Match Report

ALTRINCHAM (2) 4 ILKESTON TOWN (0) 3 (after extra time)

SCORERS

116 mins: Jamie CLARKE (Altrincham 4 Ilkeston Town 3)

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REFEREE: Mr S. Catterall

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ATTENDANCE: 332

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TEAMS

7.11.00	ALTRINCHAM	versus.	ILKESTON TOWN
8pm	Red & white shirts, black shorts and socks	---.	Purple shirts, white sleeves; purple shorts and socks
1.	Stuart COBURN	1.	Chris GORDONS
2.	Gary SCOTT	2.	Rob GOULD
3.	Steve PORTER	3.	Jamie WHITEHEAD
4.	Adam FARLEY	4.	Chris TIMONS (capt.)
5.	Gary TALBOT (capt.)	5.	Gary MIDDLETON
6.	Steve HAWES	6.	Paul COX
7.	Ian CRANEY	7.	Mark CLIFFORD
8.	Jason GALLAGHER	8.	Craig HOPKINS
9.	Alex HAY	9.	Ian HELLIWELL
10.	Richard LANDON	10.	Glenn KIRKWOOD
11.	Danny MURPHY	11.	John KNAPPER
12.	Phil POWER	12.	Paul CHALLINOR
14.	Mark WARD	14.	Jamie CLARKE
15.	Eddie TURKINGTON	15.	Andy KIWOMYA
16.	Stuart SCHEUBER	16.	Jamie POPPLETON
17.	Otis THOMAS	17.	Anton FOSTER

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SUMMARY
This was a match which got more entertaining as it unfolded. The weather conditions and damp pitch ruled out ninety minutes of passing football but the players' efforts reached their climax in injury time after Altrincham had allowed a two-goal first half lead to slip. Both the home goals and Ilkeston's second-half replies were scored with the wind behind the attackers but the theory that the elements dominated the game was belied by all three extra-time goals coming against any wind. Ilkeston will be annoyed with themselves for undoing their good recovery work with a possibly needless foul on Landon to concede an early extra-time penalty. However, the visitors continued to battle and made Altrincham sweat for the last four minutes as they got the score back to 4-3. Altrincham will be concerned that all of the Ilkeston goals came from poor defending but at the other end they created and took their chances well.

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Left: Danny Murphy.

TEAM NEWS
Alex Hay started the game, having recovered from the injury which he sustained on Saturday and Danny Murphy came into the team instead of Stu Scheuber, who had been substituted at Ilkeston. Mark Ward included himself as a substitute in place of Barry Crowe. For Ilkeston, young Chris Gordons remained in goal in a side which also included Jamie Whitehead in place of Paul Eshelby. The referee was Mr Catterall, whom Alty fans will recall, was the referee who played through torrential rain at Barrow recently. He will be welcome to officiate at more Altrincham matches if he can continue his record of controlling high-scoring games won by Altrincham.

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MATCH REPORT
The match kicked off 15 minutes late due to Ilkeston's late arrival but it was only due to the sterling efforts of groundsman Peter Barry and his helpers that the game took place at all. After three weeks of rain, including sustained showers for most of match-day, the pitch was in a far better condition than could reasonably have been expected. Mr Catterall declared the match playable at 3pm but, as the players warmed up, steady rain was falling and a moderate gusty wind had developed.

Within a minute of the start Altrincham had won a corner as they attacked the Hale End, with the wind behind them. Before that, even though Ilkeston had kicked off, there was time for Danny Murphy to launch a speedy run at the visitors' defence and be upended to win a free-kick. Landon's kick cannoned off the wall to Murphy himself, who combined with Craney to win the corner. Porter's kick, from the right was scrambled clear before Ilkeston responded with a corner of their own, won off Gary Talbot (3 mins). Their flag-kick ended with a header over the bar but shortly afterwards the speedy Clifford, who was troublesome to Altrincham all evening, broke towards goal only to be shepherded towards the left wing by Scott and forced to release a very wide shot at the target (4 mins)

