ROSS SPEIGHT, AFTER THE MATCH

He paid tribute to club's Academy system which has produced several players who featured in the win over Stalybridge.

Ross underlined that the CSC is a competition "we are taking seriously", with the team now into the final eight.

Amongst those singled out for praise was Amaar Hussain (above right) who was making his first appearance after a year out with an ACL injury. His recovery was helped by supporters raising £9,000 for his remedial operation.

Alty TV has highlights of the game.

CELTIC'S VIEW

Celtic’s best chance of the half came in the opening few minutes...by Darius Palma...

Altrincham put the game out of reach in a five-minute spell midway through the half...

In an Arctic second half, Celtic could barely keep possession against their full-time opposition. However, Altrincham didn’t carve out a lot of chances of their own, with half chances flying wide.

That changed in the last ten minutes when... Dior Angus had an empty net to tap into. Not as empty as Altrincham’s final goal, when Max Leonard’s pass-back barely got five metres before Linney popped up, took the ball around Hewitson, and walked into the net.

Celtic didn’t play badly, but Altrincham are knocking on the door of League football this season and it showed".

NEXT: DORKING WANDERERS

However, they got their revenge with a 3-2 win at home, turning round an early 0-2 deficit.

Above: Despite his side winning the home game last season against Dorking Wanderers by a margin of 4-1, Altrincham keeper Ollie Byrne was named Man of the Match. Here we see one of his first-half saves.

For the previous game at the JDS, Alty started with just three players who started last Saturday. They were Eddy Jones, Elliot Osborne and Chris Conn-Clarke.

Alty's squad comprised 1. Oliver Byrne, 22. Ross Barrows, 5. Toby Mullarkey (c), 23. Jake Cooper, 2. Eddy Jones, 10. Elliot Osborne, 8. Josh Lundstram, 16. Chris Conn-Clarke, 17. Brad Jackson, 11. Ryan Colclough, 30. Marcus Dinanga. Subs: 9. Jordan Hulme, 26. James Jones, 18. Ben Pringle, 27. Aaron Bennett, 31. Dan Malone.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

The remedial work that took place on the Shay pitch over the summer has gone well and we hope that the new covers will help preserve the surface for as long as possible. There are still underlying issues with the Shay pitch which require a long term solution but even if we can save just a couple of games in the meantime it will have been money well spent.

The Supporters’ Club share of the cost has primarily been met through the great support we have received from the £2k Wall, Skircoat 50/50 and donations".

At Gateshead "Carl Magnay (34) has opted to retire... following a long-term ACL injury sustained in training".

However, he will "continue in his current role as part of interim manager Rob Elliot's coaching staff... He made 122 appearances for Gateshead across two separate spells...

'It wasn't the way I wanted to finish my career, via an injury' said Magnay... 'Thankfully it came at a time where I've transitioned straight into the coaching side of it'".

Aldershot Town "announce the signing of promising attacker Ollie Bray from Willand Rovers...

The 20-year-old has signed an 18-month contract...

The forward registered double figures in goals and assists for the Southern League Division One South side last season and has continued his form into this campaign, scoring four times and adding six assists in 13 games.

Bray is a quick and exciting player who also stands at 6’3″ and his promise has been recognised further up the divisions, having spent the summer on trial with Manchester United’s u23s...

First Team Manager Tommy Widdrington said 'Ollie is a young, athletic striker, who’s played a lot of senior football for his age'".

Eastleigh Football Club "announce an update on the temporary stand for our Emirates FA Cup fixture against Reading.

We are delighted to announce that all areas of the stadium are now sold out except the temporary stand which has been installed this morning.

Following our previous announcement that we had sourced a temporary stand, this is now in place and there are only 103 seats remaining.".

The stand is uncovered.

At Barnet, "Callum Stead has been named the BFC Supporter’s Association Player of the Month for October.

Stead featured in all 7 games in October. The forward scored 4 goals throughout the month and got two assists

The Bees went unbeaten throughout October winning five of their seven games".

November has been less kind to The Bees who have lost all four of their league fixtures this month.

The first team may be second in the National League but "A young Bromley side travelled to National League South side Dartford in the Kent Senior Cup on Tuesday night, losing 5-1.

The Ravens side did include some senior faces in Ryan Jones, Bim Pepple, Kido Taylor-Hart, Todd Miller and a returning outing for Mitchel Bergkamp following a lengthy spell on the side-lines.

Frankie Moralee and George Penn were two of our Academy representatives in the starting 11 whilst Remi Onabanjo came on in the second half.

The Darts took the lead before Taylor-Hart equalised meaning the two sides returned to the changing rooms level.

However, Dartford progressed to the next round following a dominant second 45, scoring a further four goals".

ALTRINCHAM 4-0 STALYBRIDGE CELTIC

Wilson opened the scoring from an Angus pull-back (29 mins).

Five minutes later a fine finish by Kosylo made it 2-0.

Numerous changes were made in the second half before Angus scored a third goal after excellent work from Linney (82 mins). Finally, a defensive error allowed Linney to score a fourth in added time (90+4 mins).

Match report here.

NEXT: DORKING WANDERERS

Now, six weeks later, both clubs find themselves out of the FA Cup so have been able to rearrange their league fixture to take place this coming Saturday, 2 December.

Goals are almost guaranteed on Saturday with only three teams having scored more goals than Alty this season, whilst only five clubs have conceded more goals than Dorking.

That is certainly not to say that the result is a foregone conclusion as the Wanderers showed last time out when they came back from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 at Fylde.

Altrincham have only failed to score in three league matches this season and none of those occasions was at the J. Davidson Stadium.

ALTRINCHAM AND "MONSTER BUDGETS"

But at least one rival manager now sees Altrincham as one of the big-hitters.

In the NL Paper, Rochdale boss Jimmy McNulty was interviewed about "cash-strapped Rochdale, who don't have the resources other clubs have" in the National League.

McNulty says "'There are monster budgets in the National League and we are nowhere near them'.

To demonstrate the point, McNulty made direct comparison with [Altrincham], Tuesday night's visitors to Spotland.

McNulty explained, 'Altrincham have had a couple of injections of cash this season which is really notable in their squad. 'I think they have 29/30 players compared to our 19.

'We have the smallest squad after Southend'".

THROUGH THE YEARS: 2 DECEMBER

On 2 December 2017 Altrincham were away at Mickleover Sports, two levels below their current level. Alty won that game in Derbyshire 2-1.

The full list of matches played by Altrincham on that date is to be found in the Through the Years data of Howard Watts and Mike Garnett.

ALTY OLD BOYS

According to the NL Paper, at Trafford, substitute KWAME OSIGWE unfortunately committed "an horrendous back-pass" to concede a goal to Kidsgrove Athletic who won 2-1 to leave our neighbours still in relegation trouble in the NPL Division One West.

BRUNO ANDRADE, who surprisingly played for Altrincham last night in the Second Round of the Cheshire Senior Cup this season was on the books of Chesham United in tier four of the pyramid as recently as earlier in November.

Another player, who like Andrade played in Round One, against 1874 Northwich, was HAYDEN LINDLEY and he was again in the Darlington side on Saturday in National League North.

From Tuesday's games, we learn of more old boys' exploits from Phil Jordan...

League One : OWEN DALE played the full game, but couldn't help Blackpool to avoid an unexpected 1-2 defeat at home to Northampton Town.

ALISTAIR SMITH was withdrawn at half time at Cambridge United, as his Lincoln City side won 0-3.

CARL PIERGIANNI was booked in Stevenage's 2-2 home draw with Peterborough United.

HARRISON HOLGATE was another to leave the action at half time, as Fleetwood, who played the whole second half with 10 men, suffered a 3-0 defeat at Wigan Athletic.

League Two : ELLIOT NEWBY was substituted in the 83rd minute as Barrow beat visitors Walsall 2-0.

Neither CONNOR JENNINGS nor CHRIS MERRIE were involved as Tranmere Rovers drew 2-2 at Mansfield Town.

Although TOBY MULLARKEY put in a full shift, LUKE WATERFALL remained on the bench as Grimsby Town drew 1-1 at MK Dons.

Although JOEL SENIOR played the whole game, his Morecambe side lost 1-2 to visitors Newport County.

National North : YUSIFU CEESAY rounded off the scoring in Hereford's 3-1 home win over Scarborough Athletic.

NPL : HARRY BUNN scored Hyde United's second equaliser as they were held 2-2 by visitors Gainsborough Trinity.

JOE BUNNEY scored from the spot as Workington forced a 4-4 draw at Marine.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

The Stones shot stopper spent a period of time on-loan at Chesham United last season and will once again be going out on-loan to gain some more valuable experience.

He joins a Bracknell side who currently sit 8th in their division".

Heading in to Grosvenor Vale Wealdstone "welcome back Brooklyn Ilunga who has rejoined the club on loan from EFL League Two side Milton Keynes Dons.

The full-back made 13 appearances last season before his spell was cut short to an off-the-ball injury...

Brooklyn made an instant impact last season, notching up five assists... Having made a full recovery over the summer he has made seven more first team appearances for the Dons this season, taking his first team total up to 17".

And also at Wealdstone "It’s been a busy week once again for our Wealdstone internationals with three Stones players heading off for national team duty with their respective countries.

Record cap holder Alex Dyer was called up to the Montserrat national team whilst academy strikers, and brothers, Jaiden and Kai Bartolo were called up to the Gibraltar U21s and U17s respectively.

Making it 28 caps for Montserrat, Dyer featured for 90 minutes on Monday as his side beat Barbados 4-2 in the CONCACAF Nations League...

Having featured for Gibraltar U19s last month, Jaiden Bartolo’s impressive performances of late saw him called up to the U21s this time around for their UEFA Under-21 Euro Championship qualifiers...

For the U17s, Kai Bartolo played back-to-back 90 minutes as his side were defeated by Belgium and Wales in their UEFA Under-17 Euro Championship qualifiers".

Ebbsfleet United "are clearly keeping their away wins for the bigger scalps in the division as they added Oldham Athletic to Rochdale to end a barren spell and thrash the Latics by the same scoreline the home side despatched Barnet in midweek...

[Supporters] might have had to rub their eyes as their side piled in three goals in the final 10 minutes to demolish the Premier League founders.

Greg Cundle sent the Fleet on their way but a James Norwood penalty 20 minutes from the end might have unleashed an Oldham revival. But it never came as Dominic Poleon, substitute Nathan Odokonyero and Dominic Samuel secured their side’s most impressive result of the season.

There were three changes in the Fleet starting list with Cundle, Toby Edser and Matthias Fanimo resuming duty in place of Ben Chapman, Franklin Domi and Darren McQueen.

Oldham were unchanged...

The home side might have been expected to come out breathing fire after their midweek demolition of Barnet but they never got going in the initial stages and Fleet were calm and patient".

28 November 2023

ALTRINCHAM v STALYBRIDGE CELTIC

Altrincham named a strong squad tonight. It comprised: 21. Matt Gould, 32. George Burroughs, 5. James Jones (c), 15. Sam Roscoe, 3. Lucas Aldrcoft, 19. George Wilson, 8. Ollie Wright, 7. Matty Kosylo, 9. Regan Linney, 14. Dior Angus, 11. Bruno Andrade. Subs: 12. Harrison Howells, 17. Oliver Partington, 18. Amaar Hussain, 20. Tom Jones, 22. Kaiden Powell.

Nevertheless, Roscoe and James Jones were the only survivors from last Saturday's starting eleven.

The main surprise was the return of Bruno Andrade (right) who, after playing in Round One, was playing for Chesham United at step four in the non-League pyramid.

Those who had not appeared in a first-team squad for Altrincham before were Lucas Aldcroft and, on the bench Kaiden Powell, both of whom have come through the Altrincham age-group system.

Two former Altrincham players were in the Celtic squad, namely Darius Palma and Greg Wilkinson. In addition, Joe Robbins was a loanee at Altrincham from Crewe.

The Celtic squad is 1. Luke Hewitson, 2. Pawel Zuk, 3. Cole Lonsdale, 4. Joe Robbins, 5. Max Leonard (c), 6. Jack Tinning, 7. Brad Byrne, 8. Jack Irlam, 9. Darius Osei, 11. Aaron Dwyer, 11. Darius Palma. Subs: 12. Greg Wilkinson, 14. Joe Edwards, 15. Michael Brewster, 16. Jordan Burton, 17. Obua Mugalula

BEFORE THE MATCH: STALYBRIDGE CELTIC

In tonight's second round they take on a Stalybridge side plying its trade three levels below in the First Division West of the NPL.

Alty overcame 1874 Northwich in a penalty shoot out in the First Round this season, whilst Celtic beat Winsford United 4-3.

AFTER SATURDAY'S MATCH

Right: Man of mystery; Chris Conn-Clarke was well wrapped up before kick off against Solihull Moors.

He continued, "Our performances weren't bad in the two defeats but we need to get points. And I think it's so important to beat teams around you, so today was particuarly important" he told Andy Marshall of the Non-League Paper.

Our front four all scoring is great and [they were] good goals as well. Hopefully, we can take this result and gather some momentum going into a heavy schedule of games".

In contrast The Moors' boss Andy Whing concluded "It's embarrassing. I just wantto apologise to the fans...

"We had two one on ones in the first half and should have been up but instead we've gfted them three goals and gone in [at half-time] well behind".

The NLP stats revealed that Alty had 20 shots, 13 on target against 10 shots by Solihull, of which six were on target.

SATURDAY'S OPPONENTS: DORKING WANDERERS

Last season was the first time that the two teams had met, with each side winning its home fixture, and five goals being scored at eacn venue.

On 8 October 2022 at the J. Davidson Stadium The Robins won 4-1 in front of 1,862, thanks to goals from Colclough 45(+2), Mullarkey 49, Bennett 65 and Dinanga 87 mimutes.

Curiously, the return fixture on 15 April 2023 was witnessed by almost exactly the same attenance as 1,861 saw Alty surge into an early lead thanks to goals by Linney and Oyedele inside the opening eight minutes which gave them a 2-0 lead. But Wanderers pulled a goal back soon afterwards and adde two more in the second half to win 3-2.

THROUGH THE YEARS: 28 NOVEMBER

Altrincham will be hoping that there is no repeat of that result nor of the last match they played on Tuesday night's date, 28 November. On that occasion, in 2017, Altrincham lost on penalties at Mossley in an Integro Cup match that had ended 3-3.

Altrincham, with just two of the same starters from the previous Saturday, (Hampson and Hancock, with the former in an unaccustomed centre-back role), were taken to a penalty shoot-out by a controversial equalizer from Mossley, netted in the fourth of a surprisingly long five added minutes. Ten minutes from the end of normal time Altrincham had lost Mason Walsh (right) to a second yellow card but, after that, the ten men took a 3-2 lead as Hancock completed his hat-trick.

Earlier, Mossley had taken a tenth-minute lead when Ellis got clear to score with a low shot. Alty levelled when Hancock held off an opponent's tug as he advanced up the middle and struck a screamer into the net from 25 yards. When Sheridan hit a superb 70 yard ball up the middle, Hancock kneed it over the advancing keeper to give Alty the lead in the 16th minute.

Latham equalised from close range eight minutes before the interval. In the second half, Hancock bundled in a third goal for Alty, after 85 minutes, before Mossley, who had been flagged offside at regular intervals throughout the evening, were given the benefit of a controversial linesman's decision in the fourth added minute and allowed to advance, whilst looking well offside, before the ball was worked to Latham, who made it 3-3.

The first nine penalties in the shoot out were all scored before Hampson's kick was saved by Martin to give Mossley the win.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

A corner of Hartlepool’s ground was thrown into darkness at the weekend during the club's 4-1 defeat to Bromley but... the underlying fact remains that this is a bleak period for the football club.

The recent trip to York demonstrated what this club can be, and is, when things click into place.... Those moments, however, have been few and far between over the course of the last 18-months... as they continue to spiral towards mediocrity in the National League...

Only four teams, Woking, Ebbsfleet, Fylde and Kidderminster (12), have lost more than John Askey’s side this season (11)...

In a demoralising defeat... Bromley who never really looked troubled despite Hartlepool’s possession throughout the game... The problem, however, came in both boxes. Hartlepool have done well when it comes to scoring goals for most of the season...

Inexperience in key areas has played its part, similar to last season, with two of Hartlepool’s three centre-backs contributing to just 10 league starts between them ahead of kick-off... Hartlepool currently have 11 defenders listed in their first team... and none of them have been able to instil a regular level of confidence...

Are they a front-foot team? Are they possession-based? Are they a counter-attacking team? There seems very little identity to the club, as a whole...

What is the solution? Chairman Raj Singh continues to search for his exit, with the short-term funding suggestion and takeover talks still draped over the club. Askey, for the most part, retains the backing of supporters as the right man for the job, albeit frustrations are growing, whilst, on the field, players continue to look bereft of confidence. It’s a difficult puzzle to solve".

After a good start to the season with just two defeats in their first twelve league games, the form of Woking has nosedived with six successive defeats currently, including an FA Cup exit at Ramsgate.

Woking's latest loss was described by the club as a "collapse at Boreham Wood".

"Woking travelled to Boreham Wood on Saturday with both sides in desperate need of a win. Ian Dyer made five changes to the side beaten by Chesterfield on Tuesday, with Alexis Andre Jr missing out through injury, being replaced by Will Jaaskelainen. Greg Taylor, Alfie Pavey, Morgan Williams, and Charlie Wakefield all dropped to the bench, and in came the returning Luke Wilkinson, Zak Bradshaw, Rhys Browne and Reece Grego-Cox...

