Bamber bridge 1 Altrincham 1

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

Photographs by Alan Johnson

BAMBER BRIDGE (0) 1 ALTRINCHAM (1) 1

UniBond Premier League Match, played on Saturday, 25 November 2000, at 3p.m.

SCORERS

14 mins: Alex HAY (Bamber Bridge 0 Altrincham 1)

74 mins: Simon BURTON (Bamber Bridge 1 Altrincham 1)

REFEREE: Mr Dave Whitby

ATTENDANCE: 408

TEAMS

25.11.00	BAMBER BRIDGE	versus.	ALTRINCHAM
3pm	White shirts, black shorts	---.	Blue and white shirts and blue shorts
1.	Billy STEWART (capt.)	1.	Stuart COBURN
2.	Andy FARLEY	2.	Gary SCOTT
3.	Lee PRYORS	3.	Steve MORGAN
4.	Mark JONES	4.	Adam FARLEY
5.	Phil ROBINSON	5.	Gary TALBOT (capt.)
6.	Steve ASPINALL	6.	Steve HAWES
7.	Dave CARROLL	7.	Jason GALLAGHER
8.	Barrie KEELING	8.	Mark WARD
9.	Phil DENNY	9.	Alex HAY
10.	Andy WHITTAKER	10.	Richard LANDON
11.	Brad PATES	11.	Leroy CHAMBERS
12.	Simon BURTON	12.	Ian CRANEY
14.	Leon SMITH	14.	Stuart SCHEUBER
15.	Simon CAREY	15.	James GLENDENNING

BACKGROUND

Bamber Bridge won the Unibond Premier as recently as 1996 but were not able to gain promotion to the Conference. However, their Irongate ground has been transformed since Altrincham's last visit (March 1999) by a newly built stand, which has replaced a structure destroyed in a gale several years ago. The recent sustained spell of wet weather, combined with the building work rendered the touchline in front of the stand virtually invisible in a patch of grass-less mud. Indeed, the referee had to switch the linesmen during the first half so that one of them was patrolling this quadrant of the pitch to ensure that the ball was in play. However, throughout the match the sun shone and the rain held off.

SUMMARY

Altrincham weathered a potentially disastrous opening five minutes during which Stuart Coburn brought down Andy Whittaker, just inside the box, yet received only a yellow card for the offence. The keeper had been let down by a poorly struck back-pass from Adam Farley which, on this very wet pitch, failed to reach him. Coburn may have been saved by a slightly exaggerated dive by Whittaker but nevertheless no one would dispute the penalty award. Aspinall's kick was too central and struck Coburn's legs as he dived in the opposite direction. Against the run of play Altrincham went ahead when a deft flick-on from Landon freed Hay, to the left of goal inside the penalty area. The on-loan striker from Tranmere finished well, striking a left-foot shot to Stewart's left and into the corner of the net (14 mins). Altrincham went on to have the better of the first half and looked to be on the road to victory. However, they did not get going in the second half till the last ten minutes. Before that play had been punctuated by a series of lengthy stoppages for injury and the loss of both Gallagher, with a bad double injury to his mouth and leg, and of Adam Farley. Ward also left the proceedings at half-time. Bamber Bridge stepped up a gear in the second half and disquieting gaps appeared periodically at the back for Altrincham. It was no more than Bamber Bridge deserved when substitute Burton equalised after 74 minutes when he headed in a corner from Pryors. Altrincham, however, finished strongly and Hay missed a good chance to win the game just before the end. However, Carey also missed a good chance in the very last minute so a draw was a fair result in the end.

TEAM NEWS

Mark Ward did not persist with his first-half experiment at Bishop Auckland of fielding three centre-backs in a 3-5-2 formation. Instead he went for a further innovation, 4-3-3 to replace Altrincham's customary 4-4-2. Leroy Chambers made only his second League start of the season. New signing, Steve Morgan displaced Steve Porter at left-back, whilst Kevin Ellison and Danny Murphy remained sidelined by injury though fit enough to engage in a pre-match game of pool with the Alty supporters in the excellent Bamber Bridge social club. Young Mario Daniel was rested from the squad and James Glendenning, Stuart Scheuber and Ian Craney were all reduced to the bench. Gary Scott was restored to the side and Adam Farley partnered Gary Talbot at centre-back.

FINAL SCORE: BAMBER BRIDGE 1 ALTRINCHAM 1

Photographs by Alan Johnson

Despite rain in Manchester, rain on the way and rain after the match, for 90 minutes we had an almost sunny sky, making the life of a photographer easier
	The new stand at Bamber Bridge was recently completed. Unfortunately the contractors lorries have left evidence of their presence and with the recent heavy rain the area in frornt of the stand is almost a quagmire.
The very friendly club house. So friendly that after the match it kept one unnamed individual in the club despite the fact his car was illegally parked and prevented the Altrincham supporters coach from leaving the car park. Evidence of the amount of water on the pitch can be seen
Seen at the ground
	Jacqui Forster, long time Alty supporter now living in Oxford and the driving force behind the formation of a new section of SAFE -the exiles (see else where). For some reason Jacqui refused to be photographed thoroughly enjoying a hot dog!
Adrian Farley
	Ian Craney
New signing left back Steve Morgan
	Reserve team player promoted to the first team Mario Daniel
Alex Hay, hidden behind the goal post beats Bridge's captain and keeper Billy Stewart. In addition a photographic record of the date of the goal is provided!
	Richard Landon in action to no avail
Leroy Chambers leads the race to the ball
	Billy Stewart in motion makes a good save from a shot by Leroy Chambers
At half time I changed ends but the water and mud was even worse. After starting to sink into the mess I decided that a move to behind the goal was in order. There were very few moves by Alty on the Bamber Bridge's goal in the second half. The only one of real note was by Alex Hay, which I missed. here Billy Stewart makes a good save

[Home] [Back to Results]