Stocksbridge Altrincham

Brief report John Laidlar from his Alty Pages where a full report can be found

Photographs by Alan Johnson

ALTY'S LATE BID FOR CHAIRMAN'S CUP GLORY

An uninspiring performance from a relatively strong Altrincham side saw Stocksbridge win 3-1 at Moss Lane tonight in the Unibond Challenge Cup. Ashton now need only to draw their last group match at home to Ossett to take second place in Group 4 and consign Alty to the Chairman's Cup (formerly the Unifilla Cup). Two down after eleven minutes, Alty barely troubled the Steels' keeper all evening, their only goal coming near the end from a penalty by Finney. Just 176 souls saw the visitors cruise to a 2-0 lead by the 11th minute, with a third,deflected goal from Biggins coming after 61 minutes. A six minute stoppage after the referee was carried off injured was a welcome diversion for the home fans from a grim experience which was all too reminiscent of the lacklustre display against Mossley in the FA Cup.

ALTRINCHAM (0) 1 STOCKSBRIDGE PARK STEELS (2) 3

UniBond Challenge Cup, Group Stage Match, played on Tuesday, 6th February, 2001 at 7.45p.m.

SCORERS

4 mins: Andy BROWNRIGG (Altrincham 0 Stocksbridge Park Steels 1)
11 mins: Carl FOTHERGILL (Altrincham 0 Stocksbridge Park Steels 2)
61 mins: Wayne BIGGINS (Altrincham 0 Stocksbridge Park Steels 3)

85 mins: Steve FINNEY (penalty) (Altrincham 1 Stocksbridge Park Steels 3)

REFEREE: Mr A. Dale

ATTENDANCE: 176

TEAMS

6.2.01	ALTRINCHAM	versus.	STOCKSBRIDGE PARK STEELS
7.45pm	Red and white striped shirts, black shorts	---.	Yellow shirts, blue shorts
1.	Stuart COBURN	1.	Ross TURNER
2.	Gary SCOTT	2.	Jon BROWN (capt)
3.	James GLENDENNING	3.	Richard FIDLER
4.	Adam FARLEY	4.	Jon WORDSWORTH
5.	Mark MADDOX	5.	Dean FEARON
6.	Stuart SCHEUBER	6.	Adam LONGDEN
7.	Danny MURPHY	7.	Carl FOTHERGILL
8.	Mark WARD	8.	Andy BROWNRIGG
9.	Steve FINNEY	9.	Ian ASKEY
10.	Steve HAWES (capt)	10.	Gary HURLSTONE
11.	Ian CRANEY	11.	Wayne BIGGINS
12.	Terry BOWKER	12.	Richard ASHTON
14.	Keith MAIRS	14.	Chris SIDDALL
15.	Neil WAKEFIELD	15.	Liam ROBINSON

BACKGROUND
This match was rained and fogged off on 19 December, 2000 before being transferred to Moss Lane where the first attempt to play the game was also postponed.

Over the last fortnight, having seen their Club almost wound-up and witnessed the sale of their best player (Kevin Ellison to Leicester City) and their captain (Gary Talbot to Northwich), the Moss Lane faithful arrived for this much postponed and relocated cup tie hoping to escape for 90 minutes from the off-the-field upheavals. But, Altrincham have reserved their most disappointing performances this season for Cup games and this was another of that ilk; a game which recalled the abject displays against Mossley (FA Cup) and Bishop Auckland (FA Trophy). The outcome is that, having played ten cup games this season, Altrincham have won only two.

TEAM NEWS
The sale of Gary Talbot, the one constant in the Altrincham back-four, forced Mark Ward to juggle his back four yet again. Another new combination- Scott, Glendenning, Farley and Maddox, was fielded tonight whilst the loss of Ellison left Steve Finney, supported by Danny Murphy, as the main threat up front. The home side (in what was technically an away tie, transferred to Moss Lane because of the state of the visitors' pitch) included most of the remaining fit first-choice players at the Club. For Stocksbridge, the veteran Wayne Biggins and ex-Gainsborough man Carl Fothergill were amongst the names known in advance by Altrincham supporters.

FINAL SCORE: ALTRINCHAM 1 STOCKSBRIDGE PARK STEELS 3

Photographs by Alan Johnson

I know some Alty fans were disappointed to learn that, because of the conditions of the pitch at Stocksbridge, the game had been transferred to Moss Lane. Many Alty fans have not been to Stocksbridge so, thanks to Daniel Keeton using his web site ,here is the stand which holds 500.

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