Woking were awarded a penalty after eight minutes when... Browne was taken out by Jack Payne inside the box. Grego-Cox slotted the ball down the middle and gave the Cards an early lead.

The Cards doubled their lead on 15 minutes in some style. Browne turned his man some 35 yards out... His effort flew over a sprawling Ashmore to leave most inside Meadow Park in disbelief.

However, the hosts had a goal back on 25 minutes... Woking went into half time 2-1 up...

Boreham Wood had an equaliser in 48 minutes... There was a penalty awarded to the home side on 69 minutes after Whelan was fouled, and Marsh stepped up to slot into the bottom corner, completing the turnaround...

They had a fourth on 86 minutes... It would end 4-2, a catastrophic second half for the Cards and yet another defeat to a side on terrible form".

27 November 2023

HIGHLIGHTS OF SOLIHULL GAME

After the game, manager Phil Parkinson gave his views on the game on Alty TV.

ALTY GOING UP IN THE WORLD

Traditionally, Altrincham have not been a physically big side but, as the above image from Saturday's match shows, they now boast several significantly tall players.

Here we see from left to right, 6'5" Sam Roscoe, 6' James Jones and 6'7" Marcus Dackers. Also in the Alty line up on Saturday was 6'5" goalkeeper Ethan Ross. Pictured with them is Solihull's Mark Beck who is 6' 5" tall.

NEXT: STALYBRIDGE CELTIC

Manager Phil Parkinson has indicated that he will field a strong team which will include many fringe players and those returning from injury.

For many years Altrincham and Stalybridge Celtic were relatively local rivals in non-League football but they were last in the same league in 2017-18 when they were both in Northern Premier League for a season.

Since then Altrincham have risen two rungs of the non-League ladder to the National League whilst Celtic have dropped another rung to the NPL First Division West where their rivals include another neighbour of Alty in Trafford FC. Celtic currently lie third in the division.

Above: Conditions were very frosty when Stalybridge last played a league game at Moss Lane in March 2018. The visitors won 2-1.

Alty and Celtic were both in the Cheshire League before renewing rivalries in the Football Conference.

Stalybridge were last in the national level of non-League in 2001-02 and had remained in the second tier of non-League football until last season when they suffered relegation to the third tier.

More recently, Alty and Stalybridge have met in the CSC:

On 3 December 2019 Alty lost 2-0 at the Bower Fold in the First Round.

Just 147 watched the game when two goals in quick succession after the half-hour mark made the difference.

Having bowed out of the FA Cup with honour some 72 hours earlier at Portsmouth, Altrincham made eleven changes to their starting eleven for this Cheshire Senior Cup match.

The Stalybridge squad included ex-Alty players Kellum Mantcack and Mark Lees.

STALYBRIDGE CELTIC : 1. Alex Fojticek, 2. Declan Walker, 3. Kallum Mantack, 4. Ross Dent, 5. Steve O'Halloran, 6. Chris Smalley, 7. Scott Bakkor (c), 8. Tony Whitehead, 9. Neil Kengni, 10. Darius Osei, 11. Jonathan Ustabasi. Subs. 12. Nathan Valentine, 14. Harry Freedman, 15. Liam MacDevitt, 16. Jack O'Leary, 17. Mark Lees.

ALTRINCHAM: 1. Joel TORRANCE, 2. Callum GRAHAM, 3. Dontai GABIDON, 4. Toby MULLARKEY, 5. Connor HAMPSON (c), 6. Max HARROP, 7. Luke WALL, 8. Simon RICHMAN, 9. Jack RYAN, 10. Curtis MILLER, 11. Billy MATTHEWS. Subs: 12. Dre TAYLOR, 14. Raheem MERCURIUS, 15. James MATTHEWS, 16. George HOWARTH, 20. Liam BLACKBURN (gk)

Only Mullarkey, Harrop, Wall and Richman had played any first-team game time that season, with the rest of the squad comprising reserves and youth teamers.

NEXT LEAGUE MATCH: DORKING WANDERERS

Dorking Wanderers report that "Heroics from [goalkeeper] Harrison Male helped Marc White's side came from two goals down to earn a point at Mill Farm...

Nick Haughton’s very early opening goal [for Fylde] was just as quickly cancelled out by James McShane in a lightning start to the game, and the hosts continued in that spirit for much of the remainder of the opening forty-five. Countering at speed and flooding the Wanderers half numerous times with bodies, goals from attackers Luke Charman and Jon Ustabasi had the home side 3-1 up at the break and it may have been more had it not been for Male making a number of top stops.

The goalkeeper remained in fine form throughout the second half, but a trio of changes from Marc White in and around the interval added to an improved, resolute team effort, and through Josh Taylor’s strike and another instinctive finish from McShane, Wanderers came away from the north west with a point, a first picked up in front of the TV cameras.

Tony Craig returned to the defensive line as Marc White opted for a back four, the change in shape accompanied by two other changes from last Saturday’s win against Boreham Wood as Niall McManus and James McShane both also came back into the starting eleven...

Hanging on through very late pressure, Wanderers survived the minimum four added minutes to register their second away draw of the season...

Dorking Wanderers: 1 Harrison Male, 4 Dan Pybus, 5 Tony Craig, 6 Niall McManus (24 Harry Ottaway 32′), 7 Jimmy Muitt, 10 Alfie Rutherford (18 Luke Moore 46′), 11 James McShane, 17 Josh Taylor, 19 Haydn Hollis, 22 Barry Fuller (c) (20 Dan Gallagher 48′), 37 George Francomb. Unused Subs: 3 Bobby-Joe Taylor, 12 Callum Kennedy".

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Woodman’s side made the long trip to the North East with promotion-chasing Bromley hoping to bounce back from an uncharacteristic home defeat to Aldershot in the week as they faced a Hartlepool team who were hoping they had turned a corner in recent weeks..'

The Ravens’ team bus broke down which meant Woodman and his squad were late on their arrival to Victoria Park having had to get changed at the hotel before a series of Ubers would drop them off along Clarence Road.

And yet Woodman’s men raced into the perfect start when Michael Cheek fired in, unchallenged, from inside the area before the experienced striker doubled his tally before half-time...

Woodman and Bromley’s pre-match misfortune might have been set to reappear, however, when a floodlight failure threatened to abandon the game at the break before an intervention from Pools boss Askey who persuaded referee Steve Copeland to continue the game as the Ravens went on to secure a 4-1 success...

Said Woodman... 'It wasn’t an easy game. Anybody watching at home will think ‘4-1, that must have been easy’ but there was some proper dogged defending, putting bodies on the line and being clinical at the other end...

'Everyone says coming up north, southern boys don’t fancy it. We have all that chucked at us, but we were excellent...

'We’ve had to come across from the hotel in kit. I can’t even start to tell you how unprofessional today has been... I must mention John Askey, the manager of Hartlepool, as well,' Woodman added.

'I’ve learnt a really valuable lesson from him today; very sportsman-like and he showed a real touch of class... The floodlight went out, so at half-time he could have quite easily said the game can’t go on at 2-0 down and he was extremely sporting and said "let’s play the game" and fair play to him for that and I wanted to show him the respect and gratitude he deserves.'”

According to the Oxford Mail, "Oxford City let slip a two-goal lead to draw at home to bottom side Kidderminster Harriers.

Andre Burley and Olly Sanderson gave the Hoops a two-goal cushion with 37 minutes on the clock, however an Ashley Hemmings penalty made it just one goal three minutes before the break.

Amari Morgan-Smith then equalised for the Harriers eight minutes into the restart...

The result leaves the Hoops third from bottom in the Vanarama National League, a point inside the relegation zone".

26 November 2023

ALTRINCHAM 6-1 SOLIHULL MOORS

Right: Four of Altrincham's scorers are seen here celebrating Justin Amaluzor's first goal. As well as the scorer, we see Chris Conn-Clarke, Marcus Dackers and Alex Newby.

For today's game, Altrincham made three changes with Marcus Dackers given a debut, in place of Gerald Sithole, and centre-backs James Jones and Sam Roscoe replacing Lewis Baines and Jake Cooper.

Match report here.

MOORS' REACTION

After the Moors’ defeat on Tuesday, Andy Whing made one change ahead of our trip to the J Davidson Stadium, with Joss Labadie coming in for Kade Craig".

NEXT MATCH: STALYBRIDGE CELTIC

Tickets are available via the Altrincham FC website.

NEXT LEAGUE MATCH: DORKING WANDERERS

Yesterday they secured a 3-3 draw at AFC Fylde after trailing 3-1.

ALTY OLD BOYS

Championship: DUNCAN WATMORE returned to the Millwall starting XI after missing five matches through injury. His team were already a goal behind when he was substituted just after the hour, and visitors Coventry City went on to win 0-3.

League One: JUNIOR QUITIRNA (right) was again absent from the Fleetwood Town squad, but visiting Stevenage captain CARL PIERGIANNI played the whole game as his team won 0-3.

ALISTAIR SMITH was substituted after 64 minutes by Lincoln City, who were a goal up at the time. Just 8 minutes later they were trailing 1-2 to visitors Barnsley, but scored late to draw 2-2.

OWEN DALE celebrated his visit to former club Portsmouth by scoring Blackpool's opener as they became the first team to defeat their hosts in the League in style, winning 4-0. The result cost Portsmouth top spot in the division, Bolton Wanderers taking over after crushing hapless Exeter City 7-0.

League Two: ELLIOT NEWBY put in a full shift for Barrow, as they recovered from being behind at the break to win 1-4 at Colchester. It was 1-1 until the hosts had a man sent off in 84th minute.

LUKE WATERFALL captained Grimsby Town in their 1-1 draw at home to Sutton United. TOBY MULLARKEY was credited with the assist for their goal.

A first half booking didn't seem to affect CONNOR JENNINGS as he scored the second goal for Tranmere Rovers in their 3-1 home win over Gillingham.

JOEL SENIOR (left) unfortunately scored an own goal after only 5 minutes , and was substituted after 73 minutes as his Morecambe side crashed 6-0 at Wrexham.

National League: BILLY SASS-DAVIES played the whole game for Boreham Wood, who recovered from being two goals down in 16 minutes to beat visitors Woking 4-2.

RYAN COLCLOUGH played the full match in Chesterfield's 3-2 home win over Eastleigh, with JAMES BERRY an unused substitute, as was TYRESE SINCLAIR in Rochdale's 1-2 victory at Dagenham & Redbridge.

DAN MOONEY earned a rare start for Southend United at Gateshead, but was substituted after 68 minutes. His side subsequently came from behind to draw 1-1. MARCUS DINANGA played the full game for Gateshead.

JOSH LUNDSTRAM'S full shift for Oldham Athletic was in vain at home to Ebbsfleet United, as the visitors took control by regaining the lead they'd lost ten minutes earlier by scoring three goals from the 80 minute mark.

After Kidderminster Harriers had found themselves 2-0 down at Oxford City, ASHLEY HEMMINGS got them back into the game from the penalty spot, and they went on to draw 2-2.

National North:HAYDEN CAMPBELL scored the only goal in the 90th minute as Curzon Ashton took advantage of hosts Banbury United playing with 10 men from the 80th minute.

NPL: By the time DONTAI GABIDON (right) scored for them in the 80th minute, FC United were already three goals down, and visitors Matlock Town won 2-3.

After former Altrincham trialist HARRY BUNN had put them ahead at half time, JACK REDSHAW notched the winner in Hyde United's 2-1 home win over Morpeth.

KYLE BROWNHILL scored Lancaster City's first equaliser as they drew 2-2 at home to Bradford PA.

JOSH HANCOCK put Radcliffe ahead with an early penalty, then after visitors Bamber Bridge had equalised twice he repeated the feat in the 79th victory to earn his side a 3-2 win.

JOE BUNNEY scored Workington's equaliser as they drew 1-1 at Whitby Town.

Scotland: MILES WELCH-HAYES was left on the bench by Livingston as they lost to the only goal at St.Mirren.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE FIXTURES

• AFC Fylde 3-3 Dorking Wanderers (k.o.12 noon)
• Aldershot Town 1-0 FC Halifax Town
• Altrincham 6-1 Solihull Moors
• Boreham Wood 4-2 Woking
• Chesterfield 3-2 Eastleigh
• Dagenham & Redbridge 1-2 Rochdale
• Gateshead 1-1 Southend United
• Hartlepool United 1-4 Bromley
• Maidenhead United 1-1 York City
• Oldham Athletic 1-4 Ebbsfleet United
• Oxford City 2-2 Kidderminster Harriers
• Wealdstone 3-2 Barnet

BEFORE THE GAME: ALTRINCHAM v SOLIHULL MOORS

Recent matches between the clubs have been high-scoring for the most part, with 25 goals in six meetings. Only one match has not been a decisive victory by two or more goals; there have been no draws.

Altrincham's overall record against Solihull is poor, having won just once in six encounters since 2020.

The past meetings between the clubs, since Altrincham returned to the top-flight of non-League, ended as follows...

• 25.2.2023 Altrincham 4–1 Solihull Moors
• 9.3.2022 Solihull Moors 5–1 Altrincham
• 29.1 2022 Solihull Moors 5–0 Altrincham
• 26.10 2021 Altrincham 1–2 Solihull Moors
• 5.3.2021 Solihull Moors 4–0 Altrincham
• 11.11.2020 Altrincham 0–2 Solihull Moors

Overall: P6 W1 D0 L5 F6 A19 PTS3

Altrincham are expected to include new loanee Marcus Dackers in their squad this afternoon.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

James has been with us at York Road since the end of September and we would like to place on record our thanks to James for his efforts".

The nineteen year-old has played ninety minutes in all ten games in which he has featured for Maidenhead.

York City "is delighted to welcome highly rated youngster Luke Daley on loan from Huddersfield Town on an initial loan deal until January 2nd.

The 20-year-old left-back joins in time to bolster Neal Ardley’s defensive options ahead of the Minstermen’s trip to Maidenhead...

B Team defender Daley committed his future to Huddersfield Town in the summer, penning a three-year deal running until the summer of 2026.

Initially a forward winger at Port Vale’s academy from a young age, the naturally left sided player adapted when joining Huddersfield in 2019 to become a left-back.

Daley experienced his first stint of men’s senior football last season, turning out in 10 games across the Vanarama National League and Emirates FA Cup" gfor Gateshead.

Huddersfield Town add that this will be "The second loan of his Town career. Luke has previously spent time with Gateshead, and he will make the move to North Yorkshire on back of some involvement with Darren Moore’s First Team squad having been an unused substitute on a couple of occasions".

24 November 2023

DACKERS DOCKS AT THE DAVIDSON

Right: Marcus Dackers shakes hands with Alty's James Jones before Woking's visit to Moss Lane in February 2023. Although Marcus scored for The Cards, Alty won the match 3-1. Marcus is one of the few players taller than the Altrincham captain in their squad.

Manchester-born Marcus, a 6ft 7in frontrunner... has been in the Alty manager's sights for some time and goes straight into the squad for Saturday's fixture with Solihull Moors...

The signing is a coup for Alty, with Marcus being made available only because of experienced target man Matt Smith's consistent form for the Ammies this season and the Robins beating off stiff competition from a host of other teams to secure a loan that initially runs until January 2nd...

'As a striker, my main goal is to put the ball in the back of the net,' said the Wales Youth international...

'I remember being impressed with Alty's style of play... That stayed with me, and I knew Altrincham were a club I would want to go to on loan if the chance was there...

'I like to think I can provide more than just height and can get around the pitch and play with the ball at my feet'...

The 20-year old featured at Academy level for Manchester City and Brighton before joining Salford on a two-year deal in July 2021...

He scored eight times in 10 appearances on loan at Stalybridge Celtic before being recalled by Salford in mid-November and making his League debut...

Chester snapped him up [on loan] in January last year in an initial one-month arrangement that was extended for the remainder of the season... [with him] scoring nine goals in 20 appearances...

In September last year, he marked the start of a loan spell at Southend United by scoring on his debut... Southend were desperate to keep him beyond the initial one month, only to be prevented by their financial predicament, and Marcus returned to Salford before being loaned to Woking in the New Year in an arrangement that ran for the remaining months of last season...

Marcus put pen to paper on a new contract at Salford last November but has had his opportunities restricted this season by the form of... [Matt] Smith"".

Brian Flynn interviewed Marcus for Alty TV.

NEXT: SOLIHULL MOORS

On Tuesday, Solihull Moors announced "the signing of DJ Campton-Sturridge on a short-term deal!

Campton-Sturridge arrives at Damson Parkway following an impressive spell whilst on trial with the club.

A product of Aston Villa’s academy, the exciting forward rose through the ranks... until this summer where he was released from the club.

The local forward was recently on trial with Huddersfield Town...

Moors Head Coach Andy Whing expressed his delight on capturing his signature 'DJ is a player I really liked when he came through Aston Villa's academy who had a lot of potential but has been extremely unfortunate with injuries in the last couple of years...

'He is fit now and impressed us all whilst on trial and can bring a different dynamic to our squad with his pace and ability to run in behind from wide or central areas'".

Probably their bext known player is former Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Richard Stearman, though another familiar name will be Matty Warburton, the former Stockport man.

Stearman, now 36, has also played for Leicester City, Ipswich Town, Fulham, Sheffield United, Huddersfield Town and Derby County from where he joined the Moors last summer. He has also represented England at verious age-group levels.

Warburton also joined the Moors last summer, after leaving FC Halifax Town.

