LINE-UP

REPORT

Report courtesy of Phil Taylor.

The anticipated and very welcome warm weather having finally arrived, the Alty Ladies took on Urmston Meadowside in the Semi Final of the Cheshire Womens& Youth League Challenge Cup.

Having progressed to this late a stage of a Cup competition in only the third season since inception was a significant achievement for the Altrincham team.

We had played Urmston twice in the League last season, losing on both occasions to the eventual Division 2 Champions.

Altrincham had beaten a Division One side in the previous round of the competition but this was clearly going to be a much tougher challenge as Urmston lay fifth in the League with games in hand on all the teams above them.

A variety of reasons meant that Rachel, Hannah, Beth, Sue and Cyprus were unavailable. Louise however had returned from University and was available for selection

Right: Alty celebrate one of their goals. Photo by Michael Ripley.

Altrincham, once again, lined up in a flexible formation which alternated between 3-1-4-2 and 4-4-2, depending on which team had possession, with a back three of, Caroline, Louise and Sam Briggs in front of Lizzie in goal. Chloe occupied a position just in front of the three, dropping in to make it four when Alty were defending. Natalie, Aimee, Gail and Heathermade up the midfield four and Tracey was joined, up front by Cloe. Subs were Becci, Sarah, Hayley, Tallulah and Sam Jones

Following a pre-match photograph, Urmston kicked off and soon put the Altrincham rearguard under early pressure, which was rebuffed without too much trouble.

Altrincham began to get into the game a little more, after three or four minutes, as the game settled into what was to become the overall pattern throughout the afternoon.

An Urmston attack down the left after six minutes led to a snapshot at goal, which took a deflection off the covering Sam Briggs. It appeared to be sneaking inside the near post until Lizzie got down quickly to her left to effect an excellent save, touching it around the post.

The Altrincham players were doing all that had been asked of them, closing down quickly and preventing Urmston from playing the passing football which is their normal style.

On seven minutes, as play again switched a good run and cross-shot by Tracey brought an excellent save from the Urmston keeper who acrobatically turned the ball over the bar. From the resultant corner, however, Altrincham took what was a well deserved lead. The initial effort again being well saved by the Urmston custodian, the ball came out to Tracey, who finished a difficult chance expertly.

The pitch surface was making the passing football, for which both teams are known, difficult and Urmston began to play a more direct game, bypassing the midfield where the Altrincham quartet were closing down tenaciously and frustrating Urmston ambitions.

The Altrincham team persisted in playing the style with which they are most comfortable, although there was a little less interpassing than normal and slightly more balls being put into channels for Tracey, Cloe and Natalie to pursue.

On ten minutes, following a good pass from Tracey, Cloe took on a shot which just cleared the Urmston crossbar.

Altrincham seemed, by this point to have taken the initiative and to be ‘bossing’ the game. The pitch thwarted Tracey as she moved forward on thirteen minutes, however Cloe, following up, managed to get a shot away, which was well saved by the Urmston custodian,

Much of the play was being contested in midfield areas where the Alty girls continued to work tirelessly and, on twenty-six minutes, Heather skilfully intercepted an attempted pass before firing in a shot which was once again saved.

The Altrincham defence was competently handling anything which came at them. Chloe making some powerful headed clearances, Louise intercepting well to stop and number of attacks and the two full-backs, supported by their team mates, preventing much, if any, meaningful threat from the flanks.

Heather, having run herself to a standstill in the unfamiliar left-midfield role was replaced around the half-hour mark by Becci

Although Altrincham held the upper hand it was clear, as you would expect, that Urmston had a few players who would pose a threat; one player in particular had been identified before the game as being a major source of potential trouble for the Alty team. It would, I feel, be accurate to say however that Sam Briggs never allowed her to influence the game in any way whatsoever.

On thirty-one minutes, following some excellent link up play between Becci and Tracey down the Altrincham left, Cloe pulled another good effort just wide.

On thirty-nine minutes, ex-Alty player Faye Howard took advantage of the effects of the surface to stride purposefully into the Alty penalty area. An exceptional recovery and superb pressure from the covering Sam Briggs, however, forced her to fire wide of the target.

