CUSTOMER CARE

GUISELEY GAME REVIEWED

John Edwards, Altrincham's joint Press Officer, writes that "James Walshaw expressed his delight at sharing the scoring spotlight with goal machine Damian Reeves after a quickfire hat-trick put paid to his old club Guiseley and kept Altrincham in the thick of the Skrill North promotion race.

The former Guiseley striker is now out on his own as top scorer on nine goals after a stunning second-half performance helped shake off the lingering disappointment of losing to Trafford in the FA Cup.

But he was quick to credit the influence of Reeves, whose overall tally of 101 league goals makes him only the club’s fourth centurion, behind Graham Heathcote (104), Walter Jones (117) and the incomparable Jackie Swindells (195).

‘Usually, at the start of the season, I set myself a figure to aim for, but not this time,’ he said. ‘The target this season was simply to try and keep up with Reevesie. He seems to hit the 40 mark every time, so if I can do that, I’ll be more than happy. I’m certainly pleased with nine, so far, but the most important thing was the result. It was imperative we won, because everyone was really disappointed with the performance and result at Trafford. That wasn’t a true reflection of this side, and everyone was pretty quiet in training during the week.

‘Maybe there was a slight hangover from that in the first half against Guiseley, because we played pretty badly and could easily have been a couple of goals down. Half-time was important, for turning things round, but to be fair to the manager (Lee Sinnott), he didn’t give us too much of a rollicking.

‘He calmed us down, made a couple of changes by sending on Bruno (Carl Rodgers) and James Lawrie and basically changed the system. He did really well for us, because we were a different team in the second half, and James made a fantastic contribution.

‘It was great to get a hat-trick, and Reevesie did what he does best for his goal. There is real competition for places up front, so I know I’ve got to keep producing. That goes for all of us. There are four or five teams that look capable of challenging for promotion, so we’ve all got to keep plugging away.’"

Alty TV also has a post-match interview with James Walshaw conducted by Brian Flynn.

Kevin Thompson's excellent new Alty & Sale Sport Show has post-match interviews with Nicky Clee and Shaun Densmore.

The Telegraph and Argus claims that "Two Guiseley old boys wrecked the chances of their former club pulling off a shock victory at Altrincham. The Lions dominated the first half and went into the break with a deserved lead at Moss Lane. However, they were blown away by a four-goal salvo inside 16 second-half minutes as James Walshaw and Damian Reeves ripped through their fragile defence..

It all began to unravel just four minutes after the interval when a long ball over the top saw Walshaw in the danger zone. A clumsy foul and a clinical finish from the penalty spot by the former Lions striker began the landslide..

Shell-shocked boss Mark Bower said, 'We didn’t defend the long ball, gave a penalty away and gift-wrapped another goal for them. We all know goals change games and from then on the confidence drained away. The last person you want to gift wrap chances for is James Walshaw... I’m finding it hard to explain why these players who were so good in the first half made so many errors in the second half'".

More on this comes from the Yorkshire Evening Post, which says that "Former Guiseley striker James Walshaw bagged a 15-minute hat-trick as the Lions were sunk 4-1 at Altrincham... Guiseley have now lost six matches in a row in all competitions and find themselves 20th in the table.

Harrogate Town also endured an afternoon to forget as they fell to a 2-0 loss at Gainsborough Trinity".

Last Saturday's TASC bucket collection raised £46.74. Thanks go to the donors and collectors for their efforts.

LADIES' NARROW DEFEAT

Keith Edleston, manager of Altrincham FC Ladies advises us that his team suffered a narrow 4-5 defeat on Sunday to Warrington Wolverines. Keith says that it was a "very entertaining game, one which swung from end to end throughout the 90 minutes. Goalscorers were Tracey Blanchard-Webb (x2), Nat Thornley and Hannah Shufflebotham. The Player of the Match picked by The Blue Dog Bar was Tracey Blanchard-Webb. There will be a full report to follow tomorrow".

Above, the teams line up before kick off.

SKRILL NORTH NEWS

Gainsborough Trinity were found guilty of playing Jordan Thomas in the FA Cup tie against Rushall on 28th September 2013. The sub committee claim that he was not registered for Gainsborough Trinity and the Football Association registration department claim that they never received any loan paperwork before the deadline of 12pm on Friday 27th September.

Evidence was presented to the sub committee showing that an email with loan forms was sent from Lincoln City at 10.19am on Friday 27th September and to the Football Conference at 10.20am. The Football Conference confirmed this loan, but the Football Association are saying that they never received the email.

Gainsborough Trinity Football Club are proud to take part in such competitions like the FA Cup and FA Trophy and to be removed from the competition like this really hurts, but we have to move on.

The club will be looking to investigate all failings around Jordan's loan from Lincoln and will learn from this going forward. Gainsborough Trinity will decide whether to appeal the sub committee decision once we have got all the paperwork from the Football Association and gathered more evidence from Lincoln City. No other statement will be made at this time".

Trinity were to play Stockport County in the next round, from whom we learn that "Following Saturday’s fantastic 4-0 win over Worcester City, Alan Lord was rewarded for his productive spell as caretaker manager with confirmation he will take on the Edgeley Park hotseat permanently. Lord assumed temporary control following Ian Bogie’s shock resignation only 5 games into the season.

Since taking over the team have found some form with 3 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss in all competitions with 3 clean sheets in the last 3 games...

'I’m very pleased and very proud, I get emotional at stuff like this'" said Lord.

His philosophy of securing clean sheets to set a solid foundation for winning games has worked wonders for the team and County fans will be hoping that Saturday’s game sets the tone for even more wins to propel the team up the table.

'It’s been a real experience for me over the past four or five weeks and I know I’ve had a bit of criticism for trying to get clean sheets but I wanted to build some blocks and lay some foundations to build on. And I think the fruits of that were born today. Some of the performances from the lads were fantastic and I wouldn’t want to say who was our best player because it was difficult to know.