ALTY TO OPEN A SHOP IN TOWN

The unit will allow supporters to shop all things Alty in person five days a week, rather than just matchdays, as well as giving us a central base to sell match tickets, season tickets and hospitality. There will also be a major community outreach focus, with regular events delivered by Altrincham FC Community Sports...

The club are working around the clock to get the unit open as quickly as possible, and we are working towards a December 4th opening".

Footnote: The store will be open 5 days a week, closed Monday and Tuesday. The store will be entirely cashless with the ability to purchase retail products, match and season tickets, hospitality, event tickets and much more...

The club adds "We are looking for volunteers who would be happy to get involved in supporting this initiative, especially those with a strong knowledge of the club and our history, who are available to be in store, even if it is just limited availability. If that sounds like you, please let us know via store@altyfc.com".

ALTY OLD BOYS

CHESHIRE NEWS

The 33-year-old ended last season in League One with Morecambe, where he scored once in 10 games.

The former Senegal international has also had spells in English football with Hull City, Cardiff City, Huddersfield and Burton.

Seventh-tier Macclesfield, who are managed by Alex Bruce, are fourth in the Northern Premier League".

It adds that "Everton paid Lokomotiv Moscow £13.5m for Oumar Niasse in February 2016".

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Luke Garrard made one change from Saturday’s defeat at Dorking Wanderers with Tom Whelan coming in for Matt Robinson in midfield...

Eastleigh took the lead on fifteen minutes with their first shot on goal and it was their top scorer Paul McCallum who got the goal with a deadly finish... It was the sixth match running that Boreham Wood have conceded the first goal.

Four minutes later Boreham Wood equalised with a deadly finish from Tyrone Marsh which crashed in on the underside of the bar...

Boreham Wood gave as good as they got in the first half against a good Eastleigh side. However, their good work was undone three minutes after the restart when McCallum buried his shot beyond Nathan Ashmore...

Boreham Wood offered very little after Eastleigh retook the lead...

It was another disappointing result on the road for Luke Garrard’s men who now sit perilously close to the drop zone with only one point separating them and Oxford City who sit in the bottom four".

On Tuesday, Oxford City were beaten on the road by York City under the lights at the LNER Community Stadium.

The first ever meeting between the Hoops and the Minstermen was one to forget from a City perspective, after a thunderbolt from Tyler Cordner followed by a Will Davies strike, secured the win inside twenty minutes.

Ross Jenkins decided to name an unchanged squad from Saturday’s 4-0 win away at Ebbsfleet. Cole Kpekawa and Alex McQueen kept their starting spots after impressive debuts.

City were undone by a strong first half performance from the Minstermen, and it took just five minutes for them to open the scoring... and on 17 minutes they doubled their lead, this time from closer range...

Ross Jenkins made a half-time change to try and turn the tide. Nya Kirby took to the field to replace Mitchell Roberts. However, the second-half started in the same manner as the first. York again in the ascendancy, and City struggled to land a glove on their opponents...

In truth, the second-half was a rather tame affair".

Wealdstone "announce the signing of Marcus Dewhurst on a permanent deal from Premier League club Sheffield United.

'I’m delighted, it’s a chance to get my career back on track and hopefully help the club get back to where they want to be at the end of the season,' said Dewhurst...

'I like to think I’m good with the ball at my feet and every keeper has to be a good shot-stopper'...

Dewhurst has spent the majority of his career at Sheffield United, who he joined in 2018...

'I learnt a lot from there, keepers like Dean Henderson and Simon Moore. Even the ones that are there now like Wes Foderingham and Adam Davies have been a big help in my career'...

The 22-year-old boasts plenty of National League and National League North experience, having had loan spells at Scunthorpe United, Boston United, Guiseley AFC and Solihull Moors...

The shot-stopper has a good pedigree of international exposure under his belt, having featured a combined ten times for England at youth level with the U17s, U18s, U19s and the U20s".

ROCHDALE HIGHLIGHTS

PHIL PARKINSON, AFTER THE MATCH

"They were better than us... we were nowhere near the levels we would expect" especially at the start of the game, he judged.

After explaining that it had taken three hours to cover the short distance to Rochdale owing to traffic problems, he stated that in the early stages 'We let them have the ball; that was part of the game plan'.

He added that "I've made the lads very aware that it was not acceptable" the way the team performed at Rochdale.

"The opportunites we created were few and far between", the boss conceded.

He hinted that he would now give opportunites to players "who have waited patiently" to get into the side.

NEXT: SOLIHULL MOORS

On Tuesday, the Moors lost 1-2 at home to Gateshead.

Solihull Moors report that "It would be back-to-back home defeats within three days for Moors and déjà vu as a quickfire double, courtesy of a Wearne penalty and a close range Olley finish, awarded Gateshead the three points despite a late Moors rally.

It was an even start between the two sides...

A game between two sides in the playoffs can go either way – extremely cagey or chaos, unfortunately it was becoming the former as no side were really taking a foothold...

On the 42nd minute they [Gateshead] were awarded a penalty following a trip in the area and despite Hornby guessing correctly Wearne converted the spot kick into the top right of Hornby’s net.

Gateshead were full of attacking confidence... and doubled their lead.. A driven cross was converted at the far post to make it 2-0 out of nowhere for the away side into the break...

The scoreline was extremely harsh...

The game was looking like it was petering out, but... sub Jon Benton was bought down for a penalty which Kelly converted with four minutes of normal time left...

Solihull will look to bounce back when they make the trek to Manchester to face another play off contender in the name of Altrincham".

WEDNESDAY SCORE

• Barnet 1-4 Oldham Athletic

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

It’s just one win in 14 National League games for the Fleet...

Said Kutrieb... The team’s performance was definitely in the right direction.'

On the goal conceded, Kutrieb added... 'It was a twice deflected goal, the free-kick was deflected which is how they got the ball and then it gets another deflection...

'I’m frustrated as we deserved to win for our efforts. I think we had more quality, there was not much quality in the game but we definitely showed more and they were very passive.

'I think they came for a draw and they got it'...

Kutrieb admitted that the defeat to Oxford hit him hard at the weekend...

'I was in a very dark place on Sunday morning... The team deserves more than we’re getting at the moment'".

ROCHDALE 3-0 ALTRINCHAM

Having lost their ten-game unbeaten league run on Saturday, after this 3-0 reverse Altrincham are now looking at a record that makes much less happy reading; one win in their last six matches in the league and FA Cup.

Match report here.

NEXT: SOLIHULL MOORS

After starting the season with fourteen games undefeated in the National League, the Moors have won only two of their last seven league outings.

Like Alty, they are out of form. They lost on Tuesday night, with Gateshead defeating them at home 1-2, just three days after Maidenhead United had likewise won by the odd goal in three in the Midlands.

RESERVES' MIXED FORTUNES

However, they had better fortunes the previous Saturday when they won in the Altrincham FA Senior Cup, First Round, at Lymm Rovers FC. A brace from Adam Lynch secured a two-nil victory.

The line up comprised: Benjamin Atkinson, Jack Chandler, Louie Fallon, Harrison Howells, Thomas Killen-Talbot, Adam Lynch, Henry Murphy, Kaiden Powell, Finley Ryan, Matthew Cleary and Sam Taylor. On the bench were Henry Brown, Ajani Oshodin, Oliver Partington, George Raftery and Tayo Tek.

THROUGH THE YEARS

The full list of matches played by Altrincham on that date is to be found in the Through the Years data of Howard Watts and Mike Garnett.

ALTY OLD BOYS

"In LEAGUE ONE: ALISTAIR SMITH played the full game as Lincoln City won 1-0 at Leyton Orient.

NATIONAL LEAGUE: BILLY SASS-DAVIES was booked in Boreham Wood's 2-1 defeat at Eastleigh, while DANNY WHITEHEAD was sent off for Fylde as hosts Halifax came from behind to win 2-1.

ASHLEY HEMMINGS played the full game for Kidderminster Harriers in their 1-1 home draw with Hartlepool, as did MARCUS DINANGA in Gateshead's 1-2 win at Solihull Moors.

RYAN COLCLOUGH replaced JAMES BERRY after 61 minutes as Chesterfield won 2-0 at Woking.

NPL : DONTAI GABIDON scored FC United's third goal at Bamber Bridge. The hosts came from 0-2 and 2-3 down to draw 3-3 despite being down to 10 men from the 53rd minute.

JAMES HARDY scored the first of Ashton United's two equalisers as they drew 2-2 at Ilkeston Town."

And in news of a current Altrincham player, Phil adds that "JUSTIN DONAWA played the full match for Bermuda, but hosts French Guiana ran out comfortable 3-0 winners".

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Civic centre bosses have agreed to include the famous venue, which has hosted international athletics events and pop concerts, in a tendering process to find an outside contractor who will run Gateshead Council’s remaining sports centres and swimming pools.

The local authority has been trying to slash the amount of money it spends on leisure services, as it faces up to a predicted £50m budget shortfall over the next five years, and controversially closed down Gateshead Leisure Centre and Birtley Swimming Centre this summer.

It has been the plan to procure an external operator for the borough’s remaining leisure sites... but the council’s Labour cabinet agreed on Tuesday morning to add the stadium to that offer as well, in hope of making a deal 'more attractive to the market'...

The council has warned that the venue is in need of £4m of repairs over the next decade and, with operating costs added to that, will cost the council at least £11m to keep open in that time.

A report to the cabinet added that there is 'no current funding source that the council may access to meet this potential liability'"

21 November 2023

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE FIXTURES

• Bromley 2-3 Aldershot Town
• Eastleigh 2-1 Boreham Wood
• Ebbsfleet United 1-1 Maidenhead United
• FC Halifax Town 2-2 AFC Fylde
• Kidderminster Harriers 1-1 Hartlepool United
• Rochdale 3-0 Altrincham
• Solihull Moors 1-2 Gateshead
• Woking 0-2 Chesterfield
• York City 2-0 Oxford City

Wednesday, 22 November 2023

• Barnet v Oldham Athletic k.o. 8pm, live on TNT Sport

BEFORE THE MATCH: ROCHDALE

Altrincham travel to Spotland tonight to face Rochdale in the Vanarama National League. Having just ended a ten-game unbeaten run in the National League, Altrincham will be looking to get back to winning ways.

Rochdale have gained more points away from home than at Spotland, where they have won three and drawn three of their ten home fixtures. Their win on Saturday against Aldershot Town was just their second win in nine matches

They currently lie ninth, five points adrift of Altrincham despite having played one more match.

The match is available as a live stream from the National League as well as being broadcast by Radio Robins on Radio Alty.

Rochdale have announced that their "Season Card holders can 'bring a friend for a fiver' to our home game against Altrincham next week (Tuesday 21st)."

Altrincham last visited Spotland in 1965 when the Robins recorded a 3-1 win in the FA Cup Second Round. 8,367 spectators saw Campbell, Connolly and Swindells score the goals that disposed of the League team.

THROUGH THE YEARS

In 2015 the win came at Moss Lane whilst, in 2020, the victory was earned on away territory.

The full record of games on this date is to be found in Howard Watts and Mike Garnett's Through the Years.

FA TROPHY OPPONENTS: FC HALIFAX TOWN

Their ground, The Shay, has had recurrent drainage problems but FC Halifax Town now report that "We’re pleased to confirm that brand new Pitch Covers will be arriving at the Shay within the next two weeks. Getting Pitch Covers in place in time for the coming winter has been the number one priority over the last few months for the Supporters’ Club Committee and we are pleased to announce that after working with the club, who in turn have worked with Calderdale Council, we have together come up with the specifications and funding to make this happen.

The remedial work that took place on the Shay pitch over the summer has gone well and we hope that the new covers will help preserve the surface for as long as possible. There are still underlying issues with the Shay pitch which require a long term solution but, even if we can save just a couple of games in the meantime, it will have been money well spent.

The Supporters’ Club share of the cost has primarily been met through the great support we have received from the £2k Wall, Skircoat 50/50 and donations".

ALTY CALENDAR

Thanks to the tireless work of official club photographer Jonathan Moore, along with a number of supporters, we have produced a print that we hope captures the feelings and emotion of following our great club.

Hit the link here to buy your copy today."

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

For the Commercial Manager, the post is portrayed as "An excellent opportunity to join a football club with great ambition in a state-of-the-art stadium, with a salary of up to £35,000 dependent on experience, plus commission, company car and great benefits.

The main responsibility of the Commercial Manager is to bring income into the Club by acting as an ambassador and forging strong links with the local community at all levels".

As the Head of Ticketing & Retail, "with a salary of up to £30,000, dependent on experience, plus great benefits... you will be responsible for the entire matchday ticketing operation, from planning to execution.

You will play a key role in bringing income into the club through two key revenue streams; ticketing and retail".

As well as "Dealing with all elements of Ticketing and retail including, but not limited to, customer service, running the club shop, stock control, shop and ticket reconciliations and working closely with supporters to ensure their memberships remain current and relevant".

Gateshead "confirm the loan signing of Mamadou Jobe from Cambridge United until January2, 2024.

The 20 year-old arrives... to bolster Rob Elliot's options in cebtral defence.

Jobe played at Maidstone United for the second half of the 2022/23 National League season and made 13 appearances during his loan spell".

FA TROPHY DRAW

The draw assigned Altrincham an away trip to The Shay to face FC Halifax Town. The sides met in last season's semi-final in which the Shaymen energed the winners after a penalty shoot out at the J. Davidson Stadium. FC Halifax Town went on to win the Trophy.

Despite being trailed as a non-regionalised round, the draw for the Third Round of the Isuzu FA Trophy was, in fact, drawn in separate North and South sections, as follows...

NORTH:

• 1 Curzon Ashton v Macclesfield Town
• 2 Scunthorpe United v Solihull Moors
• 3 Kidderminster Harriers v Stourbridge
• 4 Oldham Athletic v Mickleover
• 5 Nantwich Town v York City
• 6 FC Halifax Town v Altrincham
• 7 Walsall Wood v Coalville Town
• 8 Nuneaton Borough v AFC Fylde
• 9 Chesterfield v Southport
• 10 City of Liverpool v Hartlepool United
• 11 Chorley v Blyth Spartans
• 12 Radcliffe v Redditch United
• 13 Rochdale v Gateshead

SOUTH:

• 1 Horsham v AFC Totton
• 2 Bath City v Boreham Wood
• 3 Southend United v Hampton & Richmond Borough
• 4 Dorking Wanderers v Maidenhead United
• 5 Bromley v Slough Town
• 6 Aveley v Hungerford Town
• 7 Hereford v Bognor Regis Town or South Park (Reigate)
• 8 Dagenham & Redbridge v Leiston or Peterborough Sports
• 9 Frome Town v Torquay United
• 10 Hythe Town v Whitehawk
• 11 Barnet v Maidstone United
• 12 Welling United or Taunton Town v Brackley Town
• 13 Ebbsfleet United v Bishop's Stortford
• 14 Weston Super Mare v Woking
• 15 Eastleigh v Aldershot Town
• 16 Oxford City v Chelmsford City
• 17 Wealdstone v Billericay Town
• 18 Hendon v Weymouth
• 19 Chippenham Town v Gloucester City

NEXT: ROCHDALE

The Dale won 2-1 against Aldershot Town on Saturday. Althoughthe Dale have now won twice in their last three league outings, prior to that they had not won in seven fixtures in all competitions. That poor run included elimination from the FA Cup at Hereford FC.

The Dale line up on Saturday comprised...

1. Louie Moulden, 13. Jimmy Keohane, 3. Cameron John, 15. George Nevett, 9. Kairo Mitchell, 11. Jesurun Uchegbulam, 20. Harvey Gilmour, 4. Ryan East, 8. Adam Clayton, 18. Cian Hayes, 6. Ethan Ebanks-Lande. Subs: 5. Max Taylor, 10. Devante Rodney,16. Kwaku Oduroh, 17. Michael Afuye, 40. Ian Henderson.

OPPOSITION COMPLIMENTS

'They are a very good outfit,' said the Spitfires' former Stockport County striker Scott Quigley, who scored one goal and made the other. 'In fact, I'd say Altrincham and Gateshead, and maybe Chesterfield, are the top three footballing sides in the league'"

As reported here yesterday, Eastleigh's assistant manager Jason Bristow was also quoted as praising the Altrincham team and management.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Josh Passley’s goal just after the hour mark proved decisive, with Fylde putting in a spirited performance...

Chris Beech made four changes from the side that was beaten against York City, with Emeka Obi, Danny Philliskirk, Josh Kay and Siya Ligendza replacing Max Conway, Danny Whitehead, Joe Rowley and Luke Charman.

The opening half-hour in the capital was proving difficult for the Coasters... Fylde found themselves behind after 61 minutes. Corey Whitely’s cross on the left fell to Passley, who took one touch under pressure and powered right-footed beyond Richardson and into the top-left corner.

Danny Ormerod came on for Haughton... before Taelor O’Kane was introduced soon after, replacing Danny Philliskirk."

According to Southend United, "The comeback Blues produced to beat table-topping Chesterfield 2-1 at Roots Hall was 'incredible', said Head Coach Kevin Maher.

Maher’s team went in at half-time behind after an even first half, but managed to turn things around thanks to two goals in three minutes.

After the final whistle, the boss said 'All credit to the players. After a defeat last week [at Altrincham], coming to face the leaders and going behind as well, to turn it around was incredible. It was fully deserved too...

'Chesterfield are a top team. We only had two subs and you knew we’d have a problem when they brought subs on, but to a man, the players stood up to it and played really well...

'It was important to keep doing the same thing despite going behind and keep asking questions... If you keep at teams, eventually you force mistakes. It’s a bit of luck for the second goal but you earn that with how you work...