Half-time arrived with Altrincham holding a much deserved 1-0 lead.

Manager Keith Edleston was, understandably, very pleased with the first half performance. The players had done exactly what had been asked of them and the lead was no more than the performance had deserved.

In warning the players to expect a different performance level from Urmston in the second period, he asked that they just do exactly what they had done in the first half.

Altrincham kicked off the second half watched by Altrincham Chairman Grahame Rowley who, together with granddaughter Daisy, Steve Foster, Assistant Catering Manager, Dawn Abbott and Club Sports Therapist, Alan Ainsley and his son, Simon, had arrived to support the Ladies during the first half.

Alty continued where they left off, pressing Urmston back whilst, due to hard work, not really allowing them to gain any momentum. On forty-eight minutes more good interplay, this time down the Alty right, freed Tracey whose near post effort was well saved.

The Altrincham midfield and defence were still nullifying any attempts by Urmston to generate significant pressure whilst Altrincham continued to press for a second goal. The Altrincham tactic of varying corner and free-kick takers was not allowing Urmston to set up to defend them comfortably and on fifty-four minutes one such corner, taken in this case by Cloe, was met at the near post by Natalie, who volleyed just the wrong side of the near post

Play was still predominantly taking place in the midfield areas where the Altrincham players held sway. On the few occasions when the midfield was pierced the Robins back four snuffed out the danger effectively. Urmston persisted in trying to attack the Altrincham left flank but Sam Briggs was equally persistent in marking her opponent out of the game.

At this point Chloe, who had performed superbly, was forced off by a recurrence of a minor thigh injury, being replaced by the reintroduction of a seemingly refreshed Heather. This prompted a reshuffle with Heather returning to her midfield berth, Caroline moving to the centre of defence and the versatile Becci slotting in at right back.

Creditably, Altrincham, when possible, continued to move forward with purpose, in search of the elusive second goal which would, hopefully, provide just a tad more breathing space and, on sixty-four minutes, after Tracey had chased a ball toward the Urmston penalty area, Cloe lifted a first time effort over the bar.

The second Alty goal wasn’t long in coming though, in fact barely a minute later, an incisive through ball by Becci was picked up by Tracey. Although her first shot was well saved by the Urmston goalie, she retained her composure to slide home the rebound and double the Alty lead.

Despite having fallen further behind, Urmston continued to try to get back into the game. However, the Alty Ladies were not prepared to let this happen. The fitness work undertaken by the players this season showed its value as all the Urmston attempts were repelled.

In fact, Altrincham almost scored what would have been a totally merited third goal on seventy-seven minutes. More incisive play down the Altrincham left set up a chance for Tracey to complete her hat-trick. The effort was half cleared and Cloe bravely challenged the onrushing Urmston keeper, getting there first and prodding the ball goalwards. Unfortunately though, a covering Urmston defender cleared the ball off the goal line.

Hard work and a superb team ethic allowed Altrincham to see out the remainder of the game and register a 2-0 win, securing a place in the League Challenge Cup Final.

This had been a magnificent performance, every player having contributed massively. The two strikers had worked tirelessly, never letting the Urmston defence settle. Aimee and Gail had quietly but effectively controlled central midfield, both putting in excellent performances with Natalie and a combination of Heather and Becci, getting backwards and forwards on the flanks all afternoon supporting the attack, whilst offering cover to the full backs.

Louise and first Chloe, then Caroline, had repelled attacks down the centre whilst Caroline, later Becci, and the exceptional Sam Briggs had allowed almost nothing to get through to the well protected Lizzie, whose exceptional near post save early on had allowed Altrincham to take the ascendancy from a level position.

All the substitutes, used or otherwise, contributed to a superb team performance, as did Beth and Rachel who, despite not being part of the squad, both came and supported their team mates.

The Blue Dog Player of the Match, selected by the Management Team was the outstanding Sam Briggs, who never allowed her opponent a sniff at goal with the Players' Player, for a second game in succession, being Tracey Blanchard Webb.

Next up is a League fixture, this coming Sunday (16/3/14), when we try again to complete the game away to Warrington Wolverines which was abandoned earlier in the season. Kick-off is 2.00pm.