It’s not been easy. We set out with a plan to get better to get a bit more stability, to really start developing the team and get some confidence. You can’t do it in a week or two, it’s a long process but I’ve got to say it’s not about what I’ve done. The players were the heroes today, they were unbelievable and I’m so pleased for the fans. They’ve waited a long time for this'".

At our next league opponents "Brackley Town manager Jon Brady said he was disappointed with the way his side had to hold on towards the end of their 2-1 victory over Vauxhall Motors at the weekend" reports Buckingham Today. "Goals from Steve Diggin and Izak Reid had put a dominant Saints side 2-0 ahead but Matthew Williams hit back for the visitors and Brackley needed some desperate last-ditch defending to hang on in the closing minutes.

Brady said, 'I thought the first 25 minutes we were excellent. We pressed them hard, dominated the game and that’s how we got our first goal – through pressing. I felt, at times, there were too many gaps between the back four, the middle four and the front two, and they were allowed to play between the lines. I wasn’t impressed by it at all. I’m more annoyed and disappointed rather than relieved by the fact that we had to hold on. We should have been dominating that game right to the end. But take nothing away from Vauxhall, they passed the ball and moved the ball very quickly, like we did in the first 25 minutes'

Brackley are second in the table, one point off leaders Hednesford, having won seven and drawn three of their opening 10 matches, but Brady feels there is still more to come from his side, adding, 'Maybe we could be a little bit critical but the fantastic thing is that I feel we can still be 50% better, especially on the ball, so to be honest, it’s not a bad position to be in if you’re not pushing yourself to the limit but are in second place'.

Brady was also pleased with Kevin Roberts's performance on his Brackley debut after signing on loan from Cambridge United last week".

OLD FOES GO BUMP

This is Leicestershire explains that "Legal proceedings were brought by former chairman Kevin Downes, who resigned as chairman in July last year claiming the club owed him more than £187,000. It is believed the latest debt mostly comes from unpaid rent on a building on the Leicester Road site which belongs to Mr Downes’s family pension fund and is leased to the club.

Paul Moss, the club’s commercial director, confirmed its fate... Commenting on the demise of the club he co-founded in 1997, Mr Downes said, 'I feel extremely sad. It is just a huge shame'".

According to Bulls' News "Hinckley United have been wound up at the High Court this morning. In a bizarre twist to their ongoing saga, the club asked to be wound up with the applicants, the pension fund of the former chairman, asking for a further delay to resolve matters... with fans expected to reform [the club] for the start of next season."

FA CUP

FAIR PLAY

GUISELEY GAME

Match report here.

If you missed the live Radio Robins' commentary on Saturday's game you can catch it as follows:

• First Half
• Second Half

Guiseley report that "Having had the better of the first half, an early penalty conversion by ex-Lions' favourite James Walshaw, just after the restart, cancelled out Michael Potts's early strike and seemed to suck the life out of the visitors as Walshaw scored another two to add to Damian Reeves’ strike for the third.

Potts gave Guiseley the best possible start after just three minutes when he converted Louie Swaine’s pull back from the by-line as the visitors took the game to their higher placed opponents but couldn’t turn their surfeit of posession into a crucial second goal despite some enterprising and confident play that restricted Alty to just two efforts on goal.

All that changed four minutes into the second period though as Walshaw scored from the spot after being brought down in the area and when debutant Matt Clarke missed his cue Walshaw was on hand to dink a shot over Steve Drench for the second four minutes later. Worse was to follow just before the hour as Reeves stooped to head home from a corner, and Walshaw completed his hat-trick courtesy of some slack marking on 65 minutes.

For their part the Lions looked a demoralised side once Alty had levelled and on this performance it looks like a long hard season ahead as the Lions languish in the bottom three".

OLD BOYS

MID-WEEK

• Barrow v Stockport County
• Vauxhall Motors v North Ferriby United

SKRILL NORTH NEWS

Ralph came through the academy set-up at Everton before making the move to Tranmere Rovers. He should have progressed to the first-team at Prenton Park, but with a change of management he was released and joined Kidsgrove Athletic at the end of the 2001/02 season, but wasn't there long before joining Vauxhall Motors.

After a spell with Northwich Victoria, Ralph moved across Cheshire to Altrincham where he made seven appearances and kept six clean sheets. In 2009 he moved to Australia and played in their first division and then sailed south to join Waitakere United in New Zealand.

He had a previous loan spell with Stalybridge in 2004. He left Celtic in the summer and had a brief spell with Scottish side Partick Thistle before returning to Bower Fold".

Further north, "Barrow AFC have signed experienced midfielder Keith Briggs on a month's loan from FC Halifax Town, with FA Cup permission... with Sam Sheridan ill and Alex-Ray Harvey out for four more weeks. Briggs, 31, can play in central midfield, the right side of midfield and right-back. Born in Glossop, Derbyshire, Briggs began his career as a trainee Stockport County in August 1999 where he made sixty-eight League and cup appearances before joining Norwich City in January 2003 for £65,000.

Unable to establish a regular place in the first-team at Carrow Road, he spent a loan spell at Crewe Alexandra before being released in September 2004 and returning to Stockport in January 2005... He joined Shrewsbury Town on non-contract terms in January 2008... and joined Mansfield Town on loan in February 2008... and played for Stalybridge Celtic during the 2008/09 season.

In 2011 he signed a two-year deal with Fleetwood Town for a fee believed to be in the region of £8,000. Upon his release he re-signed with Kidderminster Harriers in 2012. At the end of the 2012/13 season Briggs signed a contract with FC Halifax keeping him at The Shay until 2014."

According to Skrill Football, "Cambridge United defender Kevin Roberts has joined Brackley Town on a one-month loan agreement. The 24-year-old has found his first-team chances limited under Richard Money this term, making just one appearance in the Skrill Premier... The former Chester FC player, who can also be deployed in a midfield berth, has racked up 100 appearances for the U's".