'I was delaying making subs because you don’t know who’s going to crack first, but I thought the organisation was good defensively...

'You can feel the positivity. We’ve all been here during dark times, but we had more than 8,000 here and they still stayed with the players when we were 1-0 down'".

MANAGEMENT VERDICTS

"Eastleigh is a notoriously difficult place to come and we don't have a good record here [one win in six visits now], but they called upon their experience when they were under the cosh".

Jason Bristow, the assistant manager at Eastleigh, concluded, "We were relieved to get across the line at the end. It was a great effort to beat a side which came here in such good form.

"We had to tweak the formation a few times but the players showed great resilience to pull off a fine result".

EASTLEIGH 2-1 ALTRINCHAM

Alty fell behind early on when McCallum won a header against Baines and Quigley swept the ball into the bottom of the net (13 mins). The visitors were not at their best before the interval.

However, the second half saw Altrincham dominate and they deservedly levelled from the spot after Angus had been brought down. Conn-Clarke (right) converted the penalty midway through the half (66 mins).

With Altrincham looking the favourites to score again, an Eastleigh counter-attack saw McCallum and Quigley break forward as Banks failed to intercept near halfway. This time it was McCallum who scored from Quigley's assist (88 mins).

The Spitfires wound the game down well to leave Altrincham disappointed.

Match report here.

"AGAINST THE RUN OF PLAY" ADMIT EASTLEIGH

Against the run of play, McCallum scored the all-important goal late on, making it three goals in three league games at the Silverlake for the striker...

Joe McDonnell denied Chris Conn-Clarke the opener after tipping his shot over the bar inside 10 minutes... and the Spitfires took the lead just two minutes later, with Paul McCallum nodding Chris Maguire’s cross back to Scott Quigley, who rolled it into the bottom-left corner.

Goalkeeper McDonnell... denied Alex Newby an equaliser after saving his shot from the left with his feet... and after a scramble in the box, Jake Taylor saw his fierce effort cleared brilliantly off the line by Jake Cooper...

Newby then picked the pocket of Rutherford just inside the Eastleigh half and managed to roll the ball to Conn-Clarke for a one-on-one, but the attacker could only hit the post from 12-yards away.

The attacks from the away side kept coming... The Spitfires were struggling to get out their own half... with a quick succession of [Altrincham] corners almost getting them level.

A corner was their best route back into the game and it led to them winning a penalty, with Dior Angus being brought down... Conn-Clarke took the penalty and after a stutter, he rolled it into the corner to level the scoring in the 66th minute...

Against the run of play, Eastleigh took the lead in the 86th minute, with Quigley stealing the ball on the halfway line and rolling it through to McCallum, with the striker making no mistake from close range".

JUSTIN'S INTERNATIONAL GAME

TONY SANDERS INTERVIEW

Tony shared a platform with current manager Phil Parkinson, chief executive John Williams and press and media officer Brian Flynn in the Mornflake Sponsors' Lounge before kick-off.

Needless to say, there was plenty to talk about, given his unrivalled achievements as boss 40-plus years ago, but the main event was still to come... a full-length AltyTV interview with the great man that was filmed for the benefit of ALL Robins fans.

With Mark Bennett behind the camera and Brian Flynn posing the questions, Tony opened up on the golden years of the late-70s and early-80s... It lasts the best part of an hour, a good 50 minutes... The Premiere, the first showing of this in-depth insight into a bona fide Alty legend, starts at 7pm tomorrow, Sunday November 19th. Make sure you tune in here!"

ALTY OLD BOYS AND LOANEES

"League One: Blackpool were already three goals to the good when they withdrew OWEN DALE after 81 minutes, and went on to beat Shrewsbury Town 4-0.

ALISTAIR SMITH was another former Robin who didn't complete the game, being substituted by Lincoln City after 65 minutes at Stevenage, who scored the only goal of the game 3 minutes later. Although he picked up a first half booking, CARL PIERGIANNI put in a full shift for the host

League Two: ELLIOT NEWBY played the full game for Barrow, as they beat visitors Crawley Town 1-0.

Although LUKE WATERFALL (right) was left on the bench, TOBY MULLARKEY played the whole game for Grimsby Town, who recovered from a 2-0 half time deficit to draw 2-2 at Forest Green Rovers.

CONNOR JENNINGS put in a full shift for Tranmere Rovers in their 1-1 draw at Sutton United.

National League: Gateshead had completed the scoring in their 0-2 win at Barnet before MARCUS DINANGA joined the game after 71 minutes.

BILLY SASS-DAVIES played the whole game for Boreham Wood, but his side lost 2-1 at Dorking Wanderers.

Although league leaders Chesterfield were a goal up at the break at Southend, they lost 2-1 after the hosts scored twice in three minutes just after the hour mark. JAMES BERRY replaced RYAN COLCLOUGH after 87 minutes, DAN MOONEY having come off the bench for the hosts 4 minutes earlier.

JOSH LUNDSTRAM played the full game for Oldham Athletic as they won by the only goal at Woking.

NPL: ZAK GOODSON scored a consolation goal for Ilkeston Town as they went down 2-1 at Morpeth Town.

FA Trophy: DYLAN MOTTLEY-HENRY put Alfreton Town 2-1 up after they had been a goal behind in the first minute, but visitors Macclesfield ran out 2-4 winners.

CONNOR KIRBY pulled back a goal for Buxton after they had surprisingly trailed by two goals to visitors City of Liverpool, but DANNY MITCHLEY scored in the last minute to send the Merseysiders through 1-3.

Radcliffe's 2-4 victory at Farsley Celtic was largely due to. JUDE OYIBO hat trick.

After Nantwich Town slugged out a goalless draw against visitors Chester, A-JAY LEITCH-SMITH converted the opening penalty of the resulting shootout, which they won 4-2.

Spennymoor led in the first minute at home to Mickleover, but were reduced to 10 men midway through the first half, and the visitors ran out 1-3 victors, with ANDY DALES rounding off the scoring. "

NEXT: ROCHDALE

Rochdale reported that Head Coach "Jimmy McNulty was pleased with the patience his players showed in the 2-1 win at home to Aldershot Town on Saturday.

Dale fell behind in the 37th minute but equalised just five minutes later through Jimmy Keohane, before Kairo Mitchell’s winner 11 minutes from time...

Said McNulty, “It’s a long week reflecting on a last-minute loss in the last game, which looking back at we can’t believe we didn’t win the game. We should have been out of sight.

'But it was a deserved victory today. We had total control in the game... They [the team] got the goal back before half-time, which was big, and it was a good goal...

'We were controlling huge parts of the game, it was just about would we be able to break them down... The team... kept their patience, stuck to what they believe in over the course of the 96 minutes'.

Dale’s winner came from a well-worked set piece routine...

'We work really hard on them moments, trying to stop them and trying to score them... they’re a really important factor of the game'"

18 November 2023

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE FIXTURES

• Barnet 0-2 Gateshead
• Bromley 1-0 AFC Fylde
• Dorking Wanderers 2-1 Boreham Wood
• Eastleigh 2-1 Altrincham
• Ebbsfleet United 0-4 Oxford City
• FC Halifax Town 1-0 Wealdstone
• Kidderminster Harriers 0-1 Dagenham & Redbridge
• Rochdale 2-1 Aldershot Town
• Solihull Moors 1-2 Maidenhead United
• Southend United 2-1 Chesterfield
• Woking 0-1 Oldham Athletic
• York City 1-3 Hartlepool United

BEFORE THE GAME: EASTLEIGH v ALTRINCHAM

In their ten previous meetings, the record is even. Each side has won three of their clashes and four times the games have ended in draws.

In Hampshire the games have ended as follows, from the Altrincham perspective.

• 4.1.15 WON 2-0
• 16.4.16 LOST 0-2
• 10.10.20 DREW 1-1
• 23.10.21 LOST 1-2
• 18.3.23 LOST 2-3

Above: At times, Alty defended in depth on their first visit to Eastleigh, in January 2015.

With Justin Donawa called up for action with Bermuda, there will be at least one change to the squad on Saturday. Manager Parkinson will also need to decide whether to start with Regan Linney again on the bench, as he returns following a lengthy injury absence.

He played for 25 minutes plus added time as a used substitute last Saturday, having entirely missed the previous eleven league fixtures through injury.

Altrincham go into the game unbeaten in ten league fixtures.

For today's game Eastleigh has announced that "The club has decided to relax its rule on migration and home supporters will now be allowed to freely move around the ground to access catering and toilet facilities.

Supporters who have purchased seated tickets in the west or south stand have the choice to migrate to the terraces to watch the game.

Please note that supporters who have purchased match terrace tickets must remain in the terraced areas which are located in the north and east.

Allocated seating will remain in place and supporters are advised to adhere to this".

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE FIXTURES

• Barnet v Gateshead
• Bromley v AFC Fylde
• Dorking Wanderers v Boreham Wood
• Eastleigh v Altrincham
• Ebbsfleet United v Oxford City
• FC Halifax Town v Wealdstone
• Kidderminster Harriers v Dagenham & Redbridge
• Rochdale v Aldershot Town
• Solihull Moors v Maidenhead United
• Southend United v Chesterfield
• Woking v Oldham Athletic
• York City v Hartlepool United

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Southend West MP Anna Firth has always been full of praise for Mr Maher and has been working on a nomination for 'Freedom of the City' for some time... Tony Cox, Southend Council leader, is confident the whole council will support the nomination.

Mr Maher said 'I’m incredibly grateful and humbled to be nominated for such an honour... I am so proud to represent the staff, players and supporters of Southend United FC, without whom this wouldn’t be possible...

Ms Firth said 'His commitment, enthusiasm and dedication to Southend United throughout the years is unmatched'".

The Halifax Courier has reviewed "How the players who left FC Halifax Town since the summer are doing".

Ten players are reviewed, four of whom are playing at a higher level in EFL2 (Slew at Morecambe, Debrah at Port Vale, Senior at Doncaster and Spence at Barrow).

Three have moved to other NL clubs (Warburton at Solihull, Dieseruvwe at Hartlepool and Gilmour at Rochdale).

Two are playing at a lower level, at Buxton (Minihan and Smart), whilst one has retired.

Boreham Wood "announce the arrival of defender Charles Clayden... for an undisclosed fee.

Clayden began his career at Leyton Orient, where he made his professional debut in the 2017/18 season... He then joined Charlton Athletic on a free in May 2019... He made 18 appearances, including 10 in League One... [and had loan] spells at Dulwich Hamlet, Bromley, and Wealdstone.

In March 2023, he completed a permanent move to Wealdstone... This season, he has already made 15 appearances for the Stones before joining the Wood on a 2 and ½-year deal...

Luke Garrard had this to add 'Charles has been on our radar for some time... He can carry the ball at pace and commit defenders, and with a natural left foot, he will give us great balance in the wide areas. He’s only just turned 23 and has already featured 50 times in the National League".

17 November 2023

DORKING MATCH REARRANGED

The game has now been rearranged to be played on Saturday, 2 December, when the next round of the FA Cup is due to be played. With both clubs knocked out of the Cup, the rearrangement of the league fixture became a possibility.

As Altrincham are at home to Solihull Moors on 25 November and then play a Cheshire Senior Cup the following Tuesday at home to Stalybridge Celtic, the pitch at the J. Davidson Stadium will now face three successive matches in an eight-day period.

NEXT: EASTLEIGH

Altrincham face Eastleigh on Saturday afternoon.

In the National League, Eastleigh is one of the newer clubs in terms of its foundation date.

The Spitfires were originally founded in 1946 as Swaythling Athletic, playing just a few miles away from Eastleigh in the Southampton suburbs.

Four years later the club joined the Hampshire League before moving to their current location in 1957. The club was renamed as Eastleigh in 1980 and in 1986 they joined the Wessex League where they remained till 2003 when they won promotion to the Southern League Eastern Division before moving to the Isthmian League a year later. Another year later saw th club promoted towhat is now th National League South.

After falling twice at the play-off stage they won that league in 2014 and were promoted to their current level, finishing impressively in ofurth place in their inaugural season at National League level.

Having finished seventh in 2019, they lost out in the play-offs that season, since when they have been up and down, finishing 16th, 9th, 19th and 9th in the following four campaigns.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

The Birmingham born goalkeeper arrives at Solihull following Tommy Simkin’s departure last week.

Hornby is an experienced goalkeeper, who has played over 100 times across the Football League and non-league system. At 28 years-old, Hornby counts Burton Albion, Port Vale and Bradford City as his previous clubs in the Football League before making a permanent move to Colchester United in the summer of 2022 following a stint on loan with the club.

The experienced goalkeeper made 13 appearances last term for The U’s".

His arrival folows the announcement by Solihull Moors that goalkeepr "Tommy Simkin has been recalled by his parent club Stoke City...

The goalkeeper took to life like a house on fire when arriving at the ARMCO Arena on an initial season long loan... This morning, Simkin was called up to the England Men’s Elite team ahead of their upcoming international fixtures against Italy and Germany".

OLD FOES

Former board member Michelle Harness took over the National League North side last month after David Hilton, who bought the club from Swann in January, withdrew all funding.

There was some uncertainty over where the Iron would play their home matches before a deal was agreed with Swann.

They hope to have the deal for the ground complete by the end of November...

Scunthorpe, who have suffered successive relegations in the past two seasons, are third in the sixth tier, one point off league leaders Tamworth".

NEXT: EASTLEIGH

Reading announce that "their FA Cup second round visit to Eastleigh has been selected for broadcast by ITV, and will take place on Sunday 3 December (1.30pm).

The Spitfires have been at home for each of their previous two FA Cup games – a Charlie Carter goal earned a 1-0 win over Dover Athletic in the fourth round qualifying, before making light work of National League rivals Boreham Wood with a 5-1 win in the first round.

And now they have a home draw again against the Royals... So it’ll be a Sunday lunchtime trip to the south coast for the team – a place in the third round at stake, and the allure of a potential tie against some of the top-tier giants in the offing as well".

With it being an international weekend in England, the National League streaming service is allowed to operate this Saturday afternoon for 3pm kick-offs. To sign up to watch the Eastleigh v Altrincham game live, you can follow the icon/link at the top of this page.

JUSTIN REBUILDING INTERNATIONAL CAREER

The 27-year-old was the headline name among five changes to head coach Michael Findlay’s squad ahead of the Concacaf Nations League match in Belize...

Donawa has not featured for Bermuda since a 4-1 defeat away to Haiti in a Gold Cup qualification match in July 2021 but the forward, who was forced out for nearly a year after fracturing his distal fibular in December of that year, is thrilled to be back in the national set-up...

'I'm delighted to be back involved with the Bermuda squad', said Donawa (left)...

With the national set-up going through a transitional phase and a focus on emerging young talent, Donawa concedes there is a greater emphasis on the seasoned professionals to take on more responsibility and lead from the front...

'I’m now one of the older players involved,' he added. 'It’s weird to think in that sense that I’m one of the guys that the younger players look up to, to be an example. As one of the senior players I have to be more accountable and hold more responsibility for making sure that the team achieves its collective goals'...

After working his way back to fitness, Donawa has shown glimpses of his best form with new club Altrincham, who he joined... in June... 'The last two years were difficult with injuries but I finally feel like I’ve come out on the other side and I’m feeling good physically again', he added".

This week, on Wednesday, the Royal Gazette reminded us that Justin has been named in the squad as Bermuda face "two crucial final fixtures in League B group C of the Concacaf Nations League, starting with the visit of St Vincent & the Grenadines on Friday (17 Nov.) before a crunch clash away to table-topping French Guiana on Tuesday (21 Nov.)".

So, it seems that Justin will miss Altrincham's away games at Eastleigh and Rochdale in the coming week.

ALTY MONTHLY DRAW WINNERS

• £500 cash | #41 | Frank Jefferies
• £75 cash | #205 | Peter Ripley
• £25 cash | #99 | Graham Houghton
• Hospitality for Two | #71 | Steve Wilson
• Bottle of Alty Gin | #105 | Andy Howe
• Scarf & Team Photo | #447 | Robert Gollan

Congratulations to all the winners!

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

The Bees dominated in the early stages of the match and had enjoyed most of the territory at half-time, with the scoreline still blank...

'I’m proud of our performance. I thought we were outstanding in the first half and we really dominated,' said the Barnet boss... 'The opportunities we had were just gilt-edged. We had five unbelievable opportunities to score in the first half and never took any...

'Tactically, they tweaked things and pressed us a little bit higher and three of their goals have come from our goal kicks', he said... 'We’ve got to learn. They are a top side. What good teams do is when they get one they smell blood. Then they come for two, three and four and they did that...

'What I was proud of most was the character we showed to keep going,' he said. 'We got a couple of goals back at the end'".

Football in Berkshire reports that "Sam Barratt has returned to Maidenhead United on a short-term loan.

The attacker will bolster Alan Devonshire’s forward options for a month after agreeing a loan deal from Barnet.

Barratt played 170 times for the Magpies in his two previous spells either side of a move to Southend United...

Maidenhead have seen an upturn in results in recent weeks beating Eastleigh and FC Halifax Town with Solihull Moors featuring another former midfielder, Josh Kelly, up next."

York City "announce the capture of forward Will Davies for an undisclosed fee from Vanarama National League South side Braintree Town.

The 24-year-old striker joins the Minstermen on a long-term deal after making an impressive start to the season with the National League South side, where he has netted eight goals in fifteen appearances.

After only joining Braintree in the summer, Davies previously featured for Southern Premier Central Division side Leiston, where he netted 33 goals in all competitions last season...

