Crewe Alexandra 3 Altrincham 2
Cheshire Senior cup
18 September 2002
Summary and other details by John Laidlar. His full report is in the Official Site by John Laidlar.
These two sides were last season's finalists. Crewe won that encounter, but only after extra time. The tie gave Alty fans a chance to sample the excellent facilities at Gresty Road, where the match was watched by a very decent crowd of 478 as well as by the Crewe under-19 side.
Against a Crewe side containing five first team squad members, Altrincham played their best football of the season in the first half hour to take a deserved two goal lead, and they could have had more. Thornley got both goals (20 and 27 mins). Crewe pulled one back after 40 minutes through Bell, whose first effort was well saved by Moore but the Crewe man converted the rebound. Crewe improved after the interval and after Higdon headed the equaliser (56 mins), Little got the winner when he knocked home a rebound off the crossbar from a shot by Jones (62 mins). Altrincham can take pride in an excellent performance against strong opposition.
Mark Maddox came into the starting line-up on the left of the defence, with Gary Scott dropping out, injured. Adewale Ajetunmobi and Andy Tunnicliffe were named on the bench, with Simon Woodford losing out. Otherwise the side was as at Ashton last Saturday. Crewe included five first-team squad members in their starting line-up.
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| The superb Railway Track stand |
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| Rod Thornley lines up his shot for goal faced by the imposing figure of Ademole Bankole, who last year was No 1 goalkeeper for Crewe |
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| Now how did I miss that? |
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| Peter Band defends |
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| Ian Craney says "I want it here" |
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| Rod Thornley on his way for his second goal |
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| Crewe's first goal |
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| Adam Yates of Crewe blocking the path of Adewale Ajetunmobi, who played for most of the second half |