Elsewhere, "Boston United have confirmed the signing of midfielder Jake Hall from Boreham Wood. The 23-year-old was reportedly a transfer target for Luton Town, but has opted to sign for the Pilgrims... Hall, who can also operate in a defensive role, joined 'The Wood' in September this year following spells with Dagenham & Redbridge, Grays Athletic and Bromley".

Saturday's Skrill North attendances were:

• Altrincham v Guiseley 838
• Boston United v Barrow 1,041
• Brackley Town v Vauxhall Motors 320
• Colwyn Bay v North Ferriby United 257
• Gainsborough Trinity v Harrogate Town 401
• Hednesford Town v Gloucester City 750
• Histon v AFC Telford United 350
• Oxford City v Stalybridge Celtic 223
• Solihull Moors v Bradford Park Avenue 374
• Stockport County v Worcester City 2,332
• Workington v Leamington 359

The Boston Standard says that "Stefan Galinski gave his Boston United teammates the thumbs up for the determined spirit which saw the Pilgrims beat Barrow 1-0... following a scrappy, physically tough match.

'The most important thing today was keeping a clean sheet', said Galinski, who was part of a Pilgrims back line which had to work overtime to repel the waves of late attacks from the visitors... 'It wasn’t pretty. It was workmanlike, tough, but job done'...

Victory came at a price for United, with [ex-Alty loanee] defender Carl Piergianni, midfielder Ian Ross and forward Ben Fairclough all forced from the field of play through injury. Galinski himself finished the contest with a shiner.... With Piergianni playing the first half with a bandaged head and fellow defender Scott Garner ruled out due to a similar injury, Galinski was happy to accept it was his turn to take one for the team...

He added, 'I’ve played the last two games and the last two clean sheets, hopefully the gaffer will look at that... Centre half is my position. But, hopefully, the gaffer knows the minumum he can do is chuck me in there and I’ll do a job for him... If they look up in the dictionary what sexy football means, that was the last 25 minutes', he said with sarcasm, but delight in his side’s fighting spirit, especially as Indy Aujla and Jake Hall impressed on their home debuts...

Obviously, losing Pidge (Piergianni) was a real blow because they were a big, big side.. They’re giants and we can’t win the first ball. It’s just panicking, it’s corner after corner. We had no height left... Fairclough (cramp), Ross (toe) and Piergianni (dead leg) are all expected to be fit for selection on Saturday when Boston travel to face league rivals Brackley in the FA Cup. Greene also confirmed that leading scorer Marc Newsham (ankle) and Garner (head wound) will also be ready for action following a two-match absence".

NEW RECRUITS PROVIDE ENTERTAINING EVENING

The guests were James Walshaw, who had hit a hat-trick a few hours earlier against Guiseley, Kyle Perry, Junior Smikle and Danny Boshell. Junior and Kyle travel to Alty together, whilst James and Danny are, likewise, car-sharers from West Yorkshire. The event was compered by Brian Flynn and the excellent food was provided by Richie Bentley. Thanks, too, go to the volunteers who helped with the serving and provision of drinks.

The players were asked to introduce themselves and we learnt that James Walshaw is an electronics engineer, whilst it came as a surprise to us all that Kyle Perry fronts a band called Stubblemelt - though he had perhaps mentioned that once or twice before! Danny does HGV driving and works for a firm of aluminium equipment suppliers. Junior told us that he had come to the club via his fellow West Midlander, Kyle Perry, who had suggested that he contact Lee Sinnott over last summer.

Later in the evening Junior explained that he has always been known as "Junior" because his father shares the same forename of Brian, so "Junior" distinguished him from his dad. He also confirmed the pronunciation of his name as "Smykul" and that when people asked him if, at 5ft 9ins and a winger with a West Midlands background, he was related to the 6ft 3inch blond Danish goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, he would say "Yes" just to end that line of conversation!

The players outlined their careers, with Danny having the most Football League experience after spending 8 years at Oldham Athletic from the age of 16, which included a loan to Bury under the managership of former Alty stalwart, Graham Barrow. A year at Stockport County, four years at Grimsby Town and a spell with Chesterfield completed his League experience, before he moved to Guiseley.

Kyle revealed that it had been his ambition to play for Walsall's first team and he spent nine years at his local Midlands club before the demise of their manager Paul Merson undid his ambitions. Spells with Hednesford, Willenhall and Chasetown led to Alty's current boss Lee Sinnott taking him to League club, Port Vale. Spells at Mansfield, Tamworth and Lincoln City followed. Kyle expressed his respect for Lee Sinnott, whom he felt had had a raw deal at Vale, where the club was suffering from internal conflict at the time.

Junior told us how he had joined West Brom at the age of 13 and spent 7 years at The Hawthorns, followed by four with Kidderminster Harriers. After two more years at Cheltenham Town, he arrived at Hereford United for a season. He said that he had "lost his love" for football but coming to Altrincham has revived that sentiment.

Surprisingly, James Walshaw had no Football League experience, having started out with five or six years at Ossett Town, before spells with Leek Town and Guiseley preceded his arrival at Moss Lane. James said he was grateful to Ossett boss Gary Brook for teaching him a lot in his early football career. For his part, Danny said that John Sheridan at Oldham was the player from whom he had learnt most, whilst Junior named Ronnie Wallwork at WBA as the best player he had played with.

As for regrets, Danny had been talked out of joining Derby County whilst at Oldham and he had also attracted interest from Burnley and Birmingham City. Kyle regretted not joining Manchester City at the age of 12 when he had the chance to do so; doing so would have meant living in digs miles away from home. Junior's biggest disappointment was being in the Kidderminster side which had led 2-0 in the FA Trophy final at the new Wembley, only to lose 3-2. James revealed that, whilst at Ossett, he had declined an approach from Lincoln City as he had wished to complete his electronics studies.

Amongst the opponents that the guests admired, James Walshaw picked Kyle MacFadzean as one of his most impressive markers. Brian Flynn reminded us that MacFadzean's father, John, had briefly played for Alty in the 1990s.