Davies said... 'I’m really looking forward to going full-time and pushing on, hopefully I can take my form from the start of the season straight into this'.

City manager Neal Ardley [ssid]... 'I’m really glad that we’ve been able to add a striker who can add to what we already have here at the club. He’s a player who we’ve had our eye on for a while... It wasn’t about money to him, it was about an opportunity and being part of something'".

15 November 2023

NEXT: EASTLEIGH

The Hampshire club got off to a poor start to this season, not winning a game until the sixth fixture of the season, when just 615 people turned up to witness the Spitfires' 3-0 win over fellow Hampshire club, Aldershot Town.

But their next fixture at home was a disastrous 0-6 defeat to Gateshead.

Form has improved since then, however, with the Spitfires winning a further five league matches out of 13 games. They currently lie eleventh in the National League.

Their last home game was an excellent 5-1 win in the FA Cup over Boreham Wood, a result which has earned them a Second Round tie at home to Reading in December.

Last Saturday they drew 1-1 at Oldham Athletic when their squad comprised: 1. Joe McDonnell, 4. Nigel Atangana, 6. Ludwig Francillette, 9. Paul McCallum, 12. George Langston, 14. Lee Hodson, 16. Solomon Nwabuokei, 17. Chris Maguire, 18. Bailey Clements. 20. Scott Quigley, 21. Oscar Rutherford. Subs: 10. Aidan Barlow, 19. Corey Panter, 27. Yang SeungWoo, 29. Malachi Dotse, 99. Dylan John.

Paul McCallum, with twelve goals, is their leading scorer this season.

GERMAN BITE

In the latest Warrington Rylands match report on the 1-0 home defeat by Guiseley, the Man of the Match was Owen. The match ended Ryalnds' thirteen-game un beaten run.

Also featuring for Rylands this season, though not in the latest match, are Dean Furman and Joe Piggott.

ALTY OLD BOYS

NPL: JACK REDSHAW scored the only goal of the second half for visitors Hyde United, but a first half hat trick in the space of 12 minutes by JONNY MARGETTS had already done the damage and hosts Matlock Town won 3-2.

Leaders Radcliffe came from behind twice at Morpeth Town to win 2-3 with a goal from JUDE OYIBO sandwiched between a brace for JORDAN HULME.

FA CUP: Despite coming back from a two goal deficit to level the tie, Slough Town were eventually crushed 7-2 by hosts Grimsby Town, for whom both TOBY MULLARKEY and LUKE WATERFALL put in a full shift.

EMIRATES FA CUP REPLAYS

• York City 2-1 Chester FC

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Our Head Coach guided his team to an unbeaten month in the division... winning four games and drawing one.

We scored a very impressive 13 goals in those five games, conceding just one, which came right at the end of the month against Boreham Wood...

The National League press release [states]... 'Kevin Maher could write a book on what he’s seen since taking over at Southend United... He is like royalty at Roots Hall...

Nobody ended the month with a better points haul in the league after four wins and one draw'".

Meanwhile, Southend United confirm that "the Club has received international call-ups for Noor Husin, Daniel Kanu and Mauro Vilhete. We are delighted for the players.

We believed that the loss of these three players from the matchday squad would trigger a postponement to the fixture against Chesterfield this weekend.

However, earlier this evening the National League confirmed that the fixture must be played on Saturday.

We respect the National League’s decision, and we look forward to welcoming Chesterfield to Roots Hall as planned".

News of a player leaving the National League comes from Darlington who "have signed striker Akwasi Asante following his release by Chesterfield.

Akwasi, who is 31, joined Birmingham City in 2008, and made his debut for them in the Europa League in 2011. He made his Football League debut when on loan at Northampton, and he also had a loan spell at Shrewsbury.

After he left Birmingham, he played and was a regular scorer for Kidderminster, Solihull, Tamworth, Chester and Chesterfield. He also played briefly for Grimsby, where he was a teammate of Darlington manager Josh Gowling. He has won promotion from the National League North with Solihull and helped Chesterfield into the National League play offs. He has scored over 100 goals in his career, including a hat trick for Chester against us in 2018".

14 November 2023

NEXT: EASTLEIGH

This time around Altrincham arrive on the back of ten unbeaten games in the National League and lying fifth in the National League, eight points ahead of the Spitfires with a game in hand

Right: Three faces who are likely to start against Eastleigh on Saturday who were not involved last time the Robins visited the Hampshire club are (l. to r.) Lewis Banks, Ethan Ross and Jake Cooper.

The game started disastrously in March as Altrincham found themselves two down inside ten minutes. The opener was a disaster for Alty as Byrne lost his footing trying to clear a James Jones back pass and the ball rolled into the net for an own goal by the centre-back (6 mins).

And four minutes later Kairo Mitchell made it 2-0 after Whitehall had got past Ferguson.

However, Alty got back into things after 29 minutes when keeper McDonnell could only push away an Eddy Jones shot and Hulme headed home the loose ball to make it 2-1.

But Altrincham's corner-curse that season struck again when Eastleigh scored from one as Byrne did not come for the ball at the near post and James Jones was unable to head it clear. Maghoma was left with a simple conversion to make it 3-1 (75 mins).

With the game petering out Alty scored as Eddy Jones netted after McDonnell again pushed out a shot, this time from Linney (90+4 mins). The Spitfires survived a strong penalty appeal for hands after that but they held out for a 3-2 win.

It will be a very different Altrincham side which starts on Saturday as just four of those who started last season at the Silverlake stadium also started Altrincham's most recent game this season, (they are Baines, Eddy Jones, Elliot Osborne and Isaac Marriott).

ALTRINCHAM: 1. Oliver Byrne, 26. James Jones, 5. Kyle Ferguson, 6. Lewis Baines, 2. Eddy Jones, 8. Josh Lundstram, 10. Elliot Osborne, 4. Isaac Marriott, 28. Maxi Oyedele, 9. Jordan Hulme, 39. Joe Hugill. Subs: 29. Regan Linney, 18. Ben Pringle, 30. Harry Perritt, 35. Tyrese Sinclair, 27. Aaron Bennett.

ALTY PITCH CRITICISED

The surface at the J. Davidson Stadium wasn’t in pristine condition...

Right: There was a minute's silence as well as the playing of the last post by a bugler from the Sale & District British Legion branch before the Altrincham v Southend United game last Saturday.

Scott-Morriss said 'I don’t like to make excuses but it was a difficult pitch to come back onto, it was very soggy, especially on my side, but you have to adapt to it.

'If you watched it as a neutral, it probably wasn’t the best spectacle, but we’re just disappointed we didn’t pick up any points'....

'I think whoever took the first chance was probably going to win the game. Unfortunately they took theirs and we didn’t'".

THROUGH THE YEARS

In their past eight games on 18 November, Altrincham's only win inside ninety minutes came in 2017 when they won 4-0 at Sutton Coldfield Town in the Northern Premier League.

The full record is to be found in Howard Watts and Mike Garnett's Through the Years.

ALTY OLD BOYS

CHESHIRE NEWS

As ever, Paul and Wayne have conducted themselves with the utmost honesty, transparency and integrity... They will remain 100% supportive of the club.

Paul has been with 1874 from the very first day, when our new squad assembled for the first training session in June 2013... Wayne joined in the summer of 2016, quickly making his mark as technical coach...

Bow & Goodie have co-managed a total of 287 games during the intervening period of over six and a half years...

As we now move to the next phase, we are grateful to Matt Woolley and Mark Jones for agreeing to step in and help guide the team in training".

The club lies eighteenth in the twenty-club NPL West Division.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

"Speaking of star striker Kabamba, whose goal secured the win for the Bees on the day, Brennan was keen to point out the importance of the matchwinner.

“He’s been brilliant, Nicke. He scored again in the six-yard box, and I keep telling him get into the six-yard box as much as you can...

"We transformed the player who, before he came here, didn’t score a lot of goals.

“If he keeps getting in the right positions, he’ll score more goals. I’m delighted for him because he’s a great kid and he’s got a great attitude.”

York Press reports that "York City boss Neal Ardley has lauded his side’s travelling support as ‘unbelievable’ after Saturday’s crucial victory at AFC Fylde.

An estimated 750 fans followed the Minstermen to Lancashire, a Vanarama National League high, and a large portion of the 1800-strong crowd at Mill Farm.

And they were rewarded with a fantastic all-around performance from City, who secured a vital three points against their fellow strugglers thanks to goals from Scott Burgess and Ryan Fallowfield inside the opening half an hour.

That was just the Minstermen’s fourth win of the league campaign...

'The fans are unbelievable,' Ardley praised. 'It’s so good to go and celebrate with them rather than go over and clap, knowing that you haven’t given them a nice Saturday evening... Hopefully we can build a really good bond between us and the fans where they’ll accept the off-days'...

Ardley conceded, 'If we’re going to become what I want us to become, we need to get safe. There’s been a few times that I’ve raised my voice in training and the lads have felt the rough side of me a little bit on a few things... From when I arrived until now, it’s slowly got better'".

13 November 2023

SARLL GETS HIS CARDS AT WOKING

And just two months ago Woking were doing very well, having lost only twice in their opening ten games. Those defeats were at home to Altrincham and away at Barnet.

Yet today, Woking announced "that it has relieved Manager Darren Sarll of his duties with immediate effect.

The Club would like to place on record its sincere thanks to Darren for one of the Club’s most successful seasons in recent history and wish him well in his future endeavours both on and off the pitch.

Assistant Manager Ian Dyer has been asked to take charge of the First Team for the upcoming home fixtures against Oldham and Chesterfield.

No further comment will be made today".

After their good start to this season, more recently The Cards have won just three games in 13 matches in all competitions, one of those victories being an FA Cup tie against Hemel Hempstead. Recent elimination from the FA Cup by Isthmian League Ramsgate, followed by defeat by relegation threatened Oxford City in the National League have led to his demise.

The club currently lies fourteenth in the Vanarama National League.

ALTY TV HIGHLIGHTS

NEXT: EASTLEIGH

Eastleigh lie eleventh in the league and thirteenth in the form guide currently. They have eight points fewer than Altrincham, who have a game in hand on the Spitfires.

After eighteen league games, Altrincham have identical records this season whether at home and away, with four wins, four draws and one defeat both at home and on the road.

ALTY OLD BOYS

Opposing "old boys" scored as Nantwich Town lost 3-2 at Stalybridge Celtic. BYRON HARRISON netted for the Dabbers whilst MAX HARROP was on the mark for Celtic.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Scott Burgess's first City goal in four and a half years was followed by a Ryan Fallowfield tap-in just before the half-hour mark as the Minstermen ran out deserved victors in a crucial match at the bottom of the Vanarama National League table.

Despite Fylde coming back well after the break, George Sykes-Kenworthy's goal was seldom threatened, the former Bradford (Park Avenue) goalkeeper making his only save of the match with 10 minutes left to play...

Ardley enthused 'I don't know what happened before, but that was the most complete performance... From minute one to minute 90, everything I worked on and asked them to do, they absolutely nailed it...

'When you start winning games and you do things consistently, you get that confidence where you know what you're going to get. We haven't got to that stage yet.

'But I know how fast [Fylde] start... They've got so much pace in their team, they're a good team... [Nick] Haughton is a superb player, and they're strong at the top'...

Both goals were the products of flowing counter-attacking moves taking advantage of an overload on the wings...

'The counter-attack, the speed, time and again during the week, we did loads of work with wing back and front wide forward because they're a back four'" concluded the manager.

"Marc White's Dorking Wanderers "side suffered their heaviest National League defeat to date after being comprehensively beaten by Gateshead at The International Stadium.

Whilst Marc White was able to welcome back Luke Moore and Jason Prior from suspension... Barry Fuller did miss out on the trip up to the North East after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season last weekend. Moore came into a starting line which also included James McShane making his first start since the end of September, Fuller and Ryan Seager, who completed a move to Havant & Waterlooville last Tuesday, the players to make way as Dan Gallagher dropped into the back three.

Tony Craig was named on the bench after being ruled out with a knee injury since mid-September, and Academy midfielder Jack Saunders was called up to the competitive first team squad for the first time...

It had been an even-handed, steady contest approaching the midway point of the half... but the home side managed to open the scoring... From there The Heed continued to threaten virtually every time they went forward through the remainder of the contest; relentless in their pressing all over the park and becoming increasingly slick in moving the ball around...

Gateshead remained very much on top in an attacking sense... H/T: 3-0...

Any hopes of a quick impact and turning of the tide were quickly diminished though as Gateshead added a fourth just five minutes into the restart... There was no let up in the pressure... The fifth goal of the afternoon did arrive with twenty minutes remaining;...

A couple of minutes from the end of regulation time, Wanderers' heaviest defeat in their time in the National League was confirmed after... Regan Booty, the former Maidstone United man [was] able to gather in a pocket of space before unleashing a strike which found the bottom corner...

With just one win from their last seven matches, the latest defeat leaves Marc White’s men three points from the relegation zone as they now reside in 18th spot".

After league-leaders Chesterfield's 4-2 win over Barnet, "Phil Tooley takes a look at the game...

Official! Paul Cook’s team has formally come of age. Having got to 18 matches, I can confirm that this is the best-ever opening sequence in Chesterfield FC’s long history. This season, 15 wins, but two draws and just the one defeat at Altrincham...

Four more goals to take the tally to 47... The modern day gladiators have netted in every match to date...

The win over Portsmouth in the FA Cup was the perfect appetiser for the main course of first v second. .. The ‘sold out’ sign was hung on the door".

It was goalless at the break when "Colclough and Dobra switched flanks and immediately began to tie their markers in knots, and before you knew it, they had successfully linked up to find the net that had never looked within reach previously...

What a start to the half, and that initial pressure intensified and new peaks were scaled as Grigg followed by subs Jacobs and Quigley ensured the summit would be adequately protected from any unwanted threats...

Late on as Barnet’s last-gasp efforts showed some guile... We all expected two more goals when the seven-minute board was held up on 90, but none of us expected any additional scored to go Barnet’s way!

The Bees were the best opponent we’ve encountered this season in the first-half. Easily. Chesterfield put on their very best show for the next 45 minutes and were untouchable, but with the game won, concentration levels dropped".

MANAGEMENT VERDICTS

Right: Justin Amaluzor has scored in three of the last four league matches for Altrincham.

Following the 2-0 win over Southend United, which took Altrincham onto ten games without defeat in the league, the NL Paper's Andy Marshall quoted Altrincham assistant manager Neil Sorvel as saying, "I'm made up with our run.

You can easily go ten the other way at this level, and we have in the past. So it just shows the level we have reached... We played some great stuff.

They're a good side... but we made them look average.

And I'm really pleased for Justin [Amaluzor], he's a top lad. I've said he doesn't score enough given his ability, so it's great to see him onthe scoresheet".

In contrast, Shrimpers boss Kevin Maher was "disappointed we didn't get something from the game.

"The first goal was always going to be important in this game and we had two or three chances to open the scoring.

But you can't play well every game" he concluded as his side ended its seven-match unbeaten run in the National League.

ALTRINCHAM 2-0 SOUTHEND UNITED

After the match, Altrincham FC manager Phil Parkinson spoke to Brian Flynn on Alty TV.

Above, Alty celebrate the opening goal as members of the ground staff are amongst those looking on. Groundsman Adam Lawrence and his volunteer crew had worked very hard to get the game on after huge amounts of rain in recent weeks.

SOUTHEND'S REACTION

After the game, Maher said 'We probably didn’t reach the heights we have done over this run, but you’ve got to grind results out so it’s disappointing not to get anything from the game. Defensively we were a little bit open for me at times and a little bit too easy to play through and that was the case for the first goal...

The likes of Cav [Miley] and Harry Taylor are big losses. That’s why you need a squad so you can cope with the injuries and suspensions...

[Altrincham], 'They’re up there for a reason, they’ve done ever so well and they haven’t lost many games..

'I thought we started ever so well but we dropped off and we were just half a yard off the second balls'".

NEXT: EASTLEIGH

This weekend they drew 1-1 at Oldham Athletic.

Eastleigh "were forced to settle for a draw in a tight game against Oldham Athletic at Boundary Park.

Chris Maguire opened the scoring in the 27th minute with a cooly placed penalty.

Alex Reid then went on to cancel out his effort with just over 20 minutes to go in the game meaning that the points would be shared... with the first 16 minutes mainly being played in the middle of the park...

Paul McCallum was fouled in the box in the 25th minute giving the Spitfires a great chance to open the scoring. Chris Maguire took that chance and slotted the ball past Mathew Hudson into the bottom left corner to give the Spitfires the lead...

Reid equalised for the hosts in the 69th minute with a close range effort that found the roof of the net...

Eastleigh: McDonnell (GK) (C), Atangana, Francillette, McCallum, Langston, Hodson, Nwabuokei (57), Maguire, Clements, Quigley, Rutherford. Subs: John (GK), Barlow (57), Panter, Yang, Dotse".

ALTY OLD BOYS

League One: No sooner had Blackpool substituted OWEN DALE in the 74th minute, than they conceded the only goal of the game at Bolton.

ALISTAIR SMITH was substituted in the74th minute by Lincoln City as they trailed 0-1 at home to Port Vale, but they earned a point with an equaliser in added time.

League Two: ELLIOTT NEWBY put in a full shift as Barrow won 1-2 at Bradford City. Others to play the full game were TOBY MULLARKEY for hosts Grimsby Town, and JOEL SENIOR for visitors Morecambe. The home side won 3-2, and didn't need to bring LUKE WATERFALL off the bench.

