Altrincham 1 Lancaster City 1

FA Cup 1st round

17 November 2001

A summary by John Laidlar from the Official site run by him

BACKGROUND
These clubs had fought out a 1-1 league draw at the Giant Axe earlier this season in a game marred by the sending off of Carl Furlong for retaliation after he had been trodden on by Lancaster's Dean Martin. The non-selection of any Lancaster players for the UniBond Representative XI, selected by Altrincham's management duo, had further raised the pre-match stakes. In fact, many Alty fans saw the omission of Lancaster's players as giving the "Dolly Blues" an advantage in not having to play an additional game in their quest for the UniBond Premier League title. Altrincham were seeking to get to Round 2 of the FA Cup for the first time since 1995
SUMMARY

It was no surprise that this game between the second and third placed sides in the UniBond, involving a prolific scorer for each side, ended 1-1 with those two marksmen, Thornley (Altrincham) and Whittaker (Lancaster), both on the scoresheet. A marvellous crowd of 2,076 gave the game a great atmosphere and, after a bright start, Altrincham went ahead from the penalty spot when Thornley, who had been bowled over by Mayers, sent his goalkeeping namesake the wrong way (6 mins). Lancaster equalised from a cross from their left by Lyons which was converted by Whittaker's head (12 mins). City then had the better of the remainder of the half. In the second half Alty's Stuart Coburn was a virtual spectator as Altrincham enjoyed the bulk of the possession but could not score.

TEAM NEWS

Alty's leading scorer Rod Thornley had missed the league game between these sides but was in action today. Injury doubts concerning Jason Gallagher and Kevin Hulme did not prevent their being named as starters but the longer-term injured - Paul Taylor, Carl Furlong and Stuart Locke were all absent from the team but present as spectators. Alty won 8-1 on Tuesday night in the Cheshire Senior Cup, seven of those goals came from Lee Poland (4), Steve Finney (2) and Anthony Hargreaves (1), but none of them could find a place in the starting line up today- all being on the bench instead. Lancaster lacked the injured fireman-footballer Brian Welch but, unlike at the Giant Axe in the league game with Alty, their captain Kenny Mayers was in the side today.

 

An end  renamed!. 

Chequers/Richmans/Ellingtons/Hale End is now the 20/20 End.  This is thanks to the excellent sponsorship deal with Bob Peters and his company who are Alty's FA Cup sponsors.
Many of the large contingent of Lancaster fans made it look as it used to look in years gone bye. They helped to swell the crowd to 2076 
and the "Flaggers" sponsored this FA Cup match
Click on the logo to learn more of 20/20 Research
A penalty taken by Rod Thornley provided Alty's only goal. Rod is about to start his "after-goal" cartwheel. I hope to get him in mid flight before the end of the season!  
At the other end the defense moves forward
A crowded goal mouth produced no results
Kevin Hulme (No 7) header is well saved by keeper Mark Thornley
Rod Thornley gets an undeserved booking, his first of the season
Danny Murphy takes on the Lancaster defense

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