The players uniformly said that the dressing room atmosphere was good at Moss Lane and admiration was expressed for the excellent family atmosphere of Altrincham FC. James and Danny both underlined how small things, like seeing the chairman (Grahame Rowley) putting divots back on the pitch, epitomised the sort of club it was. Such things, they said, made them go "the extra mile". Praise was also forthcoming for the playing surface at the J. Davidson Stadium, which is expertly maintained by Neil Brown.

Amongst the players' tips for teams to win the Skrill North (excluding Alty) this season were Hednesford Town, Brackley Town and Solihull Moors. The players believed that Alty would be competitive if promoted, saying that the gap in quality between the Skrill divisions was small and that the key attribute for the national division was the ability to achieve consistent results.

When the next New Recruits event comes around, make sure you get a ticket as the events give a unique insight into the club's playing staff!

ALTRINCHAM 4 GUISELEY 1

After a poor first half in which Guiseley deservedly led from a third minute goal by Potts, Lee Sinnott made decisive changes of personnel and formation as he brought on Rodgers and Lawrie at the interval. He pushed Densmore into midfield as Rodgers slotted into a three-man the back line. Within five minutes, James Walshaw had been brought down and scored from the spot against his former club...

Match report here.

CROSSBAR CHALLENGE

Colin showed that he has lost none of his playing expertise as he beat Ian 1-0 in the shoot out on the pitch at the J. Davidson Stadium.

"CROSSTOWN TRAFFORD"

SATURDAY'S GAMES

• Altrincham 4-1 Guiseley
• Boston United 1-0 Barrow
• Brackley Town 2-1 Vauxhall Motors
• Colwyn Bay 0-3 North Ferriby United
• Gainsborough Trinity 2-0 Harrogate Town
• Hednesford Town 4-1 Gloucester City
• Histon 0-1 AFC Telford Utd
• Oxford City 2-1 Stalybridge Celtic
• Solihull Moors 2-2 Bradford Park Avenue
• Stockport County 4-0 Worcester City
• Workington 1-2 Leamington
• Howard Watts's Through the Years.

ALTRINCHAM v GUISELEY MATCH COVERAGE

Dan Whitelegg will be providing regular updates on Twitter (@altrinchamfc) as well as half-time and full time updates on facebook (Altrincham FC).

Also, this website will be providing its usual matchday updates throughout the game, starting from as soon as the line-ups are available. The various alternatives can be found via the icons below and in the right sidebar.

 

ALTRINCHAM v GUISELEY - BEFORE THE MATCH

• Home p4-w2-d1-l1-f6-a5
• Away p6-w0-d2-l4-f6-a14
• All p10-w2-d3-l5-f12-a19

Altrincham have ex-Guiseley players in James Walshaw and Danny Boshell and the Yorkshire Evening Post writes that it is "Bittersweet for Walshaw as Guiseley visit thriving Altrincham. Former Guiseley hot-shot James Walshaw admits he is surprised by the Lions' limp early season form – but is tipping them to come good.

The Altrincham striker, who left Nethermoor under a bit of a cloud in the summer, locks horns with his old club at Moss Lane tomorrow and his move looks a shrewd one on this season’s evidence.

While Guiseley, in the play-offs for the past three seasons, are languishing in the bottom six, [and] have parted company with long-serving boss Steve Kittrick and are on a five-match losing sequence, it’s a far healthier situation for Lee Sinnott’s Alty.

The Cheshire club, who also boast the striking prowess of ex-Farsley marksman Damian Reeves in their ranks, are third in the table and currently 12 points better off than Guiseley, now managed by Walshaw’s former team-mate Mark Bower. On the Lions’ alarming run, Walshaw, top-scorer in his first spell with Guiseley in 2009-10 and 2010-11 with 27 and 32 goals respectively ahead of rejoining the club in early 2012, said, 'I am very surprised. The club shouldn’t be where they are and they have really good players, some of the best in the league. It will be a tough game for us. Guiseley have had some tough games and obviously, things weren’t right with the old manager and you could probably tell with the results. But they have a new manager in now and have an easier run after us, so I do expect them to be moving up the table and competing for the play-off spots.

I think Mark is a top lad and I used to get on with him when I was there last year. He hasn’t had a good time of it in his first few games but he hasn’t had chance to put his stamp on the team. Once he does that, signs all his own men and gets his tactics over to the players, I am sure they will do well'.

On the personal significance of the game for himself, he added, 'When the fixtures came out, I was looking forward to this game straightaway. It will be good to see the fans and a lot of friends I have got at Guiseley and I know quite a lot of the players still. But, ultimately, it’s about concentrating on the game and trying to get a win for Altrincham. I have spoken to a couple of players, but haven’t had much bad banter!...

I’ve got six [goals] in my last eight [games] and I am really enjoying it at Altrincham and getting a few chances and will be looking to continue that on Saturday. Let’s just hope I get a few chances and put them away. If I score, it will be mixed emotions. I would be happy to keep my goalscoring run up, but I also want Guiseley to do well'”.

The Telegraph & Argus adds that "Guiseley’s tough run of fixtures is unrelenting and they travel to high-flying Altrincham with former City defender Matt Clarke expected to make his debut. The Lions are still seeking their first point under new manager Mark Bower...

Looking to kick-start his reign at Lee Sinnott’s side is a tough ask, as 'Sinbad’s' Alty are third in the table... Guiseley are a lowly 17th following four straight defeats...

Bower said, 'We need to put chances away if we are going to get out of this run but we must improve at the back as well... We have to be better in both final thirds of the pitch'. Clarke is still awaiting his first appearance after picking up a calf injury but he is in contention tomorrow, while young striker Louie Swain, on loan from Valley Parade, should make his second start after his debut in the cup against Park Avenue".

YOUTH TEAM'S THREE HOMES!

