Witton Albion 3 Altrincham 0

UniBond League Cup Group 5

Tuesday 23 Oct 2001

Summary and others by John Laidlar for a full report go the the Official site run by John Laidlar

Alty knocked Witton out of the FA Cup, 4-1, two weeks ago and had also played them in pre-season, so this was the third encounter between the sides in recent months. The pitch was damp but rain held off throughout the game. Witton were still in the care of Terry Murphy (Director of Football) following the resignation of Eddie Bishop, whilst midfielder Charlie Boyd had also left the Club rcently.

After a fairly even first-half, Altrincham went behind early in the second period when half-time substitute Jason Gallagher mis-headed a back pass to allow Knight to score from close range. Altrincham were second best after going behind and things got worse when Carl Furlong suffered a serious injury after 64 minutes, when his attempted shot was blocked by a tackle as he turned. Carl was carried off and an ambulance was called to take him to hospital for treatment to a suspected cruciate ligament injury. Alty went two down when Pritchard was allowed a free header from a free-kick conceded by Murphy, who was booked for the offence along with his opponent, Heywood (71 mins). Witton scored a fine third, breaking down the left for Rendell to volley home at the near post (89 mins).

Steve Hawes was back for Alty after a bout of flu but Rod Thornley (groin strain) and Kevin Hulme were missing from the first-choice starting line-up. This allowed Lee Poland a rare start, alongside Carl Furlong. Stuart Locke played at left-back, with Chris Adams in midfield. Compared with the FA Cup tie between the sides on 13 October, Witton had Whitehead in goal in place of Price, whilst Morley, the departed Charlie Boyd, Jones and the injured ex-Alty man, David Anane, were also non-starters tonight.

The lights at Witton were even worse than at Moss Lane and with the equipment available no action photos were possible  . Though I did  get my name on the Witton program, when they acknowledged a photo I had take at the FA Cup game with Witton at Moss Lane which was featured on the Robins Review of 20 October However they say every picture tells a story, do see if you can spot the important difference between the two photos. No prizes awarded
I discovered the Museum, just behind the Cub shop. This was  set up by the Supporters Association, who are are to be congratulated on their efforts. The Museum is excellent and well worth a visit for all football fans.  A few of the exhibits on display are shown below.
	1899 Team Photograph

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