Runcorn 0 Altrincham 1
in UniBond Premier League
22nd January 2002.
Summary and other details by John Laidlar. His full report is in the Official Site by John
BACKGROUND
This match had been postponed from 16 October 2001 and was Altrincham's first-ever league game at the Autoquest Stadium, Widnes, though they had won a league cup match there, 2-0, earlier this season. Just 301 spectators tried to give the cavernous stadium some atmosphere, with a large proportion of these being from Altrincham.
In a fairly entertaining first-half, Runcorn started well and it was against the early pressure that Altrincham took the lead. Hawes won the ball well with a neat header some 30 yards out. Steve then got the ball forward to Kevin Hulme, who slotted the ball home firmly from about 12 yards. Hulme had a second goal disallowed for offside on 30 minutes when he finished off a fine move by Craney and Thornley. After a fairly entertaining first half, the second period was a disappointment. Runcorn had most of the possession for the first thirty minutes of the half but their pressure proved ineffectual against the Altrincham defence. Altrincham finally made some progress into Runcorn territory in the closing quarter of an hour but did not look like adding to their lead.
Danny Murphy was not in tonight's squad, though he was present at the match; Whether he was serving his one-match suspension for five bookings or not was unclear. So, Dave Swannick made his first Altrincham league start after ten UniBond Premier League substitute appearances, taking Murphy's place on the left of midfield. Neil Ryan reverted to right-back, with Gary Scott going to right-midfield. The surprise inclusion on the bench was Barry Guildford a right-sided defender/midfielder. twenty-five year-old Barry was recently at Marlow Town in the Ryman Second Division but also has a more exotic background. In October 2000, he joined Canberra Cosmos in Australia and also spent part of 2000-01 season in the Vietnamese League.
Runcorn included recent £5,000 signing Kevin Leadbetter in their line-up. He had been at Southport and more recently on loan at Hyde United following an early seasAltrincham FC Home pageon loan spell with Runcorn themselves. Ex-Robin Dave Gamble was in the Runcorn line-up, too.
|
| The cavernous stand with only 301 spectators. In my view this type of stadium which is superb for 9-10,000 spectators is completely unsuitable for the UniBond and even Conference sides where there is a low attendance. There is no atmosphere or passion Give me Moss Lane or even Canal Street every time. However photographers are made very welcome given space to work in and even a fluorescent green bib to wear and the flood lighting is magnificent |
|
| Kevin Hulme starts to make his run which results in the only goal of the match |
|
| From the other end - someone is climbing on someone's back |
|
| Yes the ball went that way |
|
| Nearly all of the activity in the second half was in front of the Altrincham goal, with Runcorn constantly on the attack and Altrincham packing its defense. Stuart Coburn saved Altrincham on several occasions, here he pulls off a superb finger tip save, tipping the ball over the bar for a corner. It's a pity there were not bums on seats to get a better view of the save |