UniBond Premier
11 March 2003
Altrincham 1 Accrington Stanley 1
Summary and other details by John Laidlar. His full report is in the Official Site
This match had been postponed from last Saturday due to a waterlogged pitch but, tonight, conditions were good, though the pitch still showed the signs of the recent sanding kindly carried out by Manchester United, whose Reserves play at Moss Lane. Accrington had gone six games without dropping a point before tonight whereas Altrincham had lost their last two matches and conceded eight goals in the process.
TEAM NEWS
Altrincham welcomed back Peter Band but were neverthless without five regular first teamers - Mark Maddox, Rod Thornley, Danny Murphy, Sean Smith and Dave Gardner. To address this long injury list, Graham Heathcote had brought three new faces to the club this week. They were left-sided midfielder/full-back Paul Robertson, Tony Cullen from Salford City and, on loan, Steven Clegg, a former Manchester United youngster from Stalybridge Celtic. Robertson had been part of Alty's UniBond championshiop side of 1998-99. Clegg and Robertson both started tonight, in right and left midfield respectively. Indeed, the Alty midfield comprised four players whose natural position was on the flanks, with Gallagher and Shuttleworth playing in the central slots for this game.
Stanley included ex-Liverpool midfielder Mark Marsh, who has been at Boston United since last playing against us for Kidderminster Harriers. Other familiar faces included the fiery ex-Emley and Bradford man Rory Prendergast and the strike duo of Lutel James and Paul Mullin.
SUMMARY
Altrincham gained a hard-fought but deserved point against table-toppers Accrington after falling behind to Rory Prendergast's swerving, low 25-yarder which deceived Richard Acton (24 mins). Fielding two newcomers in the starting line-up, Paul Robertson and Steven Clegg, Alty settled better in the second half and were rewarded when Ian Craney's fine run and superb shot from 22 yards beat Speare, six minutes from the end.
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| This must have been a close miss. Ian Craney Peter Band and in the background new signing Steven Clegg, who had a good debut, before retiring injured after a collision with one of his team mates |
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| Tony Sullivan who came on as a substitute wearing the a new Goodwins Coach's shirt |
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| Peter Band watched by Gary Talbot chases the ball |
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| Accrington's manager really meant his player to shut up. They were watched with interest by Jason Gallagher and Ian Craney, and the referee whose hand is much in evidence |
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| Jamie Speare makes a fine save to deny Alty |
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| Ian Craney's hard and fast shot even beat me! At least I got the ball hitting the back of the bet while the Alty fans went wild. |
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| Celebrations were in order with Ian Craney some where there, surrounded by Gary Scott, Tony Sullivan and Stephan Rose with Gary Talbot coming to join the party. |
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| Man of the match, Ian Craney receives his Thresher award from Sarah Coop and Sarah Rowley |