Altrincham were looking for their first home win of the season against a Spennymoor side nine points ahead of them in the table. The Moors new manager, Tony Lee, had previously been a thorn in Altrincham's side as manager of Bishop Auckland and his new side arrived at Moss Lane as the only team with five away wins in the league so far this season.

TEAM NEWS

Rod Thornley was away again on England FA duty, but Dave Gardner was available after missing the Blyth game due to business commitments. So, Nick Welton got his first league start up front.

After a good opening day to the season, the Moors had some poor results and changed their manager with the experienced former Bishop Auckland boss Tony Lee taking control. Amidst many changes of playing personnel, he had guided them into the top six before kick-off tonight.

ALTRINCHAM (Red & white striped shirts, black shorts, red socks): 1. Ben WILLIAMS, 2. Gary SCOTT, 3. Chris ADAMS, 4. Mark MADDOX (capt.), 5. Gary TALBOT, 6. Stephen ROSE, 7. Michael REYNOLDS, 8. Ian CRANEY, 9. Peter BAND, 10. Nick WELTON, 11. Barry SHUTTLEWORTH. Subs: 12. Steve ASPINALL, 14. Dave GARDNER, 15. Jason van BLERK.

SPENNYMOOR UNITED (White shirts and shorts, black socks): 1. Martin KEARNEY, 2. Leigh GRANT, 3. Chris LYNCH, 4. David GOODCHILD, 5. Jonathan MILROY, 6. Nicky MOHAN (capt.), 7. John CULLEN, 8. Neil BISHOP, 9. Steve PREEN, 10. Danny BRUNSKILL, 11. Stuart BRIGHTWELL. Subs: 12. Philip BRUMWELL, 14.Jason AINSLEY, 15. Craig RAND.

REPORT

Spennymoor kicked off attacking the 20/20 End and as the first sixty seconds came to end, Craney advanced to feed Welton whose firmly struck low shot from 20 yards was beaten upwards by the advancing Kearney and then fielded by him at the second attempt. In fact, the game soon settled into a lively opening with Altrincham receiving their usual good vocal support from the Golf Road End. Altrincham's next chance came when Shuttleworth found Band on the left. Band's cross was met by a stooping header from Welton which was fielded by Kearney, who had rejoined the Moors in September after moving to Whitby (4 mins). Preen, the former Gateshead striker, then had the ball in the net for the Moors but he was offside as he slid the ball home.

Cullen, a recent signing from Halifax Town was looking threatening for the visitors but Alty soon had another shot but Welton miscued a pass from Shuttleworth. Welton was in evidence again soon afterwards when he was caught offside, just before the visitors "scored" their second offside goal, through Cullen from a Brunskill pass (8 mins).

The lively end to end action continued with Kearney punching out a Scott cross before a Brightwell feed saw Preen get free on the Moors' right and send a low cross from the left across the face of goal as Brunskill closed in. The game's first corner resulted, on the Spennymoor right. The Alty back four were kept busy for the next couple of minutes until Brightwell's pass saw Milroy put in a snap shot from the right wing which drew a magnificent full-stretch save from Williams, to tip the ball round his right upright, low down, for another corner (13 mins).

Alty's next effort was a curling shot from Craney (17 mins). before Kearney had to race from his box for the third time in the game to clear. On the break, Cullen's pass to Brunskill saw the latter's shot from the left flash diagonally across goal. Then Rose had to be alert to cover an attack before a Brightwell chip just cleared the Alty bar.

Alty replied with a Welton shot which was blocked (28 mins) and then Kearney had to be off his line smartly to reach the ball before Band. A good move by the Moors saw Scott throw himself in front of Brunskill's 25 yarder to concede a corner on the left. This was cleared but the visitors soon won their fourth corner of the night which came when a freekick seemed to come off Lynch rather than a defender. This led to a protest from Band, who was lectured by the referee for his pains.

The next Alty attack saw Scott's high cross from the right caught by Kearney and soon a sliced effort from Rose went out for a goalkick. Spennymoor won another corner which the Alty defence again saw to safety. Next, Scott played the ball forward and Craney latched onto it, running up the middle of the pitch. He held off a challenge well and shot firmly from the edge of the box. Though Kearney got a hand to the ball as he went to his left, the shot had enough power to enter the upper part of the net for Altrincham's first goal during a first half at Moss Lane this season (38 mins). Spennymoor nearly levelled when Brightwell, signed from Durham City last season, got past Scott on the left and Milroy relayed the ball to Brunskill but Shuttleworth did well to get in the way and the ball ran safely to Williams (43 mins). Alty conceded a couple of freekicks as the two added minutes of first-half time were played out and the last action of note was a good catch by Williams from Milroy's cross.