From a Hawes free-kick, goalkeeper Gordons punched the ball backwards out of play for another corner to Altrincham on the left (7 mins). Both this and a corner won by Helliwell at the other end (8 mins) came to nothing, the latter kick ending with Kirkwood heading well wide under defensive pressure. After being pulled up for offside, Ilkeston soon regained possession and won a corner when Cox's free-kick, awarded for a foul on Kirkwood in the centre circle, came off an Altrincham head (11 mins). This corner was cleared and it was soon Murphy, at the other end, with a mazy run up the left who won a further corner for the home side (12 mins). Hawes's corner was taken off Talbot's head by a defender to concede a second corner-kick. Hawes curled this one to the far post where it evaded everyone before clipping the top of the cross-bar and going out of play. Soon after this, Altrincham fluffed two reasonable openings. Firstly, a cross from Scott was played on by Murphy to Landon, who mis-kicked from a central position inside the box (16 mins) before another Scott cross reached Murphy who, in a similar position to Landon, also mis-kicked his effort. Scott was much involved in forward movements at this stage and his next pass to Landon was flicked on for Hay but Gordons got to it first. Murphy, apart from his miss, was having a lively game and a jinking run by him set up a firm Landon shot which the defence blocked almost at source, on the edge of the box. However, the ball came out to Porter on the left. He got it forward to Hay who lashed in a fine goal from twenty yards out on the left side of goal, which the keeper had no chance of stopping (21 mins). Although Ilkeston immediately responded with a corner at the Golf Road end, Landon promptly doubled the lead when he deftly glanced in a cross from the left in the 23rd minute. It was almost 3-0 moments later when one of several well-threaded balls in this match from Ian Craney reached Jason Gallagher on the right. He forwarded the ball to Hay but the latter's shot was not fully hit and ran safely to Gordons.


Left: Alex Hay.

Altrincham's flow was broken up when Murphy ducked for a header but caught the boot of a defender and needed sustained treatment to his head or neck (25 mins). Although play restarted, it was soon stopped again for supplementary treatment to Murphy's injury. Play resumed with an uncontested bounce-up, the ball flopping into the soft surface on the allotment side of the pitch and being played back to Gordons. Another good move by Altrincham was undone by a poor cross from Porter as Altrincham now dominated proceedings (30 mins). Porter, Murphy, Hawes and Gallagher next combined to get the ball to Scott. The right-back did well to stretch and control the ball before crossing into the box, but no one was there to meet it. Craney produced another fine ball out to Murphy on the left but Porter's resulting cross was cleared. A foul by Talbot, riding on the back of Knapper, gave Ilkeston some respite with a free-kick 25 yards out but no danger resulted to the Altrincham goal. However, Scott was soon obliged to concede a corner at the back post after a cross by Clifford. Coburn's punch clear from the corner found Hopkins whose shot was half cleared and fell to Timons. Fortunately, the ex-Alty captain hesitated and the ball was again half-cleared before one of many offside decisions against Ilkeston ended the danger. After treatment for an injury to Kirkwood, Clifford threatened the Alty goal after a Talbot miskick but an offside decision saved the day for Altrincham (36 mins). At the back, Farley was having another good game at centre-back and his excellent pass to Murphy was moved on via Craney and Scott to Gallagher, whose attempted cross was blocked. Scott, too, was doing well and some good play by him nearly let in Hay but the blond striker fouled his man as he wrestled to get at Scott's pass.

Timons attempted to get Ilkeston back into the match and played a ball forward to Kirkwood but the ball ran on to Coburn (39 mins). After a bad pass by Gallagher had found only Knapper, Ilkeston won a throw from which Hopkins launched a shot high into Golf Road. (40 mins). Hawes also soon lost possession but once more an offside decision saved the day for the home team. After Timons had fed Clifford up the right, Talbot made a fine clearing header as Ilkeston regained some influence on play. Hay, however, found some space just over 20 yards from the Ilkeston goal and although he had time to shape for his shot, he put the ball well wide of Gordons's net (42 mins). The sides traded unproductive moves as the first half drew to a close.

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HALF-TIME: ALTRINCHAM 2 ILKESTON TOWN 0

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Gallagher had started the match with his left thigh strapped and he did not appear for the second half, his replacement being Scheuber. The young midfielder soon got involved in the game but it was his midfield partner, Ian Craney, who loosed the first serious threat of the second half at the Ilkeston goal with a 25 yard shot over the bar (46 mins). In reply, Clifford shot weakly at Coburn (47 mins) to signal a rather scrappy few minutes of play by both sides. Epitomising this, Scott gave away a corner with a miskick. Coburn punched the left-wing corner out under over zealous pressure which earned him a free-kick and the Ilkeston offender a few choice words from the Altrincham keeper. Murphy did not look fit as he appeared to be carrying a neck or shoulder injury and with passes going astray, Altrincham lacked the co-ordination they had shown for much of the first period. Disaster struck after 54 minutes when Ilkeston won a corner on their right after Craney had lost possession. The lowish, inswinging corner from Whitehead seemed easy meat for Coburn as he moved towards his strangely unguarded near post but the keeper appeared to flap, one-handed at the ball and only succeeded in helping into the net. Being charitable, Stuart may have slipped on the greasy surface as he went for the ball.

