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

Photographs by Alan Johnson

 

  Green shirts, white shorts, black socks
1. Stuart COBURN 1. Paul PHILLIPS
2. Jason GALLAGHER 2. Barry CROWE
3. Steve PORTER 3. Aeon LATTIE
4. Terry BOWKER 4. Iain BRUNSKILL
5. Mark MADDOX 5. Eddie JOHNSTON
6. Steve HAWES (capt.) 6. Carl HOLMES (capt.)
7. Danny MURPHY 7. Lee PRIOR
8. Ian CRANEY 8. Dominic MORLEY
9. Steve FINNEY 9. Robert PELL
10. Rod THORNLEY 10. Eddie TURKINGTON
11. Paul EDWARDS 11. Anthony CALLAGHAN
12. Stuart SCHEUBER 12. Danny WARNER
14. Adam FARLEY 14. Chris YOUNG
15. Gary SCOTT 15. Harvey CUNNINGHAM

BACKGROUND
This match brought together two out-of-form sides undergoing off-pitch upheavals. Droylsden had not won in six league games whilst Altrincham had won only one in their last ten. The Moss Lane Board has recently been revamped in the wake of the Club's financial troubles whilst Droylsden's millionaire boss, Dave Pace, recently brought in ex-Barrow chairman Steve Vaughan and former Moss Lane man, Owen Brown, to assist him. Altrincham took to the field in an unusual combination of their normal red, white and black kit combined with blue socks, presumably because the visitors had chosen to wear black socks themselves.
SUMMARY
The match was played in a bitingly cold wind which affected the standard of play in the early stages, as passes were overhit or misplaced with regularity. However, Altrincham's nerves were settled when Ian Craney punished a flapped clearance from Phillips by striking the ball back past the goalkeeper after a quarter of an hour's play. Altrincham then scored an excellent goal just before the interval when Danny Murphy finished off a sustained passing movement with a stooping header. The third goal came from a flick-on by Finney to Thornley, who finished well (57 mins). The game was almost all Altrincham's after that with Droylsden offering little threat to Coburn's goal. The pace of Murphy and Edwards on the flanks and Thornley and Finney in the centre gave the Robins much more potency going forward than has been the case in recent weeks. Droylsden were disappointing and rarely looked like getting back in the game in the second half.
TEAM NEWS
Alty fans welcomed back full-back Barry Crowe and Eddie Turkington, who both left Moss Lane for The Bloods earlier this year. Turkington, however, had only just signed and was making his debut for Droylsden. In their own side Altrincham welcomed Rod Thornley, the former Congleton striker, for his first Altrincham league game, having signed him in midweek. Another home debutant was Paul Edwards, acquired from Knutsford till the season's end, following his impressive midweek display for Alty against Ashton United Reserves. Thornley, too, had played and scored in last Wednesday's Reserves' victory, as well as appearing in the previous week's friendly against Doncaster Rovers. Seven of the 14 players who were in the squad for the away league match at the Butcher's Arms in October have now left Moss Lane so it was a quite different side which played for Altrincham today.
FINAL SCORE: ALTRINCHAM 3 DROYLSDEN 0

Photographs by Alan Johnson

Danny Murphy beats the opposition 

An Alty head goes to work
A high ball

The defence
Steve Finney looks in vain as the ball leaves him

At least he got his head to the ball