North Ferriby 3 Altrincham 2 

in FA Trophy

12th January 2002.

Summary and other details by John Laidlar. His full report is in the Official Site by John

This was the first-ever game between these sides and Altrincham's first match of any kind since 22nd December. They came into the game on a run of five successive replayed ties in the Trophy over the last three seasons. North Ferriby is a very pleasant commuter town for Hull and just behind the main stand runs the River Humber, with the Humber suspension bridge clearly visible a mile or two away. The ground itself, with a good clubhouse, is compact, with the Selby to York railway line running between the stand and the river estuary. The pitch has a slight slope across its full length and the surface was a little slippery after overnight rain.

Three defensive lapses cost Altrincham this Third Round Trophy tie in Humberside. In a disappointing first half they fell behind when a through ball was missed by Mark Sertori and Ferriby's Vill Powell got behind him to score (34 mins). In a very entertaining second half Lee Poland equalised early on when he hooked the ball home after Murphy's nod-down of a Taylor free-kick (48 mins). Against the run of play North Ferriby went ahead again when a corner was nodded across his own goal by Maddox, and Ryan failed to clear at the back post, allowing Dewhurst to score for the hosts (64 mins). Poland then scored his second with a neat header (75 mins) before being immediately substituted, to the disbelief of the travelling supporters. A draw looked to be the outcome till Stuart Coburn failed to hold a low shot from Knight and the ball squirmed out of his hands over the line, with just four minutes remaining. One brighter note was the promising debut of Youth and Reserves' player Lee Thompson as a substitute for the final quarter of an hour.

Altrincham were without Jason Gallagher, Chris Adams and Carl Furlong, who are all still injured but also unexpectedly had to do without Kevin Hulme who was involved in a car crash yesterday and, though not injured, was unavailable. Also missing for some reason were two players who have appeared in the first-team recently; David Wills and Anthony Hargreaves. Both played last Wednesday for the Reserves. From that same Reserves' line-up of last week, centre-back Pat Claffey, midfielder Keith Mairs and striker Lee Thompson were all on the bench, along with Dave Swannick and Kurt Edginton. None of the five substitutes had started a league game this season. Alty played right-back Neil Ryan in central midfield whilst Gary Scott and Paul Taylor occupied the full-back positions. With Poland and Thornley up front, Alty played their customary 4-4-2 formation.

To the North is a fine Church which dominates the team rooms and the social club to the right. A very pleasant welcome from all the locals and a double scotch at £1.80 cannot be bad. My one problem of the afternoon was when I was moved from my normal position inside the perimeter fence, as shown in the photo, by an official who on arrival told me it was OK to be there. He said the powers that be had decreed my move. As this is my usual position at most grounds I wonder if the FA have more stringent rules than the Clubs? I now have learned from the Chairman of the Club Les Hare that it was the FA Linesman on the far side who had requested the Tannoy announcement  and my removal. Les was very apologetic and would have been delighted for me to stay where I was and increase coverage of his Club. He had no idea why the FA official took this action

Danny Murphy looking worried

An oppositions diving header robs Rod Thornley of the ball. Today Graham Heathcote was appointed Freeman of Altrincham. He is mid center. with arms crossed making no comments at this stage

Ferriby's 'keeper Paul Sharpe makes a good save, taking the ball from the feet of Lee Poland

Some one's not using Persil - some one is!

Mark Sertori in the thick of things manages to head the ball out of the danger areas

From the other end - Lee Poland equalizes for the second time much to the delight of his team mates and the Alty supporters

Guess who scored a goal?. Andy Boyer, an Alty Exile is studying photography and when he comes to a match we have an arrangement that we go to the opposite goal mouths and do not change ends at half time so we can capture Alty's attack and defense. On this occasion I drew the short straw, there was little activity in the first half when Alty were on the attack and much of the activity in the second half at my end resulted in goals to North Ferriby. So I apologize for the goals of the opposition but they did happen. I only hope that Andy has some good shots from his end showing the Alty goals

At 88 minutes out of the FA Trophy for this season

More pictures of this game can be seen on the North Ferriby United  web site. They were taken by Ray Lobacz with a conventional camera and film development.  You will find them on the Forum link.

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