Altrincham 2 Stockport County 3( Vanarama National League-North) 3 September 2016
Part County Contingent (Andrew Machin) |
The fact that it was revealed this
week that wrinkly octogenarian film funster Woody Allen’s latest screen
offering depicts the relationship twixt a glamorous young woman and a much
older man, is perhaps not the most surprising news item you will have heard in
last 10 days or so.
What was a surprise though, in the
same period, was the news that County’s game with Altrincham( today’s game) was
to be …..I nearly said all ticket…..but that’s not strictly true…..only the
away portion of the ground would have to buy a ticket in advance to gain
entrance to the ground on match day- home specs could just stroll up
and pay on the gate! Now….quite apart from the absurdity, in Division 6, of
making it a (partial) all ticket affair, when the stadium has a capacity of
over 6000 and the host clubs average gate is below 1100….and the fairness
angle….I am guessing a rule or two would have been side stepped along the way
also, and this fact maybe decided a change of plan, rather than the
disingenuous line put out 24 hours before the game by the hosts explaining how …..low
and behold…..there was going to be a cash turnstile at the away end!
Having put Stockport County, and their
supporters, through this ridiculously unnecessary hoop jumping exercise, it was
clear to me that the `explanation’
hardly fitted the bill. The waters were only muddied further when Alty introduced an even more surreal element
by advising County supporters that no drums or musical instruments could be
taken into the ground, and if they were they would be confiscated! This was the kind of stuff that North Korea
are regularly pilloried for, and it was not great tactics when looking for a
trouble free occasion.
In response I was looking forward to County supporters taking
up the suggestion by fuzzbox, made in a thread on Marionsboard, to the effect
that they should all turn up with a
couple of spoons! A fitting comic response in my view to a decidedly un-funny
cack handed welcome extended in our direction- but would either Alty or the
constabulary get the joke?
This rain sodden selfie shows I did try with my spoons! |
We only needed it to rain and sure
enough it did….torrents of it…. to fill our cup of angst to the brim ahead of
kick off.
Teams by Andrew Machin. |
The game that followed, whilst
providing salve to our issues, turned out to be something of a curates egg-
County definitely good in parts….decidedly not at others!
What County did have
was resolve, energy( most of the time),and the necessary stamina to keep
playing at a decent tempo late in the game. Despite looking the better of the two
teams, early on, they managed to concede a poor goal, going behind thanks to a speculative effort by James
Lawrie, that must have surprised him as much as us when it sneaked in past
Hinchliffe’s otherwise watchful gaze.
Rrae action for Hinchliffe ( Andrew Machin) |
Things seemed to have been put to
rights when Clarke headed home from within a ruck of players, only for County
to lapse into doze mode again and go behind once more via a close range effort
from Miller. One down at half time, for 20 minutes after the break County
looked out of sorts and certainly out of luck, but once again JG’s
substitutions made the difference. Amis had come on at the re-start and he was
followed not long after by Spencer who thumped home a goal of the season contender to
square things, setting things up for a grandstand finish that saw the blues win
it with a powerful back post header from Smalley.
Spencer impressed ( Andrew Machin) |
That was no more than County
deserved and the County supporters went home happy, with 3 more points in the
bag. There are still areas for Jim to look at before we can be at all totally confident
about matters! The defence is susceptible to lapses in concentration, that in
this match led to conceding poor goals, and Montrose could do with assistance
in midfield where he ploughed a lone furrow at times today.
I expect Rule to
provide this ultimately, and it was good to see him again getting game time, and
again looking the part. But…..we had a couple of mini pitch invasions and, maybe
more seriously another smoke bomb/flare thrown onto the pitch. Acts of
selfishness in my view, and since the referee definitely made a note of the
flare- the Club will be sanctioned! Not good that and greatly disappointing
particularly because the bulk of the County following behaved brilliantly
throughout!
Back to 3 o’clock and the County
faithful were in good voice as the teams took turns probing the other. The
first 10 minutes saw honours even as the largely unspectacular action played
out to the accompaniment of incessant rain.
