ALTRINCHAM FC MATCH REPORTS
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ALTRINCHAM FC RESERVES (0) 1
GREENALLS PADGATE ST OSWALD'S (1) 2
played at the J Davidson Stadium
on Friday, 4 May, 2018, at 7.45pm
LINE-UP:
ALTRINCHAM (Red & white striped shirts, black shorts, red socks): 1. Andrew JONES, 2. Callum JONES, 3. Tom WESTALL, 4. Rob KENNERLEY, 5. Sam HEATHCOTE, 6. Ethan BROOKS, 7. Rhain DAVIS, 8. Neil MONAGHAN, 9. Max POUNCEY, 10. Joel SWIFT, 11. Darius PALMA. Used subs: 14. James O'HARA
GREENALLS PADGATE ST OSWALD'S (Green shirts and socks, black shorts):
REPORT
Three days after their previous game, manager Chris Rowley made four changes for this, the first part of a double-header between these teams over the weekend, with the return fixture scheduled for Monday.
Greenall won the first corner but a resulting Rhain Davis blocked shot was the first half-opening of the match for either side (4 mins). Following a foul on Pouncey, Alty put a free header wide and, in fact, neither side landed a shot on target during the opening stages (11 mins).
Heathcote then recovered after pulling up injured and needing treatment. Next, the referee overruled a linesman's flag for offside, allowing Swift to run at goal but the visitors' keeper stopped his shot (18 mins).
As the game passed the half-hour mark, it had been a generally even contest but Alty now threatened more as Davis fed Pouncey whose cross-shot was palmed away for a corner. From this a Monaghan shot narrowly missed a third-floor window of one of the Chequers apartments (31 mins).
Alty were now getting on top and a smart reverse pass from Pouncey allowed Westall a shot, which was blocked. Moments later a Monaghan shot was likewise blocked (36 mins).
Palma also got in a shot but this went narrowly wide (40 mins) before Davis won the ball and, via Swift, Pouncey got in a shot which ran comfortably to the keeper (43 mins).
But with Alty on top, they were caught out just before the break. A cross from the visitors' right was not cleared and the Greenalls' number ten calmly slotted the loose ball past the exposed Andrew Jones from close range (44 mins).
| Half-Time: ALTRINCHAM FC RESERVES 0 GREENALLS PADGATE ST OSWALD'S 1 |
After an uneventful opening to the second half, Tom Westall, now deployed further up the pitch than in the first half, was tripped on the front edge of the box as he executed a smart turn towards goal. From the freekick, in a central position just outside the box, Sam Heathcote fired a fine, rising freekick into the net to level the scores (57 mins).
An Alty corner soon followed but Monaghan's resulting shot ended up in Golf Road. Just after the hour, Heathcote got forward but his shot went narrowly wide.
When no foul was decreed for a challenge on Monaghan, the midielder took matters into his own hands and earned a booking for a retaliatory challenge soon afterwards (63 mins).
The sides soon both made changes as O'Hara replaced Kennerley and the visitors' no.14 replaced their no.6 (67 mins), followed by their no. 12 coming on for no.11 two minutes later.
Altrincham now enjoyed some further dominance with two corners sandwiching a 40-yard effort from Monaghan, which narrowly cleared the bar, as the keeper hurried back towards his goal-line (76 mins).
But disaster struck soon afterwards when Davis was dispossessed ten yards or so inside the opposition half. A Greenalls player ran directly at goal, up the middle, before the visitors' nos. 9 and 14 almost got in each other's way but the latter mishit a shot into the net from close range to make it 1-2 (79 mins).
Three minutes later, after seemingly being fouled, Davis was shown a red card for an off the ball incident, leaving his side with ten men (82 mins). Greenalls now won two corners, before a well-hit shot from Pouncey narrowly cleared the bar from outside the box (88 mins).
The last meaningful action saw Andrew Jones having to make a good block after the visitors' nos. 9 and 14 had got behind the Alty back line (90+1 mins).
| Full-Time: ALTRINCHAM FC YOUTH 1 GREENALLS PADGATE ST OSWALD'S 2 |