Tranmere Rovers, with CHRIS MERRIE absent from their squad, had a comfortable 3-0 win over visitors Forest Green Rovers. CONNOR JENNINGS was credited with the assist for the second goal .

National League: DANNY WHITEHEAD was substituted after 70 minutes by AFC Fylde as they went down 0-2 at home to York City.

BILLY SASS-DAVIES played the whole match for Boreham Wood, who came from behind to earn a 1-1 home draw against Bromley, despite going down to 10 men just before half time.

With the score at 3-0, Chesterfield brought on JAMES BERRY in place of RYAN COLCLOUGH after 80 minutes at home to Barnet. They added a fourth goal soon afterwards, though Barnet struck twice in added time to give a veneer of respectability to the final scoreline.

Despite being without MARCUS DINANGA, Gateshead walloped Dorking 6-0 on Tyneside.

JOSH LUNDSTRAM put in a full shift for Oldham Athletic, but visitors Eastleigh forced a 1-1 draw.

National North: Farsley Celtic came from behind to lead 1-2 at half time at Buxton. There were no more goals in the second half, but both teams finished with 10 men, the guilty man for the visitors being CONNOR BRANSON.

Despite TOM PEERS finding the net, Chester were unable to recover from being three down at the break, and lost 3-2 at Darlington.

NPL: Despite having a player sent off as early as the 14th minute, being two goals down at the break, Matlock Town fought back at Bradford PA to win 2-3. Both JOHN JOHNSTON and JONNY MARGETTS got on the score sheet.

Southern Central: ANDY DALES put Mickleover ahead after only 8 minutes, but visitors Needham Market came back to draw 1-1.

TODAY: ALTRINCHAM 2-0 SOUTHEND UNITED

Following a goalless first half in which the best chances came in the closing stages as Cardwell misdirected a header for Southend and then Newby was denied on the goal-line at the other end, Altrincham took a 58th minute lead. The goal was a tap-in for Amaluzor after a smart Altrincham move.

Amaluzor (no.11) nets the opening goal.

Southend applied plenty of pressure in search of a leveller but Altrincham added an 88th minute second goal with a clever finish from substitute Donawa after good work from Conn-Clarke.

Match report here.

SATURDAY FIXTURES

Saturday, 11 November 2023

• AFC Fylde 0-2 York City
• Aldershot Town 1-0 Kidderminster Harriers
• Altrincham 2-0 Southend United
• Boreham Wood 1-1 Bromley
• Chesterfield 4-2 Barnet
• Dagenham & Redbridge v Solihull Moors (ko 5.30pm)
• Gateshead 6-0 Dorking Wanderers
• Hartlepool United 2-2 Ebbsfleet United
• Maidenhead United 1-0 FC Halifax Town
• Oldham Athletic 1-1 Eastleigh
• Oxford City 3-2 Woking
• Wealdstone 3-2 Rochdale

TODAY: ALTRINCHAM v SOUTHEND UNITED

Coincidentally both Regan and George have been absent for eleven league and one FA Cup encounter since contracting their respective injuries.

Before today's game, Southend United say that they are "Refreshed and ready to go again after a two-week break... with a tricky trip to face Altrincham on Saturday.

Before this short mid-season hiatus, Kevin Maher’s side were seven games unbeaten in the National League, and will be keen to carry that on against one of the most impressive outfits in the division...

The break will have allowed some of Blues’ significant number of injured players to get closer to fitness, as this small squad prepares to get back in the swing of things...

Chris Conn-Clarke has been the Robins’ key man...

We managed to beat them twice in 2021/22, winning 2-1 on a bitterly cold day in the northwest before coming out 2-0 victors back at Roots Hall. Last season, Blues were pegged back twice to draw 2-2 at home. At the J. Davidson Stadium, we were made to rue missed chances as a late penalty was converted to give Altrincham the three points.

Maher said... 'All we’re focused on now is Altrincham and what’s ahead of us... They’re a very good side and they’re up where they deserve to be. They’ll have a lot of dangerous players on the pitch; it’s a tough place to go and Phil [Parkinson]’s done a brilliant job there. It’s two sides that deserve to be and should be up the top end of the league'.

Harry Taylor is suspended after picking up five yellow cards. Dan Mooney (above, right) has returned to fitness and is available for selection. Louis Lomas, Callum Powell, Cav Miley and Jason Demetriou remain out.

Michael Crusham takes charge of a Southend [and Altrincham] match for the first time on Saturday. He has officiated just three National League games in his career, all this season".

Earlier, Southend United manager Kevin Maher said... 'I think it was a good time for a break... Everyone was carrying some sort of niggle, it’s given them a chance to have a little break and then they’ve trained ever so well this week'".

We also learn from Southend United that "Daniel Kanu can’t wait to get back on the pitch as Blues get set to take on Altrincham...

Kanu has been at Roots Hall for more than a month now... [He said] 'We’ve been training hard, we’re well-rested, and we’re raring to go... There are always ways you can improve and we’ve had some time to look at that...

'I’m still relatively new, so [this break from matches] has been a good time for me to learn more about the players around me and learn more about our style'".

ELLIOT OSBORNE

Elliot is now one of the senior players at the club, with 89 appearances to his name to date for the Robins. Only James Jones amongst the current squad has made more appearances for Altrincham.

In the background of the video interview, on the wall, is a list of Altrincham players which shows one unfamiliar name in the goalkeeping section, albeit with no assigned squad number. That name is American custodian, Ryan Matson, who joined Crewe Alexandra in 2022.

ALTY OLD BOYS

Having gone behind after 55 minutes, his side equalised 13 minutes later and took the match into extra time, winning with a penalty after 101 minutes. OLLIE BYRNE, having regained a starting place for Cork last weekend, was demoted to the bench this evening".

TONY SANDERS BACK AT MOSS LANE

Right: Tony Sanders (far left) is pictured in 2013 at a Tribute Evening for the former Altrincham manager. Also pictured are (left to right) John Rogers, John King, Jeff Johnson and Graham Heathcote.

Tony Sanders took the managerial reins at Alty in March 1976 and oversaw an eight-year period of unparalleled success that well and truly put us on the map and established the Robins as non-League's greatest FA Cup giantkillers.

The golden years were between 1978 and 1982, starting with a Wembley FA Trophy triumph over Leatherhead and including an inaugural Alliance Premier League title in 1979-80 and an unforgettable League and League Cup double the following season...

Sanders' side tucked one Football League scalp after another under their belts and crossed swords with the likes of Liverpool and Tottenham... Off the pitch, Tony was the mastermind, and the club are delighted that he is able to join us as our guest...

Tony has agreed to sit down with press and media officer Brian Flynn before kick-off for an in-depth AltyTV interview that will be screened at some point after the game".

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Marsh made seven appearances for York in his time with the club, but struggled with injuries and failed to register a goal whilst on loan.

Barnsley made the decision to recall Marsh following their surprise 3-3 draw with Horsham... with Marsh likely to feature in the Tykes’ replay next week...

'Marshy is a young lad. Barnsley did a great deal for us. We brought him in for his legs and his energy and to give us support for our strikers,' Ardley explained. 'Having two strikers isn’t the way I like to roll. I actually like to have four and to get two to run themselves into the ground.

'At the top of the list is that we’d like to add a left-back, but we’d like to add some firepower to our team'" said Ardley. He added that, as regards Marsh and Barnsley "They had someone on international duty and had a cup replay, so it made sense for them if he wasn’t cup tied to call him back and have the bodies".

Chesterfield's "Assistant manager Danny Webb... began by reflecting on the impressive 1-0 win over Portsmouth in the FA Cup... 'I thought we played really well; it was a great team performance...

'It has been easy to keep the players feet on the ground this week, it’s been great... The lads were switched on and already talking about Barnet...

'Barnet have scored the second number of highest goals behind us and a lot of them have come through Kabamba, so we’re going to have to keep him quiet...

'Joe [Quigley] is back in training. Obviously that’s fantastic for us, we’re buzzing to have him back. He’s become a bit of a cult hero this season really and to get injured at the time he did was disappointing but he’s back now'".

10 November 2023

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS?: 7. RYAN COLCLOUGH

After 88(+10) appearances and 26 goals for Altrincham, Ryan's departure was not surprising, especially as he had enjoyed EFL status before his off the field activities had led him to rebuild his career at Moss Lane.

What was surprising abiut his departure, however, was that he only moved within the National League, signing for Chesterfield who matched his buy-out clause and signed him in a deal that was announced on 12 January 2023.

Colclough had made a surprise debut from the Altrincham bench against Bromley on 24 November 2020, having been signed that day on a short-term contract after departing from Scunthorpe United where, ironically, he had been keeping Alty loanee Andy Dales out of the side.

On 12 December 2020, after just one start and two appearances from the bench for Altrincham, Ryan signed for the club until the end of 2021/22 season.

Earlier in his career, after more than three years at Crewe (2012-16), Ryan moved to Wigan Athletic and went on loan from there to MK Dons before signing for Scunthorpe United in August 2018.

On 24 November, 2020 he made his Alty debut at home to Bromley and scored several fine goals before the season concluded. Ryan extended his contract till the end of 2022-23 season, a deal announced on 14 August 2021.

In 2021-22 he was again a standout performer on the left-wing for Altrincham and his good form continued into 2022-23 where his cut in from the wing and long-range shooting became his trademark.

His excellent play and seven league goals in 2022-23 brought the attention of various clubs with Chesterfield securing his sginature for an undisclosed fee.

Since joining the Spireites he has made 18 appearances, suffering only one defeat - at Altrincham! He has started 13 of the above games and scored five goals, though he has not netted in any of his last ten appearances. He has only completed five matches in which he has started this season.

So, as things stand, four of the seven players who have voluntarily moved on from Altrincham in the past three years in search of enhancing their careers, only three have currently achieved that, insofar as they are now playing at EFL clubs. They are Alistair Smith, Joel Senior and Toby Mullarkey. But Ryan Colclough may be joining their ranks in summer 2024.

NEXT: SOUTHEND UNITED

Altrincham FC reports that "Ahead of Saturday's game with Southend United, Alty TV caught up with assistant manager Neil Sorvel to discuss the 2023/24 campaign so far".

HEROES EXHIBITION

Held in the Vice Presidents' Lounge at the J. Davidson Stadium, the event is providing some fascinating memorabilia from local military veterans and offers the opportunity for you to learn more about your family's military history...

'This event allows everyone the chance to research their family military history while looking at the fascinating items on display' [said] Simon Dow (Altrincham FC Community Manager)

The exhibition will be open from 10am to 3pm today and tomorrow [Friday]".

AFC AGM

All shareholders should have received information about the AGM late last week; if you haven't please contact the club".

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

The initial concept plan for the stadium incorporates high-level operational guidance from FIFA and UEFA and utilises best practice precedents from stadiums around the UK and Europe...

Facilities... will include administrative offices, training, retail, catering, media, hospitality and leisure facilities together with parking...

Situated only 2.7 miles from the Stones current home, The Vale in Ruislip, the stadium will have easy access to the A40 and M25 while its location adjacent to Hillingdon Underground Station will mean fans can travel to and from central London in just 35 minutes...

The club will be looking to incorporate a range of facilities which we hope will include, a community hall, café, communal garden, play area and outside gym. ...

Funding for the construction of the stadium is... expected to be generated through the development of new residential units and associated commercial floorspace on an area of the site allocated by London Borough of Hillingdon."

Solihull Moors "announce the appointment of Stephen Ward to the Board of Solihull Moors. Stephen joined Moors in July 2023 as Director of Football after an illustrious playing career which included 50 caps for the Republic of Ireland.

Since July, alongside Head Coach, Andy Whing, he has overseen renewed levels of professionalism at the club based on a dynamic team based culture and has bought in wholeheartedly to the Moors vision to be a best in class community club as well as achieving success in the pitch...

Stephen said... 'The whole idea is to make sure Solihull Moors Fc continues to progress over the next few years with the vision of making it into to Football League'"

AWARD FOR LUNDSTRAM

The midfielder was up for ‘National League Player of The Season’, along with former Latic, Joe Yarney.

Josh came out on top in the public vote, and collected his award during the week at Boundary Park.

'It’s always nice to receive some recognition for your performances on the pitch' Josh commented. 'I played every single minute last season [AT ALTRINCHAM!], which I think was a big factor in me getting the award.'”

NEXT: SOUTHEND UNITED

From Essex, the Echo News tells us that "Southend United striker Callum Powell hopes to be back in action before the end of the season.

Powell suffered a serious knee injury at Aldershot Town towards the end of September.

But the 27-year-old is targeting being able to play a part in the Shrimpers’ run-in...

Said Powell, 'I’m hoping for around February March time if everything goes to plan and we’ll target that but we’ll have to see how things go... I’ve gone to tackle or block a cross with my left foot,' said Powell. 'He’s slipped into my standing foot and his knee has gone into the side of mine.

'It’s pushed the shin bone backwards which has torn the PCL ligament which stops your knee from hyper-extending. It’s a bit of a freak one really but the only positive is that I don’t need an operation so the recovery time is halved'...

'It was a complete shock when John (Gowens) and Stef (Russo) called me into the office and told me I could be out for around nine months... 'It took me a few weeks to process it. You go from playing full-time and your life being football to it being taken away'".

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS?: 6. JAMES JONES

Named this season as the club captain, James first played as a trialist for Alty in July 2017 but, in August, decided to try his luck elsewhere. However, he returned weeks later to sign for Altrincham in time to make his competitive debut on 23 August 2017.

Before joining Altrincham, James had spent three seasons with Welsh Premier club The New Saints, progressing from their Academy to first team. His first season at Alty was slightly curtailed by a hamstring injury shortly before the end of the campaign.

But 2018-19 saw him establish himself as the regular partner for Tom Hannigan at the heart of the Altrincham defence.

That season he was a virtual ever-present and started 2019-20, once more, as first choice in the right-sided centre-back role until illness briefly cost him his place in New Year 2020. However, what turned out to be an excellent 2019-20 season culminated in his decision to leave Altrincham for Barrow in the Football League, a decision announced on 19 July 2020.

In summer 2022 James rejected a contract extension at Barrow but, after starting eight of the first nine games of 2022-23, James lost his place to Jake Cooper before re-establishing himself as a regular starter. Similarily in 2023-24 he started the first seven league games before losing his place. He has, however, started two of the last three league fixtures as Sam Roscoe has moved to the bench.

James has made 164(+9) appearances to date for Altrincham and has scored on 17 occasions.

Of the six players reviewed so far who voluntarily left Altrincham to advance their careers in the past three years, just three are currently playing at a higher level (in the EFL), namely Senior, Smith and Mullarkey, whilst the other three are still plying their trade in the National League (Jones, Lundstram and Mooney).

NEW BRANDING ON POPULAR SIDE

Benchmark Security Group, who have offices in Manchester and on Ashley Road in Hale, are out on their own as the most qualified security specialists in the region and have built an enviable reputation for thoroughness, flexibility and, above all, reliability over the past 20-plus years.

Pictured on a misty evening as Alty faced Kidderminster Harriers last month, is the new Benchmark advertising bedecking the Popular Side terrace.

As such, they are ideally suited to join forces with the Robins and become part of the ongoing success story at The J.Davidson Stadium, and the club are delighted to announce that a brand new board bearing our latest partner's name now sits proudly above the gantry on the Popular Side of the ground...

'Benchmark Security shares the same values as the club, and I see the relationship as more than the sponsorship of the stand; it is a partnership that I know will grow over time' said Sam Mackenzie (Alty's Director of Partnerships and Sponsors)".

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Winger Hewett has already enjoyed time out on loan at Lye this term, while Hall has continued to gain valuable experience in and around the first team squad.

Both join Sporting for temporary spells ... The side are currently 12th in the Southern League Premier Division Central...

Striker Kieran Phillips, meanwhile, joined National League South side Havant & Waterlooville on Tuesday, making a debut hours".

The Derbyshire Times reports that "Akwasi Asante’s time at Chesterfield has come to an end.

The striker has left the Spireites by mutual consent after three years at the club. The 31-year-old made 65 appearances, scoring 21 times.

The Dutch-born forward, whose contract was due to expire next summer, has not featured at all this season. His last outing came on April 10 as a late substitute... He is now a free agent and allowed to sign for another club...

Asante was signed by former manager James Rowe from Gloucester City in November 2020. He hit the ground running straight away, scoring 10 goals in his first 14 appearances... but he later suffered a ruptured ACL and was out for seven months... The rest of his time at Town was stop-start with niggling injuries...

He was made available for transfer in the summer of 2022. However, he worked his back into the side and was taken off the transfer list after a good start to last season. But injuries struck again".

According to the Yorkshire Post "York City Supporters’ Trust is proposing selling half its stake in the Conference club to majority shareholders Julie-Anne and Matt Uggla.

The pair hold 51 per cent after buying out Glen Henderson in the summer, and the proposal would increase that to 75 per cent.

The trust hope to convince members this would be of big benefit to the club whilst also increasing their protections.

'In our unwavering commitment to transparency and member engagement, we are unveiling this development ahead of schedule, with the intention of ensuring that as many of our fans as possible can actively participate in the decision-making process and shape the future of our football club', said a statement...

The trust was formed when then-chairman Douglas Craig put the club up for sale in February 2002, buying it out of administration the following year. It sees itself as guardian of the club.".

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS?: 5. TOBY MULLARKEY

Before arriving at Moss Lane he had been a product of the Crewe Alexandra youth system from where he had a year with Leek Town and then joined Nantwich.