After an early free-kick awarded against Mark Maddox, a Gary Talbot clearance almost got Nick Welton in for shot but he was crowded out by defenders. Soon, once more, Kearney had to dash outside his box to clear from Welton who was putting in plenty of effort up front. The keeper was accidentally caught in this incident and needed brief treatment (49 mins).

Welton, Shuttleworth and Adams then combined for Band to get in a header which Kearney collected (52 mins). Band was soon in evidence again and, via Craney, he found Reynolds whose low cross went to the keeper. After a free-kick, awarded against Maddox, Spennymoor won another corner on their left. Following this Brunskill needed treatment off the pitch before a pass from Rose to Welton prompted a shot into the side netting from Craney (57 mins).

Adams was then alert at the other end after a Scott mis-pass. From a Rose freekick from the left Kearney punched clear when he should have caught the ball but no danger followed to his goal. When Talbot and Reynolds combined to set Welton free on the right, the Alty man got in a hurried cross cum shot when he had time to compose himself for a better effort (62 mins). After Preen had won a free-kick off Band, Cullen had the first of a series of centrally placed free-kicks in the 22- to 25-yard range from goal. This first one he curled just over the bar (63 mins).

Alty now brought on Dave Gardner on the right for Michael Reynolds, who had had a quiet game (65 mins). At the same time Spennymoor replaced Milroy by Brumwell, a former Blyth player signed from Whitley Bay last month. As Brightwell again threatened on the left Gary Talbot covered well to concede a corner. This was cleared and soon Gardner made a midfield interception and set off up the right but his cross went to Kearney (70 mins).

Maddox then tripped Brunskill as he neatly turned past the Alty centre-back to give Cullen his next opportunity to strike a free-kick from 22 yards. This was well struck and Williams made a fine save to tip the ball round his right post for another corner. Spennymoor were now applying some concerted pressure but when Cullen fouled Talbot, the Moors' man was booked (74 mins).

Peter Band was now acting virtually as an auxiliary centre-back, with Talbot and Maddox, to keep Spennymoor at bay but when he delayed a clearance, Spennymoor gained a free-kick on the left. This was cleared and Gardner broke up the right from half-way, past Grant. Dave elected to pass inside to the unmarked Welton rather than shoot. Welton's low shot from the outer edge of the box struck Kearney and rebounded to safety, giving Altrincham their first corner of the game after 76 minutes. Shuttleworth's corner was disappointing but Gardner soon ran at the defence again, having won the ball off Mohan. But Gardner's low cross from the right was stopped by a defender at the back post and Kearney picked it up as Alty players appealed for a back-pass (79 mins)

An extravagant forward somersault dive by Lynch as Maddox tackled him convinced Mr Mort to book the Alty captain and to give Cullen his third centrally placed free-kick of the second half, from 25 yards (80 mins). Williams made another magnificent save from Cullen's effort, diving full length to his right and holding the ball cleanly as he did so. Craney, who after a fine first half had a much quieter second period, then got in a cross from the left which Lynch chested back riskily to Kearney as Welton closed in (82 mins).

Referee Mort began to annoy the home support as he repeatedly turned a blind eye to the use of arms by Spennymoor's defenders as they rose with Welton for aerial challenges. Gardner then tracked back well to cover as Spennymoor threatened again. Next, Scott did superbly, facing his own goal, to head the ball out for a corner from a cross from the right. Alty now brought on Aspinall for Rose (85 mins). Immediately after this, Welton latched onto a long aerial punt forward and got behind Kearney on the edge of the box. The Moors' keeper clearly grabbed Welton by the arm to stop him getting the ball but incredibly Mr Mort, who seemed to have a good view, gave nothing more than an Altrincham corner on their left.

This was cleared and soon Band was caught late by Lynch who was booked just as a "4 minutes" board was shown. Most spectators had expected 2 or possibly 3 minutes of added time. Spennymoor continued to press for an equaliser and won their tenth corner of the match. This was cleared but the ball soon came to Brightwell on the left. His ball into the centre of the box prompted a melee from which the ball was knocked into the Altrincham net from about six yards. It emerged that it had come off Adams's chest to rob Altrincham of their first home victory this season. Mr Mort then allowed less than 10 seconds of play after the kick-off to underline how close Altrincham had been to a precious win.

Whilst Altrincham were stunned by the finale to the game, the fact that Spennymoor had gained 10 corners to Altrincham's 2 indicated that the visitors had a fair claim to a point. In his brief period at the helm, Tony Lee has again shown what a good manager he is, steering his attacking side into the top five. Yet again this season Altrincham came away with a draw, their eighth in 13 league starts, but as so often this season they gave a creditable performance without reaping their full reward. Gary Talbot was a deserved Man of the Match but it was ironic that after such a sterling display by the Alty defence in the second half their lines should only be breached by an own goal.