Successive crosses by Hay and Hawes at the other end brought no profit for Altrincham before a good passing move between Porter, Murphy and Scheuber broke down. Craney then won a corner which Porter swung in too deeply from the Altrincham right but it ran to Landon beyond the far post. Hawes and then Scheuber lost possession in quick succession before a fine Steve Porter tackle ensured that Ilkeston remained penned in their own half (62 mins). Ilkeston replaced Hopkins with Challinor at this point (63 mins) before a retaken free-kick by Cox, 35 yards from goal, came through to Coburn. The keeper set Craney off on a fine 30 yard forward run before Hay shot low to Gordons's right, the keeper saving fairly comfortably a shot which may have been going wide anyway. As Gould, Helliwell and Kirkwood looked to threaten at the other end, Farley cleared up the danger well and Helliwell fouled the Alty defender. After Scheuber and Porter had combined, Gordons half got to a cross but caught the unlucky Murphy in the process (66 mins) and the Altrincham man needed the physio's attention once more. After a low cross to Hay from Landon had been blocked, Ilkeston broke away up the left with Whitehead completely on his own as he raced toward Coburn's goal. He finished well past the advancing Coburn to bring the scores level as Altrincham conceded their second bad goal of the night (68 mins).

Altrincham responded to this blow with an immediate corner on the right but when this produced nothing, the Altrincham defence again went absent and three Ilkeston players charged forward, with only Gary Scott between them and Coburn. The keeper did very well to smother Clifford's shot as the Ilkeston player bore down on him (70 mins). Although Altrincham soon won another corner, Murphy delayed his shot and the ball was deflected out of play. It was Ilkeston who were now in the ascendant. Helliwell glanced a header wide from a free-kick taken near the half-way line and Farley had to be alert to halt Kirkwood's advance. However, the dangerous Clifford won a corner to maintain the pressure and this time Altrincham did station a defender on the near post. Although the ball was only half cleared initially, to Whitehead, the danger was eventually stifled. Kirkwood did get the ball into the net moments later when a flick on by the impressive Whitehead put him through but the big front man was clearly offside and the "goal" was ruled out (75 mins). Farley yet again had to sweep up danger as Whitehead and Clifford combined before Clifford got in a 25-yard shot which was narrowly wide of the target (77 mins). Next, Kirkwood cut inside and won a corner on the Ilkeston right as the visitors brought on Kiwomya for the man who had won the corner (78 mins). Altrincham attempted to get off the back foot with a move between Porter and Hay, whose cross dropped to Craney. A throw resulted, won by Porter, and he alertly found Hawes with the throw-in. Hawes got in a shot that was blocked before Ilkeston were threatening once more. Helliwell, Middleton and Clifford went up the left side where Knapper and Timons were also involved before Challinor won a throw. Altrincham now brought on Phil Power for the ailing Murphy (81 mins) who still seemed to be affected by his earlier neck or shoulder injury.

Farley was soon sweeping up danger at the back again as the pacey Kiwomya made his presence felt. Challinor's ball to Kirkwood led to Coburn racing to his right hand corner flag to clear. At last, Altrincham produced a threat when a passing move started by Scott ended with a throw won by Hay. Again Porter directed his throw well and the ball came through to Power whose shot from 12 yards hit the inside of Gordons's left-hand post before rebounding to safety (84 mins). From an ensuing corner, taken on the Altrincham left, the ball was half-cleared to Scheuber whose useful volley nonetheless cleared the bar. However, Ilkeston were far from finished and Coburn had to rush out to intercept from Helliwell and a subsequent corner was also dealt with by the keeper. Coburn passed the ball on to Craney who ran forward for forty yards before the move broke down when Power was robbed. End to end play now developed as Kiwomya used his pace to test the Altrincham back line but his shot from distance went just too high to worry Coburn (86 mins). Following a free-kick on half-way, Timons then headed over the bar before the blocking of a Power effort from Scott's cross to Landon marked the last significant effort of an entertaining second half.