Sam Minihan caught by Andrew Machin. |
Minihan looked on form for County,
whilst Odejayi was unlucky ( twice) to be flagged offside, but overall there
was not that much to write home about, except perhaps the crudest of challenges
on Marsden by Goodall that sadly went
unpunished by Referee Simon Mather.
Odejayi & Marsden work hard.... |
I was just settling down to battle of
attrition , followed hopefully by a County blitz on the Alty goal, when my
complacent thoughts were interrupted by the sight of James Lawrie ambling
through what passed for cover in the County midfield to get a glimpse of goal.
He was way out and had no expectation of his shot going in, I am convinced, but
it did ….Hinchliffe’s dive not enough to keep this none too lethal drive out!
That was simply awful, and more of
the same looked on the cards within a minute when Smalley spilled possession
forcing Meppen-Walter to save the day with an excellent tackle with Jake Mouh
clear.
Meppen Walter about to deal. |
County did rally via Lloyd, but Tim
Deasy stopped him getting to a tasty flick on from Odejayi to disappoint us.
Lloyd a constant threat ! |
Lloyd ( County’s M.O.M by some
distance today) kept up the pressure and
Sam Heathcote did well to stop the rot as the County wide man cut inside on
another lung bursting run.
LLoyd & Marsden.... |
The pressure on Deasy’s goal
continued – Meppen-Walter just unable to force the ball home from a corner.
Corner cleared. |
On it went with Duxbury joining Lloyd
as the duo led Alty a fair old dance down the left flank.
The pressure looked to be telling on Alty,
who conceded a free kick rather unnecessarily, bringing Lloyd into play again
latching onto Odejayi’s latest flick on in the box before crashing to earth.
Mentally I pointed to the spot….unfortunately Mr Mather did nothing of the
kind, waving play on with an irritating mime.
Lloyd in there again......... |
The Odejayi flick on’s were a
definite feature so far, but none had seen anything accrue from them, and
another , on 23 minutes, went the same route- Minihan unlucky with a run down
the right from a Big K prompt.
Big K.... |
This was encouraging…..but also
disappointing, but this feeling was to last but another 3 minutes whereupon the
place went ever so slightly wild as County equalised. It was all started by yet
another terrific run down the left by Lloyd. All John Cyrus could do in the way
of response was to foul him , so he did, and the resultant free kick saw the
ball hang invitingly above a heaving ruck of players in the box, more than
sufficient encouragement to see Clarke rise to head home. As I say…the place
went mad …it was 1-1 and County were on the march, and their supporters loved
it!
The booking.... |
The free kick |
County were really firing on full
cylinders now and Deasy did well to deny Marsden a couple of minutes after the
equaliser.
Deasy- a rock for Alty. |
That was a good save from the
experienced home keeper, but he bettered it within a couple more minutes,
making a terrific last ditch diving save to push a goal bound shot from live
wire Danny Lloyd round the post, and then reacting quickly to deny County when
the corner headed in.
Bit of a tug somewhere do you think ? |
Lloyd was irrepressible, and twice
after this he almost sneaked one again- the second occasion making it to the
by-line before squaring the ball inside along the deck. There were no takers
though and any chance was gone!
It must be said that I was not
thinking that Altrincham’s defence , apart from Deasy, were looking all that
stable…..just a push I thought…..another try….and we might push them over the
edge!
Yes…..well….did I hear you say “
bunkum” in response to my last statement? Well you would be correct, as the
defensive unit that were to prove deficient was County’s as no one reacted
quickly enough to deny Sean Miller the time and space he needed near goal. It
was another defensive aberration on County’s part, and a goal to boot as Miller
slotted it home to the consternation of the now sodden County following.
Guess what….twice in the minutes that followed that goal…Lloyd
went close for County, but somehow Altrincham survived, but that was about the
best of it from County as the half ebbed away like so much filthy bath water
down the plug hole.