He made his Alty debut at home to York City on 3 August 2019 as a used substitute. Soon, however, he joined the starting eleven in the absence of the injured and then suspended Tom Hannigan. After another spell on the bench he held his place after replacing the ill James Jones in early 2020 but again reverted to the bench on Jones's return.

However, after James Jones had departed to Barrow in summer 2020, Mullarkey started regularly at centre-back until a broken ankle bone sidelined him in late October 2020.

However, he returned to action after mising twelve league fixtures and featured both at centre-back and in midfield. After being ever-present in 2021-22 he suffered concussion at Yeovil and was sidelined for ten days from 12 October 2021 before returning as a regular starter.

In May 2022 Toby committed himself to Altrincham for 2022-23 and was named as vice-captain. However, after another excellent half-season in 2022-23, he opted to leave for Rochdale, a deal announced on 31 January 2023. At the time Rochdale were bottom of the EFL and were relegated at the end of the season.

However, Toby stayed in the EFL with a move to Grimsby Town in summer 2023. In 2023-24 he has started all but two league and cup games for Grimsby.

He was a used sub in one of those fixtures and has completed 90 minutes in all but three of the matches that he has started.

Most of those appearances have been at right-back, a role he latterly played at Altrincham after being played at centre-back earlier in his Altrincham career.

In all he made 111 (+21) appearances and scored ten times for Altrincham.

NEXT: SOUTHEND UNITED

It’s no surprise that you’ve voted the midfielder’s magnificent goal against Solihull Moors our winner. From a corner, a couple of headed clearances fell to Husin and he let fly with a fantastic volley that flew into the net.

He received 63% of the vote. Oli Coker’s opener from range against Ebbsfleet United was second with 19%, while 14% was enough for Gus Scott-Morriss’ superb chip in the same game to come third".

This award came after Southend United had announced that "Noor Husin is your Player of the Month for October!

It was an incredible month for the midfielder, who, either side of jetting off to play for Afghanistan in World Cup qualifying, put in some fantastic performances for Blues as we went unbeaten in the National League...

Husin once again displayed his strength in multiple areas of the pitch, as a deep-lying midfielder and also as an attacking one.

Husin’s triumph breaks the Harry Cardwell monopoly on the award this season. 33% of the vote was enough for our number eight to come out on top. It’s the second time Husin has won the award at Blues, and the first since February 2022. Gus Scott-Morriss finished second with 22%, while Daniel Kanu was third with 10%."

ALTY OLD BOYS

CHESHIRE NEWS

After featuring on Tuesday night against Sandbach United for a full 90 minutes, due to an underlying health condition, Danny felt it was the right decision to depart the football club".

THROUGH THE YEARS: 11 November

Howard Watts and Mike Garnett's records reveal all of Alty's previous opponents on that date are recprded in the Through the Years files.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

The 28-year-old is in line to make his debut this weekend when the Reds travel to Aldershot Town.

Tollitt has featured five times for the Latics this season, scoring once, after an impressive season last time around...

Prior to signing for Oldham, Tollitt battled against Harriers against AFC Fylde, and counts Tranmere, Blackpool and Wrexham among his other previous clubs".

From Kent Online we learn that "Ebbsfleet United manager Dennis Kutrieb says new faces were a must...

The Fleet started life in the National League with four wins from seven games but have picked up just one win in 13 games across all competitions and sit just one point above the relegation zone.

Kutrieb has drafted in former Liverpool and Bournemouth man Jordon Ibe, Huddersfield centre-back Mustapha Olagunju and ex-Gillingham striker Dominic Samuel in recent weeks...

'I’m not a fan of doing that,' explained Kutrieb. 'Even now you can see that Mustapha played an outstanding game for us on Saturday again but he’s not seeing the pictures that we play.

'Matthias Fanimo was out for three or four months, he can’t see the pictures we want to play but he still had a good game for us. This will just get better over the next couple of weeks as they will get used to how we want to play. That’s the reason why I’m not a fan of it (signing players mid-season) as that will take time now. We need to accept this period when we maybe lose games because things are not working perfectly for us...

'We will be fine but we need to make sure we don’t lose too many points'.

Samuel has been without a club since leaving Scottish outfit Ross County in the close season. The 29-year-old forward... 'hasn’t been training with us but he wanted to play in the League... For whatever reason, the deal that he was waiting for has not happened. We were always kind of in touch and always interested'...

Samuel’s arrival has meant the departure of forward Shaq Coulthirst, who has joined National League South Braintree on loan until the end of January...

Said the Fleet boss. 'Whenever he had chances to play, he couldn’t score a goal... Hopefully he can score five, six, seven goals for them and come back with confidence... He works his socks off and is unlucky that it’s not falling for him'".

Dorking Wanderers "confirm that striker Ryan Seager has joined Havant & Waterlooville for an undisclosed fee...

Ryan made the move to Wanderers ahead of the inaugural National League campaign last season... Ryan went on to score 15 goals in all competitions last term...

Manager Marc White adds, 'Ryan has been a particular favourite of mine. He is the consummate professional, has never been injured and was the silent assassin for us last year, scoring double-figures worth of goals in a struggling team...

'I do believe Ryan’s goals were pivotal to us consolidating our place in the National League'".

7 November 2023

NEXT: SOUTHEND UNITED

The Gas dismissed Joey Barton less than two weeks ago, with Rovers sitting 16th in League One. Their attentions have reportedly turned to Maher, who was a coach at the club between 2019 and 2021 before taking a role at Southend in October 2021.

The 47-year-old has taken temporary charge of the Bristolian club previously after Graham Coughlan’s departure in December 2019, before Ben Garner took full-time charge. He also has a deep history with his current club, having featuring over 450 times for The Shrimpers in eleven years at the Essex club".

ALTY OLD BOYS

That was when he was an unused sub in a Vanarama National League match at home to Solihull Moors in October 2021. For that game he had been signed as an emergency loan from Bolton Wanderers (due to Covid).

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Marsh made seven appearances in the Vanarama National League for the Minstermen, having joined in September".

York Press adds that "Marsh joined York as manager Neal Ardley's second signing alongside loanee Will Smith...

The young striker made seven appearances in his time with the club and failed to register a goal for the Minstermen whilst providing additional support to Dipo Akinyemi and Lenell John-Lewis, seeing City only have two registered forwards currently with the club...

It will come as a surprise to York supporters after the two clubs agreed to extend his loan deal by an additional month on Wednesday, October 25 after an initial one-month loan spell".

At the weekend, Woking "made the trip to Thanet to take on step four Ramsgate in front of a sell out crowd of 3000. Darren Sarll made one change to the side beaten by Bromley last Saturday; Lewis Walker, recalled by Gillingham was replaced by Charlie Wakefield, whilst academy graduate Jamie Hilton made the bench for the first time.

The Rams’ starting lineup contained plenty of National League experience in the form of former Man United midfielder Lee Martin, former Gillingham wide man Jordan Green and former Maidstone defender Joe Ellul. In stormy conditions on the Kent Coast, Woking kicked off...

Woking had the lead on 13 minutes when... a perfect through ball saw Lewis calmly dink the ball over Hadler.

The Cards were continuing to dominate... as the rain continued to hammer down... but the Rams had an equaliser on 40 minutes when a long ball was brilliantly touched down by TJ Jadama, who slotted past Jaaskelainen...

The home side did go in front on 72 minutes when a superb corner routine saw Lee Martin on hand to slot the ball into the bottom corner...

In truth, the Cards barely threatened their opponents' goal and were knocked out by a side full of desire, knowhow and in centre back Joe Ellul, a colossus at the back. Questions will need to be asked as to how Woking were second best for large spells".

Oxford City "announce the loan signing of Jack Bycroft from Southampton.

The 21-year-old shot-stopper spent last season with Taunton Town in the Vanarama National League South and went on to make 48 appearances, whilst keeping nineteen clean sheets in the process...

Bycroft is also no stranger to National League football after spending time with Weymouth in the 2021/22 season, as well as having a short spell with Aldershot Town earlier this season...

Jack said... 'I feel like I've had a fair bit of exposure to the [National] league now, and hopefully I can help us this season stay where we belong'".

According to the BBC "The coach used by Solihull Moors was 'significantly damaged' as it left Bolton Wanderers following an FA Cup tie, the League One side has confirmed..

A representative said the damage occurred between 17:00 and 17:20 GMT".

And Solihull Moors confirm that "Max Brogan... the young midfielder heads out on loan to Vanarama National League North side Tamworth on a 28-day loan.

Brogan, who originally signed for Solihull Moors from Nuneaton Borough has made multiple appearances for the club, most recently as a second-half substitute in our 4-0 defeat to Bolton Wanderers"

6 November 2023

NEXT: SOUTHEND UNITED

Altrincham have a substantial injury list but manager Phil Parkinson suggested in a recent interview that some of those who have been missing for a while may be in contention for next Saturday's home fixture when Altrincham host Southend United next Saturday in the Vanarama National League.

Those who have been out of action for the last five league games or more are Joey Jones, Matty Kosylo, Regan Linney and George Wilson, whilst Ollie Crankshaw has been ruled out for the rest of the season.

Midfielder Isaac Marriott should be available on Saturday after completing his one-match suspension.

As for Southend United, "Head Coach Kevin Maher has provided an injury update...

Callum Powell tore his posterior cruciate ligament at the end of September. Maher [said]... 'We don’t believe he will need an operation. He’s in a leg brace for six weeks'...

He confirmed that Jason Demetriou has torn his hamstring... '[Jason] will be seeing a specialist and then we’ll take it from there. It will be a few weeks', [said Maher].

David Martin and Collin Andeng Ndi have both been out for a little while. On the two goalkeepers, Maher said 'Dave’s back and ready now. Collin is beginning to get out on the grass doing some work... Training with the team might be a little while off still'.

Finally, he gave the latest on Louis Lomas. 'It looks like he’s going to need an operation on his groin'" he concluded.

ALTY OLD BOYS

Elsewhere, Kidsgrove Athletic "have paid out an undisclosed fee to bring MASON FAWNS to the Novus Stadium".

Closer to home, CHIEKH THIAM, an Alty trialist last summer, has joined Warrington Rylands.

Phil Jordan reports that in the FA CUP: "Portsmouth were unbeaten in normal play this season (they lost a penalty shootout to Peterborough in the EFL Cup) but bowed out of the FA Cup to the only goal of the game at Chesterfield.

RYAN COLCLOUGH and JAMES BERRY (right) came on as substitutes, while JEFF KING remained on the bench.

This result means that Altrincham will probably have another blank Saturday on December 2nd. It's worth noting that the last player to score a winning goal against the Spireites was DIOR ANGUS.

Also in the FA Cup, Kidderminster brought ASHLEY HEMMINGS on in the 74th minute, but the scoring was complete by then, and Fleetwood, without JUNIOR QUITIRNA again today, went through 1-2.

The scoring was also completed at Slough by the time TOBY MULLARKEY joined the action in the 86th minute. The tie ended 1-1 and a replay at Grimsby will be needed. LUKE WATERFALL was an unused substitute for the visitors.

In the SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP: Livingston withdrew MYLES WELCH-HAYES after 66 minutes at Dundee, but the damage was already done and they lost 1-0".

FA CUP

Sunday 5 November 2023

• CHESTERFIELD 1-0 Portsmouth
• KIDDERMINSTER HARRIERS 1-2 Fleetwood Town

The Round Two draw, as it affecst National League clubs, is below:

• ALDERSHOT TOWN v Stockport County
• Chester/YORK CITY v Wigan Athletic
• CHESTERFIELD v Leyton Orient
• EASTLEIGH v Reading
• Newport County v BARNET

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Paul Cook made five changes from the side that beat Kidderminster as Harry Tyrer, Ash Palmer, Branden Horton, Darren Oldaker, and Michael Jacobs came into the starting XI...

The all-important goal came in the 32nd minute when the ball was crossed in by Darren Oldaker, following a free kick, and Naylor rose the highest to head the ball in...

Some fans thought that they had doubled their lead when Ryan Colclough drove down the left-hand side and struck the ball into the side netting.

Substitute James Berry forced a good save from Norris shortly after coming on, with a powerful shot to the keeper’s near post".

Ebbsfleet United where "November this year starts with... another long trip for Dennis Kutrieb’s side [to Hartlepool] but with Fleet’s good record against the Teesside club, who are second-bottom of the form table at present, there’s plenty to encourage those making the journey...

Fleet tackle November with October’s quartet of signings – Jordon Ibe, Mustapha Olagunju, Dominic Samuel and Myles Kenlock – all in place, as well as a fully fit Matty Fanimo, to boost the options available...

Aside from the league games, we will also know our Isuzu FA Trophy opponents as Round Two takes place on November 18th with the draw for Round Three (when National League clubs enter) two days later. Fleet will play that game on December 9th."

NEXT: SOUTHEND UNITED

Saturday, 11 November 2023

• AFC Fylde v York City
• Aldershot Town v Kidderminster Harriers
• Altrincham v Southend United
• Boreham Wood v Bromley
• Chesterfield v Barnet
• Dagenham & Redbridge v Solihull Moors (ko 5.30pm)
• Gateshead v Dorking Wanderers
• Hartlepool United v Ebbsfleet United
• Maidenhead United v FC Halifax Town
• Oldham Athletic v Eastleigh
• Oxford City v Woking
• Wealdstone v Rochdale

ALTY OLD BOYS

But Ben was injured in the tenth minute and had to be substituted two minutes later. ASTLEY MULHOLLAND had left Shawe View late last week so he was not involved at Witton.

Elsewhere, Phil Jordan reviews the activities of "old boys" across the league and cup competiions on Saturday...

"FA CUP: At Northampton, ELLIOTT NEWBY was credited with the assist for the opening goal as Barrow shocked their higher division opponents 1-3.

KENNEDY DIGIE scored the clincher as Alfreton knocked out visitors Worthing, for whom DANNY CASHMAN was a 74th minute substitute, 2-0.

CRAIG MAHON was a 34th minute substitute for Curzon Ashton, but visitors Barnet triumphed 0-1 despite being reduced to 10 men just before half time.

Lincoln City substituted ALISTAIR SMITH after 72 minutes, but they were knocked out at home 1-2 by lower division Morecambe, for whom JOEL SENIOR was booked, and then substituted deep into added time.

JOSH LUNDSTRAM put in a full shift for Oldham Athletic, but couldn't help them avoid a 2-0 defeat at Newport County.

At Stevenage, visitors Tranmere Rovers were forced to introduce substitute CHRIS MERRIE (left) after only 12 minutes when they already trailed 1-0, and he was booked before half time. Although they turned the game round to lead 1-2 after 55 minutes, they found themselves trailing 3-2 with less than 10 minutes of normal time to play - the credit for the assist went to CARL PIERGIANNI.

After they withdrew CONNOR JENNINGS in the 89th minute they fought back to 3-3, but were eventually knocked out by a clinching goal in the 10th added minute.

SAM WEDGBURY was substituted after 76 minutes as his Worksop team were knocked out 5-1 at Stockport County.

Although MARCUS DINANGA converted a penalty for Gateshead, and added another goal in the 95th minute, the damage had already been done by hosts Yeovil Town earlier, and they won 3-2.

Blackpool progressed with a 0-2 win at Bromley, with OWEN DALE (right) being substituted after 81 minutes.

NATIONAL NORTH: By the time CONNOR BRANSON scored in the 78th minute, his Farsley Celtic team were down to 10 men, and lost 1-2 to visitors Darlington.

JOSH AMIS scored twice as Warrington Town won 1-3 at Gloucester City.

NPL PREMIER DIVISION: A virtuoso performance from JONNY MARGETTS saw him score all of the goals, one of them a penalty, as Matlock Town, captained by JOHN JOHNSTON, crushed visiting league leaders Radcliffe 4-0. The visitors' line up included JAMIE MORGAN, JOSH HANCOCK, JORDAN HULME, and JUDE OYIBO.

IRISH DIVISION 1 PLAYOFF: In what appears to have been a feisty encounter at Waterford, no less than 14 yellow cards were shown, one of them to the host club's BARRY BAGGLEY.

They had gone ahead early in the second half, but visitors Cobh Ramblers equalised in the 88th minute to force extra time. Waterford scored the only goal in the added period, and now travel to Cork City next Sunday to try to earn promotion to the Premier League.

The sides met in the FAI Cup in August, and Cork won 3-0 - so Waterford will need to step up considerably on that showing."

FA CUP RESULTS

FA Cup First Round

• Bolton Wanderers 4-0 SOLIHULL MOORS
• BROMLEY 0-2 Blackpool (ko 5.45pm)
• Chester FC 0-0 YORK CITY
• Curzon Ashton 0-1 BARNET
• EASTLEIGH 5-1 BOREHAM WOOD
• Oxford United 2-0 MAIDENHEAD UNITED
• Newport County 2-0 OLDHAM ATHLETIC
• Ramsgate 2-1 WOKING
• Swindon Town 4-7 ALDERSHOT TOWN
• Sutton United 2-1 AFC FYLDE
• Yeovil Town 3-2 GATESHEAD

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE RESULT

• Dorking Wanderers 1-3 Dagenham & Redbridge

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

In a game when Latics never really got going, Shane McLoughlin opened the scoring... The Exiles added a second with just over ten minutes to go...

Oldham came into this game with new ‘keeper Dan Langley replacing the injured Norman on the bench, and Brennan Dickenson making his return in place of Green who had a hamstring tweak...

Oldham’s best chance of the game arguably came just before the break, Lundstram’s long ball reached Nuttall, who forced the ‘keeper to make a superb save".

