Altrincham 2 Macclesfield Town 0

in Semi-final of Cheshire Senior Cup

15th January 2002.

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

After Saturday's disappointing defeat at North Ferriby, Altrincham were looking for an improved performance to gain them a place in the Cheshire Senior Cup Final for the third time in four years. The game kicked off eight minutes late due to a power failure at the Golf Road End which affected visibility at the turnstiles and led to queues. The floodlights were unaffected.

Altrincham had the better of the first half and Lee Poland scored the opening goal, following a well-taken free-kick by Taylor which was knocked on for Poland to finish off (26 mins). Rod Thornley got the second after 35 minutes from a feed by Poland. Macclesfield improved in the second half but Coburn made a magnificent save from Shuttleworth's 51st minute penalty and Altrincham went on to keep a clean sheet.

Kevin Hulme returned to the side with Danny Murphy making way for him. Otherwise the team was as at North Ferriby on Saturday, with Neil Ryan continuing in midfield. Carl Furlong was on the bench, his first appearance since being injured at Burton on 15 December. The Macclesfield side was far from their first team but did include a number of players with first-team experience including Karl Munroe, Danny Whitaker and Andy McAvoy. However, the Macc Reserves' team are currently well clear in the Avon Insurance League so the opposition was still formidable. Macclesfield started with a 4-3-3 formation with Harries, Askey and McAvoy in forward positions, whilst Alty had Poland and Thornley up front and Hulme also in an advanced supporting position. Paul Taylor continued at left-back.

Mathew Higgins,  Macclesfield's goal keeper, stranded and abandoned by friends and foe alike after Rod Thornley flicked the ball past him to score

There's a ball up there somewhere

Stuart Coburn guess's right and starts to dive left to make a superb save from Barry Shuttleworth's penalty shot

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