• Thu. 10.10.13, FA Youth Cup 2nd QR, Home (at J. Davidson Stadium, Moss Lane, 7.45pm) to Vauxhall Motors
• Sun. 13.10.13, NWYA Premier League, Away (at Egerton Sports Club, Knutsford, 2.30pm), to Abbey Hey
• Sun. 20.10.13, CCFA District Youth Cup, Home (at Trafford FC, 2pm) to Mid-Cheshire FA
• Sun. 27.10.13, NWYA Open Cup, Home (at Hale Country Club & Spa, Clay Lane, 1.30pm) to Bootle

SKRILL NORTH NEWS

He had previous Conference North experience when he played for Hinckley United and has also played for FC Halifax Town and Ossett Town on loan a couple of seasons ago. Recalled back to Bradford on 12th November 2011, he then re-joined Harrogate the following March and made the move permanent in July 2012".

Also, "Central defender Mark Gray has decided to leave Frickley Athletic and rejoin North Ferriby United. Gray had two months on loan at Frickley from Gainsborough Trinity before joining the club on contract in January 2012. Originally a junior at Grimsby Town, he moved onto Ferriby in July 2012. Gray only rejoined the Blues from Ferriby in the summer but the Humbersiders submitted a seven-day notice of approach last week and he has now decided to take up their offer".

According to Skrill Football, "Gainsborough Trinity boss Steve Housham has added to his midfield options with the capture of Alastair Taylor on a month's loan from Alfreton Town. Housham admitted this week that he was 'down to the bare bones' in the middle of the park after confirming Michael Leary would soon undergo surgery.

However, the 37-year-old tactician has moved to lift the burden on his midfielders by bringing in Taylor on a short-term deal. The 22-year-old has managed just two appearances for the Reds in their opening 12 games of the Skrill Premier season... Taylor will remain at the Northolme until November 9 and will be available to feature in the FA Cup for Housham's side".

We learn from the Shropshire Star "AFC Telford United manager Liam Watson today called for supporters to stick with his side as they look to get back on track at Histon... on the back of a run that stands at one win in five games...

There’s likely to be changes for the game at Bridge Road and Watson's side may look to keep the ball more on the deck, in a bid to play their way through the hosts. He said, 'We just have to go to Histon, kick on and put in a proper performance. We need to get some smiles on our faces and come home with a win. It's important that we be positive. We need to keep on believing that the players are good enough to get us to where we want to be. The only way we are ever going to get team spirit is by everyone pulling in the right way.

We are going to carry on working extremely hard and we do need to play a little bit more football but it's easier said than done. I know where we are and where we are trying to get to. Let’s get the players focused and the fans behind us, we need all aspects of the club to be going in the right direction if we are going to achieve anything. Just stick with us'.

The 10-game mark will pass after tomorrow's game with Telford, at best, gleaning 18 points. That’s two down from the 20 Watson was hoping for at the start of the season. Want-away AFC Telford United defender Dan Preston was today linked to a loan move with Alfreton".

The Warwick Courier reports that "Leamington summer signing Paul McCone has left the club. McCone, who been a reassuring presence at both centre-back and right-back for Brakes, is expected to return to former club Stourbridge.

Manager Paul Holleran said he had been aware of McCone’s desire to leave the New Windmill for a few weeks and admitted there was little he could do to change his mind. 'He’s come across and he hasn’t settled', said Holleran. 'His heart’s not at the football club and he’s not enjoying it here. He’s another one struggling with the start we’ve had and there have been little things off the pitch as well as on it. With the start we’ve had, it’s been a challenge for everyone and we need players that are up for the challenge'.

There was better news for Holleran with the addition of two former young professionals, Josh Hawker and Luke Connolly, in time for tomorrow’s fixture at Workington. Connolly is a versatile defender who can play anywhere across the back four. The 20-year-old spent nine years at West Bromwich Albion, captaining the under-18s and playing regularly for the reserves before moving to play in Sweden after his release.

Connolly returned from a serious knee injury to see out last season with Solihull Moors, who loaned him out to Redditch United for the early part of the 2013/14 campaign.

Midfielder Hawker, who is also 20, is a former first and second year professional at Birmingham City and held a first team squad number at St Andrew's last season. Released in the summer, he continued his rehabilitation with the Blues following a car crash and is now fully fit... Holleran also revealed that midfielder Alex Taylor is awaiting a scan on the knee injury he suffered at Solihull Moors."

WeIn the Northampton Chronicel comes news that "Jon Brady says there is a stronger mentality among his Brackley squad this season. The Saints claimed a gritty 1-0 win in an FA Cup second qualifying round replay at Gresley on Tuesday night... to ensure Brackley were not dumped out by lower-league opposition for the third successive season...

And Brady said, 'The squad has improved from what we’ve been through together during the past couple of years... They’ve got a stronger mentality'".

"MOORE THAN A QUIZ"

"The Football Conference is pleased to align itself to the great work which 'Bowel Cancer' charity fundraising receives from the Bobby Moore Fund. In an attempt to raise the profile of the charitable work the Trust does in his memory, and to aid financial income, Brian Lee, the Chairman of the Football Conference, wishes for all member clubs to circulate this great cause via match day programmes, club websites, and all forms of social media networks.

He stated 'Bobby Moore is a legend to the English game and [so, too, is] the work done in his name, since his untimely death, to promote and support research and understanding into bowel cancer. The work of his trust is also now a legend. Please, in October, try your best to support them. It is so easy and costs so little but, with many responding, it can produce so much Mo(o)r(e)'. Thank you in anticipation of your cooperation in promoting and supporting 'Moore than a Quiz'.

A supporting document entitled "Moore than a Quiz" states...