In its review of the FA Cup First Round, the BBC reported that "Aldershot put seven past League Two side Swindon, while eighth-tier Ramsgate moved into round two for the first time...

Former Manchester United forward Lee Martin hit the second-half winner as Isthmian League South East side Ramsgate beat National League outfit Woking 2-1 to become the lowest-ranked side to go through.

Jack Barham's hat-trick helped Aldershot make history at the County Ground as they became the first non-league side to score seven against league opponents in a 7-4 victory.

National League South leaders Yeovil Town made it through to round two for the third season running after beating National League outfit Gateshead 3-2.

Sixth-tier Scarborough Athletic earned a replay with League Two strugglers Forest Green Rovers...

Aldershot found themselves 7-0 up with less than an hour gone. Town pulled four goals back in the final 15 minutes but it was too late to deny the Shots/...

Swindon manager Michael Flynn told BBC Radio Wiltshire, 'Aldershot have come here and they've given it their all. They worked as a team, they outfought us, they outplayed us at times and we looked like a team that has never played together before. That's inexcusable...

Seventh-tier Marine... were defeated by League Two opponents Harrogate... as Sam Falorin's double helped the visitors ease away to a 5-1 win...

Elsewhere, sixth-tier Yeovil Town held off a late fightback to beat fifth-tier Gateshead 3-2 at Huish Park...

Fellow sixth-tier sides Maidstone United and Alfreton Town joined National League Barnet and Eastleigh in the round two draw after winning all non-league ties, while York and Chester will replay after a goalless draw."

LOUISE BOWYER R.I.P.

Altrincham FC supporters will be saddened to hear of the death in hospital in Wales of Louise Bowyer.

Over several years Louise rose through the ranks of the Moss Lane matchday stewarding team and, with her son Jack, she also performed many other voluntary tasks at the football club.

Our condolences go to Louise's partner Philip and to all of her friends and family.

Right: In 2010 Louise's son Jack won the end of season ballboys' award. He is seen here showing his award to his proud mother in her orange stewards' jacket.

CSC DATE ANNOUNCED

Altrincham FC adds that "This game will be unsegregated and, if the scores are level after 90 minutes, the winners will be decided on penalty kicks.

Ticket prices are the same as for our 1st Round game against 1874 Northwich, with Adults £7, and Concession and Under 16s at £2."

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS?: 4. JOSH LUNDSTRAM

Unfortunately, he is the third of the four players addressed so far to have had his time at his new club affected by injury.

Josh had rejoined Altrincham from Crewe Alexandra in a move announced on 28 May 2022 but he had enjoyed a previous loan spell from The Railwaymen at Moss Lane in 2020, when he made thirteen starts for the club.

In his second spell at the club, after lifting all three of the end of 2022-23 season's major end of season awards, Josh departed to fellow National League team Oldham Athletic, a move announced on 6 June 2023.

Over his two spells for the Robins, he had made 66 appearances for Altrincham, including every minute of every National League game in 2022-23. Every one of his appearances had been in the starting eleven and he left having scored three goals.

But no sooner had he gone to Boundary Park than he suffered a pre-season injury whoch sidelined him until the end of September 2023.

Since then he has appeared in all six league matches, starting the last five games after an initial half-hour from the bench in his first game back after his injury. He has now completed three full NL games as well as the FA Cup tie against Altrincham last month.

ALTY OLD BOYS AND LOANEES

MAKING A DATE WITH ALTY

We’re calling on fans to submit their own original Altrincham FC photos for the chance of featuring in our Christmas favourite; but you’ll have to be quick; the deadline is close of play on Monday, November 6.

The Photos

• Should be original images taken by you
• Need to be high resolution shots
• Show the emotion of being an Alty fan and/or show a favourite moment of being an Alty fan

E-mail the photo with written permission to use... All photographs featured will be credited in the calendar itself".

Q AND A

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Dan links up with Latics having trained with the club in the summer following his departure from Gateshead.

The 22 year-old came through the Newcastle United academy in his native north east, and was a regular in their youth teams up until the age of 20.

He then crossed the Tyne to spend some time with Gateshead last season, making 12 appearances as the Heed completed their first season back in the National League.

After a loan spell with Spennymoor at the end of the previous campaign, he joined Blyth Spartans in the summer...

Goalkeeping Coach Steve Collis added... 'I think it's important to have three quality 'keepers on our books, who will push each other and that's what Dan will help us do'".

According to the Hartlepool Mail, "Nicky Featherstone will remain with Hartlepool United until the end of the season after agreeing terms over a new deal...

Featherstone left Hartlepool in the summer after nine seasons and 380 appearances with the club following a stand-off in negotiations.

The midfielder had been keen to stay with Pools before a deal stalled... But after an unfortunate run of injuries in midfield, manager John Askey was able to reach back out to the 35-year-old to agree a short-term contract.

Over the course of the last month Featherstone has started all six games he has been available to play in...

[Now], Pools have come to an agreement with their former captain... to stay until the end of the 2023-24 campaign with the club also confirming the midfielder will be granted a testimonial match at the end of the season...

Said Featherstone... 'We're only five points outside the play-offs and a few wins can put us back up there.'"

3 November 2023

DOUBLE VISION FOR ALTY

Now, press and media officer John Edwards reports on the Altrincham FC website that two more of the club's fixtures have been "selected for live TV coverage, just before Christmas and, again, in the New Year".

On 23 December, the away match at Bromley will be televised by TNT Sports and move to a 5.30pm kick-off.

And, a month later, on 23 January the home match against Rochdale is put back to an 8pm kick-off to accommodate the TNT cameras once more.

The full schedule for the pre- and post-Christmas period is:

• Saturday November 11 - Dagenham & Redbridge v Solihull Moors (5.30pm)
• Saturday November 18 - Southend United v Chesterfield (3pm)
• Wednesday November 22 - Barnet v Oldham Athletic (8pm)
• Saturday November 25 - AFC Fylde v Dorking Wanderers (12pm)
• Saturday December 16 - Gateshead v FC Halifax (12.30pm)
• Saturday December 23 - Bromley v Altrincham (5.30pm)
• Tuesday December 26 - Southend United v Barnet (3pm)
• Monday January 1 - Chesterfield v Solihull Moors (3pm)
• Saturday January 20 - Barnet v Chesterfield (5.30pm)
• Tuesday January 23 - Altrincham v Rochdale (8pm)

ALTY'S ASPIRATIONS

'It was a massive blow losing Isaac [Marriott, who was suspended] but Banko [Lewis Banks, pictured right] stepped in and did well, and I thought we were really robust defensively,' said the Alty boss after his side made it nine games unbeaten in the league...

'It has taken a wonder strike late on to stop us taking all three points [at Oldham last week]. So, of course, I’m delighted with the position we are in, but you come to places like this and realise just how far we still have to go in terms of infrastructure at the club.

'We are getting loads of things right on and off the pitch, but just look at what’s here... and it’s another level.

'The top teams in this division pretty much have two players of equal quality for each position, but it takes a lot of money and backing to be able to do that.

'We aspire to be in the play-offs, but when you look at the size of our squad, we have to hope we can get through the season without too many injuries.'”

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS?: 3. ALISTAIR SMITH

Alistair Smith (29) joined Altrincham on loan in November 2020 from Mansfield Town before his release from the EFL club and his signing for the Robins in January 2021. He went on to make 30(+1) appearances that season, scoring once.

However, in summer 2021 he moved back into the EFL with newly promoted Sutton United. Over two seasons with the Surrey club he made 68 league appearances and scored a commendable 13 goals in EFL2 for the "U"s.

After winning Sutton's Young Player of the Year award for 2022–23 he moved up to League One Lincoln City in summer 2023, where he has started a half of The Imps' sixteen league and cup matches this season, scoring once.

Ali has been a used sub in all of the other eight matches played by Lincoln this season so his move from Altrincham has led to his becoming a regular player two levels higher in the English footballing pyramid.

NEXT: SOUTHEND UNITED

In the interim, the Southend Echo reports that "United boss Kevin Maher is looking into ways Nick Hayes can stay with the Shrimpers.

Hayes has started the last five games in goal for Blues after signing on loan from Ipswich Town...

Said Maher, 'Dave (Martin) was playing [in goal] for us before Nick came in and it’s something I’ve got to look at'.

Blues remain under a transfer embargo and are therefore restricted in the number of players they can register.

Hayes was allowed to sign after Martin was sidelined with a hamstring injury and has kept three clean sheets in five games.

At the other end of the field, Daniel Kanu has scored four goals in four appearances since signing on loan from Charlton Athletic.

And Maher confirmed the forward will be remaining at Roots Hall for the rest of 2023.

The Southend Echo also informs us that "Southend United defender Jason Demetriou will be out for ‘a few weeks’ with a hamstring injury.

Demetriou picked up the problem during Blues’ 5-0 win against Solihull Moors last month...

'The scan has shown JD has got a tear in his hamstring which we kind of knew already,' said Maher..

Demetriou has made 15 appearances for Blues this season and started nine games in succession before suffering the injury".

FA CUP ON TV

Subject to weather disruptions, the schedule of live coverage is as follows:

Friday 3rd November 2023

19:45: Sheppey United v Walsall on ITV4

Saturday 4th November 2023

17:45: Bromley v Blackpool on BBC2

19:45: Mansfield Town v Wrexham S4C

Sunday 5th November 2023

12:15: Chesterfield v Portsmouth on ITV1

14:45: Crewe Alexandra v Derby County streamed on ITVX

17:30: Charlton Athletic v Cray Valley Paper Mills on BBC2

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

This follows reports last week that the player had been charged with rape, following an incident before he joined Pools.

AFC Fylde "announce that Academy striker Danny Ormerod... who was previously at Blackpool before joining the Coasters, signs his first professional contract and graduates from the AFC Fylde Academy...

Ormerod featured for the first team throughout pre-season... The 17-year-old has also featured heavily in the 2023/24 FA Youth Cup and has helped the Academy progress through three rounds into the Second Round Proper by scoring in each game...

Director of Football/Head Coach Chris Beech added... 'Danny has worked hard, scored goals and impressed when joining up with the first team for training. His recent goalscoring exploits in the FA Youth Cup have been there for all to see, and it’s a first professional contract that he deserves for all his hard work...

'With the emergence of Taelor [O'Kane] this season, and now Danny putting pen-to-paper on his deal, it shows that a pathway is there for players to make the step up'".

WIN FOR RESERVES

The goalscorers were Tom Jones (right) who netted a brace, as did Adam Lynch.

The starting eleven comprised Benjamin Atkinson, Henry Brown, Louie Fallon, Tom Jones, Adam Lynch, Sheriff Njie, Kaiden Powell, Finley Ryan, Loui Williams. Olly Wright, Matthew Cleary. Subs: Edson Cata, Harrison Howells, Thomas Killen-Talbot and Ajani Oshodin.

SATURDAY ALTERNATIVE

Witton's squad, according to their website, includes ex-Altrincham players Ben Harrison, Elliot Rokka and Harry Cain, as well as former EFL forward Tom Pope.

Trafford's new manager Karl Marginson secured his first win on Tuesday, at home to Nantwich Town. Trafford currently lie second bottom of the Division, whilst Witton are mid-table and lie eleventh out of the twenty clubs.

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS?: 2. JOEL SENIOR

Another ex-Alty player who moved on before Dan was defender Joel Senior (pictured, left). He too has had injury issues since leaving Altrincham, notably a broken leg soon suffered after he had joined his new club, Carlisle United, but he has since developed into an established EFL player.

He has achieved this despite the setback of being released by the Cumbrians and he has now become a consistent member of the starting eleven at his new club, Morecambe, this season.

Joel, (d.o.b. 24 June, 1999), joined Altrincham at the end of September 2020 after participating in the pre-season schedule. He went on to lift several end of season awards at Moss Lane, including Manager's Player of the Season and he also was the scorer of Altrincham's Goal of the Season. On 1 July 2021, it was announced that Joel had extended his contract at Altrincham.

However, on 2 January 2022 it was announced that he had departed for an undisclosed fee to EFL 2 club Carlisle United.

After breaking his leg and making just 17 appearances and after Carlisle had won promotion to EFL1, Joel was released at the end of 2021-22 season. He was signed by EFL2 Morecambe shortly afterwards. So, coincidentally, whereas Mooney joined The Shrimpers, Senior is currently playing for The Shrimps!

Happily, Joel has started all fifteen league and cup games for Morecambe this season and has completed the full match in all but two of those fixtures.

ALTY OLD BOYS

North of the border, MILES WELCH-HAYES (above, right) finally made his debut for Livingston at Tynecastle, and played 89 minutes. Unfortunately his efforts were in vain as Hearts won 1-0.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Ferguson... is unhappy with the minutes his young player has got with The Cards. O’Connell joined at the beginning of October, but has only appeared in three games, all as a substitute.

Even worse, two of those outings were only for a couple of minutes each. He got 20 minutes off the bench during the 2-0 defeat at home to Southend on October 7, which was also his debut. He clearly didn’t impress, as he has since appeared for a minute or two as a last-gasp sub in the FA Cup double-header against Hemel Hempstead.

Since then, he’s been left out of the squad completely on a couple of occasions, as well as being an unused sub.

O’Connell was at Woking last season and got plenty of game time, with Darren Sarll eager to take him back to Kingfield Road this autumn...

'I’ve had Charlie O’Connell out on loan, and he’s gone to a team that wanted him, and they don’t even put him in the squad,' said the four-time Posh boss. 'It’s a waste of time for Charlie'".

Closer to home, Oldham Athletic report on how Latics’ loanees have fared over the past month.

The club has six players out on loan...

• Jake Forshaw at Farsley Celtic
• Kofi Moore at Workington
• Benny Couto at Ashton United
• Llyton Chapman at Chadderton
• Frazer Cookson at Northwich Victoria
• Ollie Havens at New Mills

With the club effectively up for sale, Hartlepool United "the Club would like to give supporters a further update.

The Chairman met with representatives from the Supporters' Trust last night to explore immediate options available whilst also safeguarding the future of the Club.

Discussions were held around the Trust engaging with other fans' groups and local investors to take a share or control of the Club, with the Chairman still assisting and funding losses in the short-term.

It was agreed that the Trust would make necessary enquiries, liaise with other supporter groups and come back with further information and proposals in the coming weeks".

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS?: 1. DAN MOONEY

Over the coming days we will catch up on what happened to Dan and six other Altrincham players who have moved on to current or former EFL clubs over the past two and a half years.

These moves are a tribute to Altrincham's growing reputation under the management of Phil Parkinson and Dan Mooney but for some of the seven, their post-Alty career has not always been a bed of roses.

One such case is Dan Mooney, who has only started six matches this season for Southend, though he has made a further seven appearances from the bench. He has scored just once this campaign.

In all league matches, he has had just 580 minutes of pitch time this campaign, equivalent to just under five and half full ninety-minute matches. His most recent absence was described by his manager Kevin Maher as an illness rather than physical issue; "Dan Mooney’s stomach was in a bad way last week".

Indeed, in the last five league matches played by Southend, he has had just 27 minutes of game time.

Since leaving Alty, where he had made 44 starts in 55 league appearances and scored 15 goals, Mooney has made 23 starts in 44 league appearances for Southend, where he has also experienced the turmoil surrounding the club which has included the late payment of players' wages.

He netted 15 times in those Alty appearances but he has found the net just three times for the Shrimpers in the National League since joining the Essex club.

ALTY OLD BOYS

JOEL SENIOR was booked as his Morecambe side were defeated by the only goal of the game at Barrow. ELLIOTT NEWBY played the full game for the hosts.

CONNOR KIRBY scored what turned out to be the winning goal for Buxton as they beat league leaders Tamworth 2-1 at Silverlands. The defeat ended a ten match unbeaten league run by the visitors (8 wins, 2 draws)".

ALTY TO FACE CELTIC

The tie is supposed to be played by 25 November.

Former Altrincham players Greg Wilkinson and Max Harrop started the game against Winsford but Max had to go off, injured, in the first half.

THROUGH THE YEARS: 11 November

Howard Watts and Mike Garnett's records reveal all of Alty's previous opponents on that date Through the Years.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

The 24 year-old shot-stopper made 27 Vanarama National League appearances during his spell with the Minstermen, where he rose through the Academy to sign his first professional deal aged 18".

The Hartlepool Mail tells us that "Josh Umerah was forced off with an ankle injury early in Hartlepool United’s defeat to Rochdale after picking up the problem during the warm-up...

Striker Umerah... went immediately down the tunnel inside just six minutes of Pools' 3-2 defeat to Rochdale.

Umerah went down off the ball clutching at his ankle... The striker continues to struggle in what has been a disappointing season so far with just one goal to his name.

The 26-year-old was the subject of much speculation in the summer with a number of Football League clubs showing their interest in the forward...

Askey said of Umerah’s injury, 'He thought he was going to be okay but you could see after two minutes he wasn’t going to be right. It’s another player coming off early in the game which doesn’t help...

'I don’t think it’s through a lack of effort but, for whatever reason, it’s just not really happening for him at the moment.'”

Ebbsfleet United "confirm the signing of defender Myles Kenlock.

The Fleet’s newest recruit has played for Ipswich Town in the Championship and Colchester United and Barrow in League Two.

The 26 year-old joined the Ipswich academy in 2014... made his debut for the Tractor Boys in the Championship at the end of the 2015/16 season. He went on to make more than 100 appearances for the Portman Road side up to 2022 and subsequently appeared 18 times for Colchester United on loan in 2021/22.

Last season he stayed in League Two at Barrow, ending the campaign with a brief spell at Aldershot Town".