ALTRINCHAM (1) 2 YEOVIL TOWN (1) 2

67 mins: Bent (Yeovil) 2-2


BACKGROUND
Altrincham went into this match on the back of four consecutive defeats and seven League games without a win, their worst run of the season. Lying in 18th place, points were desperately needed to keep ahead of Woking, Welling and Forest Green and out of the drop zone.
TEAM NEWS
The main surprise of the Altrincham squad for this match was the inclusion on the bench, for the first time this season, of last season's club captain, Mick Carmody who until recently has been on loan to Ashton United in the Unibond Premier Division. Goodwin also returned from injury to be named as a substitute, alongside Mark Maddox, Ian Senior and Andy Lovelock. Altrincham adopted their normal 4-4-2 formation, with Landon and Chambers up front.

TEAMS
ALTRINCHAM (Red and white striped shirts, black shorts): 1. Lance Key; 2. Simeon Hodson, 3. Danny Adams, 4. Chris Timons (capt) 5. Gary Talbot, 6. Steve Hawes, 7. Jason Gallagher, 8. Keith Russell, 9. Leroy Chambers, 10. Richard Landon, 11. Kevin Ellison.
Subs: 12. Andy Lovelock, 13. Ian Senior, 14. Mark Maddox, 15. Shaun Goodwin, 16. Mick Carmody.
YEOVIL TOWN (Green and white shirts and shorts): 1. Tony Pennock, 2. Ellis Wilmot, 3. Andy Tomkin, 4. Terry Skiverton, 5. Paul Steele, 6, Jamie Pitman, 7. Barrington Belgrave, 8. Ben Smith, 9. Warren Patmore, 10. James Bent, 11. Matthew Hale.
Subs: 12. Adrian Foster, 14. Andy Lindegaard, 15. Glenn Poole, 16. Dean Chandler, 17. David Piper.

SUMMARY

Richard Landon competes in the air.

Whilst any point is welcome after four games without one, this was a match in which Altrincham led twice and threw away their lead each time with poor defending. Wins for Forest Green, Woking and Welling compounded Altrincham's loss of two points but, looking positively, our fate remains in our own hands. Two wins from the last three games would guarantee survival in the Conference. Sadly one or two 'fans' in the Main Stand passed negative comments to the Altrincham management during and after the game and elicited a deserved tongue-lashing from chairman Gerry Berman as the match drew to its conclusion.
THE MATCH
The match kicked off on a mild but overcast afternoon, with Altrincham attacking the Golf Road end. Yeovil had the best of the first five minutes and, indeed, in the first two minutes twice threatened the heart of the Altrincham defence. On the second of these occasions the defence parted like the Red Sea to allow Bent through the middle, before the referee, Mr Coffey, ruled against Timons and awarded a free-kick to Yeovil, in a central position, about three yards outside the penalty box. At the first attempt to take the kick, Jason Gallagher was too fast out of the blocks and was only a couple of yards from the kicker when the ball was touched. Gallagher could have no complaints about the booking (2 mins). The retaken kick hit the wall as did the follow-up shot from the rebound (3 mins). As Yeovil continued to press, Talbot was adjudged to have committed a foul in the air and from the resulting free-kick, Key plucked the ball confidently from the air.

Altrincham then came to life and Ellison won a corner on the left following a shot with his wrong (right) foot. From the corner, Chambers and Landon seemed to get a little in each other's way in the Yeovil box. In the eighth minute, a good free-kick from Danny Adams was taken in the air by Pennock who succeeded in flattening Richard Landon in the process of catching the ball (8 mins). A minute later Talbot seemed to be clearly pushed in the Yeovil box as Altrincham went forward again but no offence was noted by the officials. At the other end, Key had to rush out and boot the ball into the allotments but Altrincham were beginning to get the upper hand. At the back, Danny Adams and Chris Timons were performing well and Kevin Ellison beat his man down the left wing before being fouled (13 mins). Russell wasted the free-kick by knocking it way beyond the far post (14 mins). James Bent took a pot shot at Key from twenty yards but caused the keeper little trouble as he dived to his left to hold the shot.

Belgrave was finally booked after 17 minutes when he clattered Kevin Ellison, but the Yeovil player was lucky to receive only one booking for at least five offences committed in the first half. Yeovil were never reluctant to hold, push or nudge their opponents but referee Coffey was otherwise very impressive. His application of the advantage rule was seen several times during the game. After Talbot had won the ball in the air, a recurrent event in the Yeovil box, Yeovil's Pitman was booked. Mr Coffey had noted his use of the elbow but allowed play to flow until the next stoppage before booking the Yeovil man (21 mins). After Ellison had appeared to fall over his own feet, Mr Coffey awarded a free-kick just outside the Yeovil box, to the left of the goal. Richard Landon produced a firm shot to the right of the defensive wall which Pennock could only parry clear. Unfortunately for him, the ball came to Gary Talbot, Altrincham's central defender, who showed good composure in shooting home from ten yards (27 mins). After a nice flick from Landon, Chambers then won a free-kick. However, Ellison inswinging kick was too short (29 mins). Chambers then won a corner which was cleared, although Talbot appeared to be fouled as the kick came in (31 mins). Against the run of play a Yeovil free-kick on their right, about 35 yards out somehow evaded the static Altrincham central defence and despite apparently being offside, Steele steered the ball to Key's right from ten yards and into the bottom corner of the net, crossing the line just inside the post (33 mins). This soft goal stunned the home supporters. Play continued a little scrappily with a stoppage being required for an injury to Belgrave. A Yeovil cross went behind the home goal (42 mins) before Key saved as the recovered Belgrave attempted to reach a through ball (43 mins). Lengthy treatment was then needed for Jason Gallagher, after which the "2 Minutes" board was shown. A nice move involving Hawes, Russell, Adams and Ellison ended with Pennock taking the ball just before the incoming Landon flattened him (44 mins). The half ended on an exciting note as Danny Adams raced into the box and his fine left-foot shot was goal-bound till Pennock diverted it for a corner. However, the referee blew for half-time before the kick could be taken.