"Help us beat bowel cancer sooner by holding Moore than a Quiz, the Bobby Moore Fund’s brand new quiz pack. Just call to register for your FREE quiz pack now on 0870 6091966

The Moore than a Quiz pack includes:

• Question sheets with 6 rounds of 10 questions
• Answer sheet
• 15 x table displays
• 20 x red (joker) cards
• 5 x posters
• 1 x money return form

It’s so easy to hold Moore than a Quiz and [it] provides great entertainment for your club. You can hold your quiz anytime as it is a great opportunity to test your sporting and general knowledge while fundraising for the Bobby Moore Fund.

How you can help us beat bowel cancer sooner...

The Moore than a Quiz pack is completely free. However, we want to raise as much money as we can for live-saving bowel cancer research. With this in mind, we ask that the quiz entry fee is donated to the Bobby Moore Fund with a suggested donation of £5 per person or £20 for a team of 5. You can also do other fundraising games like ‘spot the ball’ or a raffle. Call now to register for your FREE quiz pack on 0870 6091966 Enjoy Moore than a Quiz and thank you for helping us beat bowel cancer sooner".

EVERYONE AVAILABLE

MAKE A DAY OF IT!

And, also, there is the latest New Recruits Evening; this starts at 7.15p.m. for 7.30pm (not 7pm as previously advertised) in the Manchester Glass Sponsors' Lounge. The guests are Kyle Perry, James Walshaw, Danny Boshell and Junior Smikle. Details are on the clickable poster, right. Just a few tickets remain so please contact the club (0161 928-1045) to secure yours as quickly as possible.

ALTY'S Y.E.P. TEAM WINS

Match Report:

Altrincham FC’s Youth Education Programme team scored a late goal to win the game 2-1 against Macclesfield Town FC after an outstanding team performance.

Alty enjoyed near domination in the first half, and it came as no surprise when they took the lead on 15 mins with a fine goal from Luke Crompton. Following great link play from Dan Jones and Jake Foy, Luke cut in from the left and fired an unstoppable near post shot into the bottom corner.

Alty continued to dominate and went close several times through Louis Potts and Jake Foy. Tom Clarke and Sam Heathcote looked solid at the back and Dan Jones organised the midfield that controlled the game throughout.

The score line was only 1-0 at the break despite Alty’s’ impressive performance. As the players tired the game became stretched but all the chances fell to Alty but a lack of focus by the defence in the 80th minute saw them concede an equaliser, after a hopeful ball was flicked on to an unmarked forward who slotted the ball past the advancing Johnson in the Alty goal.

Macclesfield Town pressed forward and after a mix up in defence Johnson in the Alty goal brought down the Macc centre forward and a penalty was awarded. Matt Johnson saved the penalty and with great agility cleared the rebound, a quality double save that spurred the Alty team in to one last effort.

With time running out the ball was played through the midfield to Jake Foy who span his marker and played the ball across the box to Ben Reid whose first time shot found the bottom corner of the net.

There were no more chances in the last few minutes so the match finished 2-1 to Alty, a thoroughly deserved win.

Alty’s Team: Johnson, Hancock, Clarke, Heathcote, Westall, Jones, Walker, Potts, Reid, Foy, Crompton, Folageade, Simpson, Longley.

Right: Jack Jolly's poster for the upcoming event in support of the Alty Community Sports Hall venture.

SKRILL NORTH NEWS

Bower said, 'Centre half is a position that we are struggling with at the moment. Danny Ellis, Matt Clarke and Rhys Meynell have all picked up injuries while Jameel Ible was suspended after being sent off. Thankfully, Matt Clarke came through the midweek match all right and will be available for selection this weekend'.

Bower added, 'We gave players who needed game-time an opportunity against Halifax, plus one or two new players, and for the first time I have a selection headache. There are more than 11 who want to play for Guiseley this weekend and some of them are going to be disappointed'.

Bower... said, 'We have had a very tough run of fixtures but I have generally been pleased with how we have played, apart from silly errors'... Bower, who has ruled himself out of playing this weekend, added, 'People will call Saturday’s match against Altrincham a home banker but, if we go there and perform like we can and do not give gift-wrapped goals away, we have a chance to win there'.

One thing Bower’s troops will definitely not want to do is let former Lions' striker James Walshaw score. He faces them for the first time since his summer move. 'We will never hear the last of it if we do [?lose]', said the former Bradford City stalwart. James is a prolific Tweeter.

'We can keep him quiet for 89 minutes and he will score in the 90th. The same can be said of fellow striker, the experienced Damian Reeves. You can come off the pitch and he will have scored twice, and you will be thinking "How did that happen?" “But we have some players in our defence who know James well, as does our keeper Steve Drench'".

The Football Conference says that "Oxford City have signed former Burton Albion utility player Chris Palmer from Ilkeston FC. The versatile Palmer, 29, who can fill numerous positions on the pitch when called upon, started his career with Derby County.

After a loan spell with Hereford United, where he played three times, Palmer left Pride Park in 2004 without having made a senior appearance for the Rams. He joined Notts County where he made fifty-four appearances and then had spells with Wycombe Wanderers, Walsall and Gillingham before joining Burton Albion in the summer of 2011.

After forty-three games for the Brewers he was released at the end of last season and moved to the New Manor Ground along with former Burton team-mate Aaron Webster".

This is Lincs reports that "Gainsborough Trinity captain Michael Leary is set to go under the knife in a bid to resurrect his season... With a date set for his [ankle] operation next Thursday, Leary could be eight more weeks away from full training...

Said Housham,'It is a big blow for us because Leary is a big player for us. He is club captain and a very valued member of the midfield, which is where we are short at the moment. We are down to the bare bones'.

Housham was hoping to extend the loans of his young forwards during training at the Northolme tonight. The loans of Rhys Oates from Barnsley and Conner Robinson from Lincoln City are now at an end. Trinity are due to face Harrogate Town at home on Saturday and could be without a number of players. Phil Barnes, Tom Ward, Taylor McKenzie, Jonathan Williams are among the walking wounded."