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SCORE AFTER 90 MINUTES: ALTRINCHAM 2 ILKESTON TOWN 2

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The sides switched ends again with Altrincham now attacking the Golf Road end. After fighting back so well to 2-2 Ilkeston promptly blew their chances by conceding two goals inside six minutes. Firstly, after two forward moves had broken down for Altrincham, a high looping cross was put in from the right wing towards Dickie Landon, who was about eight yards out, slightly to the right of goal. As the ball dropped, an Ilkeston defender rashly barged into Landon and the referee instantaneously blew his whistle to award a penalty. Gordons elected to dive to his right as Landon side-footed his spot-kick into the other side of the net to restore Altrincham's lead. Despite his fine goal-scoring record over the last year, this was Landon's first brace for Altrincham and took him to a tally of seven goals this season, alongside joint top-scorer, Kevin Ellison. Ilkeston immediately substituted Cox with Clarke but when play resumed it was Altrincham who were on the offensive again with yet another impressive forward run by Ian Craney. After making a fine headed clearance, Gary Talbot was then beaten by the speedy Kiwomya but his advance was blocked inside the penalty area. However, Talbot had the last laugh following a corner won by Scott on the right. Porter's fine kick found Talbot unmarked in a central position, close to goal, and the centre-back firmly headed in Altrincham's fourth goal of the night (98 mins).

As so often is the case, the losing team immediately threatened after the goal against them and Coburn had to come out to intercept the ball before Clifford could do any damage. Hawes, Farley and Scott then got the ball through to Scheuber who was laid low on the edge of the box and needed treatment (100 mins). Ilkeston would still not lie down and after Craney had stifled a Helliwell advance and Talbot had made a timely interception, Clarke got in a cross but the ball was taken by Coburn. Kiwomya, too, was running at the defence as the first period of extra-time came to an end.


Left: Dickie Landon in action last season.

Youth team player, Otis Thomas, replaced Alex Hay for the start of the final period of extra-time and he joined Landon up front. The one unpleasant incident of the night occurred when Knapper and Craney tangled near the half-way line. The Ilkeston man literally held Craney in a stranglehold for several seconds but the outcome was simply a lecture for both players and no booking (107 mins). More conventionally, Whitehead, then Helliwell, got the ball through to Kiwomya whose cross was met at the far post by Middleton who put the ball wide of goal. Thomas was then fouled as he ran forward, 35 yards from goal and from this Hawes, Landon and Thomas combined to earn a corner on the right. Porter's kick was half cleared to Talbot but the danger ended as Hawes shot high and wide (110 mins). Thomas was then caught offside after a move emanating from Scott via Landon and Hawes. Although Craney lost the ball badly to Helliwell he won it back well and after interchanging passes with Scheuber he shot well wide of the target (114). Altrincham appeared to be safely in control but after no foul was awarded when Porter went down, substitute Jamie Clarke burst through the middle of the Altrincham defence for an unfettered run at Coburn. Clarke took his chance well to set up a worrying last four minutes (116 mins). A minute later Coburn intercepted a ball aimed at Kiwomya before Porter became the night's only player to be cautioned when he was booked for a trip from behind with just two minutes of extra time to go (118 mins). Coburn punched out the free-kick and then Craney made a fine tackle on Clarke 25 yards from goal to sweep up the danger.

Ilkeston made another thrust forward through Whitehead, Gould and Clarke but Coburn collected the ball safely. However, Altrincham's Thomas won a very late corner which Hawes took, short, to Landon. As the two Altrincham men attempted to play out time, the ball went out for an Ilkeston goal-kick. There was only time left for a weak shot from Gould which went 15 yards wide before Mr Catterall brought an end to the proceedings.

This was Altrincham's first Cup win this season, having been dumped out of the Cheshire Senior Cup and FA Cup at the first hurdle. It earned the Club £500 from the FA, a meagre reward for 210 minutes of endeavour spread over two matches in difficult conditions. Altrincham go on to meet Bishop Auckland or Whitby Town in Round Two in December. Richard Landon was the official Man of the Match, though other players who performed particularly well included Farley, Scott, Craney and Porter. Nevertheless, despite these good performances, the defence still leaked three defensively-bad goals. However, Altrincham fans will bear such lapses if we always score one more goal than we concede.

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FINAL SCORE: ALTRINCHAM 4 ILKESTON TOWN 3





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