HALF TIME: ALTRINCHAM 1 YEOVIL TOWN 1

The half time news was bad: Welling were winning away and Woking were beating Kidderminster, hitherto unbeaten in 23 games. The sun came out at half-time as a collection was made for the Macmillan Cancer Relief fund. Earlier in the day, Altrincham supporters had walked the ten miles from Main Road to Altrincham, via Old Trafford to raise money both for this cause and for the Club.


Altrincham supporters walking to raise funds, Stretford, 29 April 2000.

Leroy Chambers tried to get on the end of a good cross from Russell (46 mins), from the left, but he was judged offside. Bent, who was lively throughout, beat Adams but as the recovering full-back and goalkeeper Key closed on him, his shot went out for a corner (48 mins). The crowd was now tense and quiet as the game went through an uninspiring few minutes. After Timons was judged to have fouled Bent, the resulting free-kick was curled over the bar by Hale (52 mins). Then, a ball played into the Yeovil box from the right was knocked on by Ellison on the edge of the Yeovil box to Chambers. As Chambers prepared to shoot, he was cut down by Steele and a clear-cut penalty was awarded. Steele's protestations were to no avail and he was sent off as Landon sought to keep his composure. Pennock dived to his right as Landon drove it firmly into the left-hand corner of Yeovil's net (53 mins). Shortly afterwards, Bent joined Steele and Belgrave in the referee's book for a foul (56 mins). A Hodson throw led to a good cross by Landon from the right-hand edge of the box and although Wilmot beat Ellison to it, to concede a corner, the referee gave offside instead. Yeovil then brought on Chandler and Piper for Wilmot and Belgrave (58 mins). Yeovil attempted a poor forty-yard shot by Piper as Altrincham looked to build on their lead but a great tackle by Timons interrupted good progress by Tomkin (61 mins) for Yeovil.

Yeovil stepped up a gear and began to look dangerous after the hour mark, but an Adams corner (65 mins) led to a follow-up cross from the same player from which Landon made a creditable scissor-kick which went over the visitors' goal. Key then made a great save at the other end from Patmore but having survived that scare, a complete mix-up between Talbot and the out-rushing Key let in Bent for the second soft equaliser of the match (67 mins). After Gallagher was unable to capitalise on possession in the Yeovil box, Hawes was booked for dissent (70 mins). Yeovil then gained the upper hand and a header produced a corner for them. Altrincham were now under the cosh as the ten-man visitors went forward (72 mins). Goodwin then came on for Keith Russell (74 mins) as Bent received attention for an injury. However, from an Ellison corner, Gary Talbot rose well and knocked the ball on to Chambers, whose own header from close-in was put out for a corner. Adams's corner led to a firm shot from Ellison which was cleared (78 mins). Then, Bent broke away down the centre, rounded Key but, slightly off-balance, shot to the left of the goal into the side-netting (79 mins). Andy Lovelock then replaced Leroy Chambers (79 mins) and the substitute almost immediately capitalised on a deft knock-on by Landon to extract the ball from under his own feet and get in a shot which produced a good save from Pennock and a corner to Altrincham. Talbot again won the aerial duel from the corner and his fine header was tipped over by Pennock for another corner (81 mins). A minute later a fine free-kick by Adams, from the left touchline, was again met by Talbot's head but the ball flashed wide of the post. The home time were now dominant with good play coming down the left wing.

However, a Yeovil breakaway involving Tomkin, Hale and Bent only broke down when the last-named failed to control the ball when presented with a good shooting opportunity from 15 yards (83 mins). At the other end, Lovelock got to the goal-line but could not cross under pressure from a defender. Lindegaard then replaced Bent (84 mins) before a Lovelock cross was knocked off Landon's head by Pennock for a corner. Lovelock then headed over the bar (88 mins) as Altrincham pressed hard for the winner, with Goodwin and Adams both doing good work. As the "3 minutes" board was held up, Gary Talbot was named Man of the Match. A shot from Foster was saved by Key at the seond attempt (89 mins) as the game petered out to a draw.

FULL-TIME: ALTRINCHAM 2 YEOVIL TOWN 2

Altrincham played well for parts of this game but were let down by defensive lapses and ultimately, a draw was probably a fair outcome. Gary Talbot enjoyed greater success in the air at set pieces than he probably has done in any match this season and Danny Adams's shot just before the interval was the highpoint of another fine performance by the odds-on favourite for the Player of the Year competition. Richard Landon not only found the net but his excellent frre-kick produced Gary Talbot's goal, too. Up fron, Leroy Chambers tried hard and did win the penalty. Kevin Ellison also had some good moments and Chris Timons made some excellent headers and interceptions at the back. However, Altrincham dropped to nineteenth, whilst remaining only six points from being eleventh! Results elsewhere were disastrous as Woking, Welling and Forest Green Rovers all won. Sutton were confirmed as relegated after losing at Northwich.


OTHER ALTRINCHAM MATCH REPORTS:

26 April 2000 SCARBOROUGH 1 ALTRINCHAM 0


are compiled by John Laidlar