NEW DATE

YANKEE

LADIES' NEXT MATCH

TRAFFORD GAME

OLD BOY

SKRILL NORTH NEWS

The Football Conference, which had scheduled a full fixture list in Skrill North for Saturday 12 October, now announces that "All Skrill North matches on 12 October have now been postponed". A number of clubs are still involved in the FA Cup on that date.

According to the YorkshireEvening Post, "Guiseley boss Mark Bower was left to rue basic errors as their FA Cup journey ended at the hands of local rivals Bradford Park Avenue. For the second time in a week and a half, John Deacey’s troops emerged victorious at Guiseley...

The Horsfall Stadium outfit profited from a mistake from Lions skipper Rhys Meynell to make the breakthrough on 27 minutes when Alex Davidson struck. They doubled their tally before the break when Richard Marshall’s effort diverted into the net off Spencer Harris.

Guiseley, who handed a debut to young Bradford City striker Louis Swain, who had joined the club on a one-month loan, pulled one back on 51 minutes when Jake Lawlor netted at the near post. But Avenue held on, as Guiseley slumped to their fifth-straight loss in all competitions, much to Bower’s frustration.

Bower said, 'The game showed that if you make individual errors at any level of football, then you are not going to win football matches. We gave them a two-goal headstart. It was an unfortunate error we made for the first goal and a simple mistake... But I can’t fault the lads for effort'".

Guiseley's Craig Hobson, Gavin Rothery and Jameel Ible have all been suspended recently but the FA site does not make clear whether their bans apply this Saturday or not, when they visit Altrincham.

CLUB STATEMENT

YOUTH CUP TIE

MARK'S MND MISSION

The poster is only available via the above link.

OLD BOYS

Macclesfield Town confirm that "Midfielder Lewis Chalmers has left the Moss Rose after the club were unable to offer him a deal to remain a part of the squad. The player rejoined the Silkmen in August and has made two appearances from the bench".

SKRILL NORTH NEWS

'At the end of the day the league is your bread and butter, that is how you are judged', Ben told Tom Feaheny. 'The previous two performances had been very encouraging, we have really worked hard for Mark, but Saturday was not acceptable by our standards'. Guiseley face high-flying Altrincham at the J Davidson Stadium on Saturday, with Ben eager to bounce back.

'We will now work really hard in training on Tuesday and Thursday and try our best to get the three points on Saturday'.

Similarly, striker James Burgess felt Guiseley lacked a cutting edge... 'We let ourselves down in the first half by making a few silly mistakes', he explained to Francis Grainger. 'We improved a bit in the second half but we need to be more clinical in front of goal. We are in a bit of a bad rut at the moment but I think the win is going to come if we keep it up. Once we get that win under our belts, we’ll be up and running'".

Hednesford report that "Following Rob Smith being named August’s 'Manager of the Month', Hednesford Town’s Elliott Durrell has today been named the Skrill North Player of the Month for September. Elliott notched 4 goals in the club’s 4 league games in September, before his brace against AFC Telford United in the FA Cup brought his early season total to 14 goals in 10 games in all competitions".

According to the Shropshire Star, "AFC Telford United have formally made Dan Preston available for transfer... The former Birmingham City centre-back asked to leave the New Bucks Head last week, after making just one start in the opening nine games of the season...

The 22-year-old has been an unused substitute in two fixtures since but Saturday's FA Cup conquerors Hednesford have refuted that they are tracking him. Telford manager Liam Watson has been as good as his word in granting Preston's wish to depart and is waiting for interested parties to make themselves known. Watson said 'If someone doesn't want to be here, that kind of scenario needs to be dealt with'.

The dust is still settling on Saturday's 3-1 cup defeat to Hednesford at home, with Watson collecting his thoughts on a run that now stands at one victory from their last five games. The Bucks boss believes his experienced players are not at their best, which is having a knock on effect... Watson said, 'The one thing we learned about Hednesford is that we have got to get that sort of spirit into us and it's hard, with the amount of new players we have. That's not rocket science. I look at the really experienced players in the team and we have Ryan Young and Simon Grand, vice-captain and captain, plus Tony Gray and Matthew McGinn, to a degree.

They haven't got anywhere near to what they are capable of at a consistent level yet, Ryan is as good goalkeeper as anyone in the division and Tony has as good a record as any striker... It's up to these players to start leading from the front a bit. I am not pointing the finger at anyone, though. It's down to us all, collectively. We have all got to do better'.

Former Telford winger Kris Taylor took to Twitter after playing for Hednesford in the cup game to claim that the team spirit at his current club is better than at his former side. Watson retorted, 'It's easy for someone on the outside to say that and, when you are the biggest club in the league, people will want to have a little pop at you. But, as far as he's concerned, how would he know what goes on in our changing room?'".

CUP REPLAYS

• Leamington 1 Solihull Moors 2
• Havant & Waterlooville 2 Gloucester City 3
• Gresley 0-1 Brackley Town

LEE ON CUP EXIT

Right: Nicky Clee and Simon Richman during the game at Shawe View.

JE: Given the way we have started in the league, that presumably wasn’t the result you expected?

LS: It wasn’t the performance I expected, that’s for sure. Without a shadow of a doubt, it was not the performance I was expecting, not for a single minute. Football sometimes throws up bizarre results, Cup shocks that spring from lesser sides playing out of their skin, but this was different. When you get an upset, you normally find the higher-placed team have dropped their level by 20 per cent and the underdogs have raised theirs by 10 per cent. But Trafford didn’t have to do that. Our level fell to such a degree, we were always susceptible to a result like that. What I can’t get over is how we can play so well against Gloucester on Tuesday night, then so poorly four days later. The same team started both games, but if you compare the two performances, it was absolutely chalk and cheese. Saturday was the complete opposite to Tuesday, and we paid the price. Our general play was laboured, our decision-making was laboured, and we simply never got going.

JE: How does that happen? I suppose it’s just something no-one sees coming?