County faced the second half one
down, but with Josh Amis on for Meppen- Walter.
The play from both sides was
distinctly lack lustre, and the hour mark was up before I had needed to note down
any note worthy play.
Montrose & Duxbury get to grips watched by Andrew Machin. |
Alty rang the changes on the hour
bringing Harry Cain on for Miller, but County waited a further 3 minutes before
introducing their second substitute, Scott Spencer, and it was to prove
something of a masterstroke on Jim’s part….keep reading!
We were beyond the hour and still
Lloyd was trying to instil some life in his colleagues but, up until that point
without success. The result was the home defence , that I had seen as
vulnerable, was now looking anything but. The home forwards were not doing
anything for sure….but they were one up and seemingly did not need
to…..certainly Deasy was in this frame of mind wasting time by the bucket load
at every chance he could get.
Lloyd for his part kept plugging away
, albeit without a goal to show for it, but with Spencer on the park the ball was now on the ground more ,
and we were to see the full benefit of this next as he latched onto the ball
just beyond half way.
Typical tight Spencer work ( Andrew Machin ) |
County had
resorted to a short spell when they pinged balls long from similar
positions to the one that Spencer was now in, but the ex Hyde striker did not
go down that route, instead he kept the ball…ran with it….continued to run with
it…..before slamming a wonderful finish into the net past Deasy’s despairing
dive.
Goal of the season ? ( Andrew Machin ) |
That was a wonderful goal and just
the tonic that County and their supporters needed, as they began to pound the
home goal…..Minihan…Montrose…Duxbury , and Duxbury again all tried their luck
in the home last third- Lloyd perhaps inevitably going closest of all- inches
from applying a finish to Duxbury’s probing ball.
Ouch (Andrew Machin ) |
Altrincham survived , but with Glenn
Rule on for Montrose, with 10 minutes left, I was hopeful that, with our hosts
visibly wilting, something more might be gleaned from this game!
Rule was tidy as ever and his pass
sent Lloyd through the middle. It was a terrific move and only the best of
tackles by Heathcote kept it at 2-2.
Even the casual observer would be
able to sense that County had the force with them now, and had fully recovered
from their mid game doldrums. They kept the pressure on…..one…two corners
offered Alty respite, but it was illusory as the second was sent to the back post
where Smalley rose imperiously to power his header home!
This was an excellent moment, but
somewhat tarnished by the mini pitch invasion and flare throwing that followed.
When the smoke eventually cleared and
the game resumed it was in the same vein with Lloyd desperately unlucky not to
squeeze his shot inside the far post with Deasy a beaten spectator.
Altrincham did do their best to get
an equaliser in what was left of the game, but Craig Hobson shot wide from near
the by-line, and Clarke did for a neat cross from Frank Sinclair with a
trademark headed clearance.
Hinchliffe/ Clarke deal..... |
I felt that the referee gave just about
everything Alty’s way in these last minutes.
A rather tasty free kick smack in
front and not far out, being one case in point, but by now, no doubt galvanised
by JG’s half time talk, the County defence was on top of its game and panic was
not on the agenda at all.
Eventually the referee blew for time
and the points were ours….well earned…and deserved in my view. As with previous
matches there is stuff still to work on, but JG’s the right man to sort that
particular job out, so I am not unduly worried.
See you at Bishop Aukland on
Wednesday then!
Altrincham line up:
Deasy, Heathcote, Patterson, Moran,
Cyrus, Goodall( Hobson 84), Richman,Mouh( Sinclair 92) , Lawrie, Reeves,
Miller( Cain 60).
Subs not used:
Lynch, Dawber.
Stockport County line up:
Hinchliffe, Ross,Clarke, Smalley,
Duxbury, Meppen-Walter( Amis 45), Minihan, Montrose( Rule 80), Odejayi( Spencer
63) , Marsden, Lloyd.
Subs not used:
Ormson, Carney.
Attendance : 2355
Ian Brown
.
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