LS: It is quite baffling, to be honest. You look back to Tuesday, and there was an energy about us, and we were on the front foot, taking the game to Gloucester. That’s what I want from my team, and we drummed it into them that we needed more of the same. But it never happened. When the time came, it all went out of the window. It would be a Cup tie, too, where there are no second chances, no opportunity to repair the damage. We have to hold our hands up and wish Trafford all the best in the next round. I have no qualms about that, because we didn’t do enough to merit being in the hat, not even pending a replay. We have to accept we got what we deserved, but it hurts badly. I feel for our supporters, who were there in their numbers. I know how much they wanted another Cup run, as did everyone involved with the club, and it is bitterly disappointing we have not been able to deliver. Questions will obviously be asked, like did we underestimate our opponents? Well, no we didn’t. We had them watched a couple of times, our players know theirs anyway – and what they are capable of, after our pre-season game there – and all our preparations were based on the absolute certainty we were in for a tough test. We covered all bases. The Cup can be a great leveller that produces really tight encounters, but, equally, if we are on our mettle, we’ll be in with an excellent chance of going through. Then we cross the white line, and it just doesn’t happen. For some reason that can’t be explained, other than we are dealing with human beings and these things happen, we don’t ignite.

JE: What do you do in those situations, when you can see it is all going wrong and something needs to be done?

LS: You do what you can, but I was somewhat restricted by only having three substitutions at my disposal. If I could have made eight changes, I would have done. Honestly, that’s how many were a shadow of their normal selves. If you’ve got one or two off the pace, you can do something about it, but when it is wholesale like that, you’ve got a problem. It was a million miles away from Tuesday night’s performance. We never got out of first gear, never got going, and that is the be-all and end-all.

JE: Everyone could see the fans’ frustration. What’s your message to them, and how were the players when they got back in the dressing room?

LS: I can understand 100 per cent the supporters’ point of view, and how upset they were. The players were apologetic to them - I think Shaun Densmore went over to speak to one or two at the end – and I felt exactly the same way. I would just say the players didn’t go out to play badly deliberately. There would be no point lacing up a pair of boots and leaving the changing room, if you were going to do that. There was just no spark, unfortunately, and while it wasn’t on purpose, we do all feel dreadfully sorry for giving our supporters such a disappointing and frustrating afternoon. On behalf of myself and the players, I can only apologise to them and promise that we will move on and refocus on the league in as positive a fashion as we can. The players are determined to put matters right and build on the start we have made in the league. I had a very long conversation with them after the game. I kept them in the changing room for the best part of an hour, because there were things that needed saying. Let’s just say they were left in no doubt about my thoughts on the performance. Things had to be said, and were, so now we move on. There’s no better way of getting it out of their system than by showing everyone what they are capable of, on our return to league action. To be honest, they were surprised, as well as bitterly disappointed, that they could under-perform to such a degree. They were disappointed for the supporters and themselves, but we must dust ourselves down now and make sure we are ready for the next game.

JE: How are things on the injury front for Guiseley on Saturday, and how are things with Damian Reeves, after some people expressed surprise that he was only on the bench at Trafford?

LS: Jake Moult went on as sub at Trafford, and hopefully there will be no recurrence of the injury he had. Danny Boshell should also be knocking on the door for a return to the side after seeming to be over his groin problem. That just leaves Mike Williams as the only absentee. As for Damian, everything is absolutely fine. I just felt it was such a good performance on Tuesday night that I should stick with the same line-up, which meant Kyle Perry and James Walshaw up front. I wanted to have a look at Kyle and James together against Gloucester, and I thought they did well as a combination. I had a conversation with Damian and explained the decision to him, and I can assure everyone there has not been any fall-out. We have a clear, open relationship. That’s how it has always been between us and how it will stay. Everything is absolutely fine, and Damian is well aware of how much I value him. There is no problem there whatsoever. After the disappointment of Saturday, all we are thinking of, as a unit, is putting it behind us and putting points on the board as quickly as we can".

LEE ON GLOUCESTER

FA CUP DRAW

The games are to be played on the weekend of Saturday, October 12th 2013.

• Worcester City v Rugby Town
• Mickleover Sports or Corby Town v Trafford
• Carlton Town v Vauxhall Motors
• Stockport County v Gainsborough Trinity
• Solihull Moors or Leamington v Worksop Town
• Colwyn Bay v Ossett Town or Warrington Town
• Hednesford Town v West Auckland Town
• Atherstone Town v Barrow
• Brackley Town or Gresley v Boston United
• North Ferriby United v Runcorn Linnets
• Bradford Park Avenue v Scarborough Athletic or Penrith
• Jarrow Roofing Boldon CA v Workington or Guisborough Town
• Concord Rangers v Histon
• Eastleigh v Oxford City
• Yate Town v Gloucester City or Havant & Waterlooville

YOUTHS WIN IN DISTRICT CUP

SKRILL NORTH NEWS

The 23-year-old initially joined the Hatters on non-contract terms in the off-season after parting ways with Cambridge United. And the Portuguese winger will now stay at Edgeley Park until the end of the current campaign after putting pen to paper on a new deal".

And Skrill Football adds that"Harrogate Town chairman Irving Weaver has issued another statement, apologising for any offence caused by comments he made last week. Following the confirmation that Town had been deducted three points for fielding an ineligible player earlier in the campaign, the chairman claimed their current predicament had exposed 'fragile, insincere support'. And Weaver has since moved to clarify his comments, saying he did not intend to cause any offence.

The statement read: 'I wish to apologise for any offense caused by the recent comments made on the Club Website with reference to the sincerity of genuine supporters of Harrogate Town AFC. They were written against a backdrop of abuse that personnel of the club had received, and my comments were attributable to only by a small minority of people. My comments were addressed at these anonymous sources but, nevertheless, the comments I made were regrettable. Indeed, I would comment that all but a handful of Town Supporters have been superb in their support for everybody connected with the Club.

I will be happy to answer any questions you may have at Wednesday's Q&A session, and intend that these sessions become a regular part of our willingness to communicate with genuine supporters".