LADIES' NARROW DEFEAT

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FGR's VIEWS ON ALTY GAME

• Possession: Forest Green Rovers 57% v Altrincham 43%
• Shots: 18 v 8
• Shots on target: 7 v 1
• Corners: 8 v 7
• Fouls: 7 v 12

And Forest Green Rovers report that "A Jon Parkin double helped Forest Green Rovers make it seven unbeaten in an eventful encounter with Altrincham that saw three men sent off, writes Richard Joyce...

The visitors had barely had time to breathe by the time Parkin had notched his first in the opening minute. His strong run into the box saw him slip the ball past Tim Deasy from the tightest of angles... As Alty finally moved forward, they came close to levelling on 14 minutes through James Lawrie. The Northern Ireland international attacker saw his low hit deflect off an FGR defender and slam against the post.

Keanu Marsh-Brown... then forced Deasy into a good stop... From the subsequent corner Parkin added his second. He met Marsh-Brown’s corner with a delicate header, which doubled his side’s advantage...

Bennett became the first player to see red just before the half time whistle. He reacted to a late tackle, which had actually seen him rewarded with the free kick, in what was his first sending off of the campaign. Kurtis Guthrie came very close to extending Rovers lead early in the second half, only to be denied by a heroic clearance from off the line [by Sinnott], and a stunning stop from Steve Arnold prevented Damian Reeves from getting a goal back for Altrincham.

There was stand-out defensive work at the other end to note too. Substitute David Pipe made a terrific block at the last moment to stop George Bowerman from slamming home, and Parkin completed his defensive duties with a much needed header off the line from Nicky Clee’s goal bound strike.

The first of Alty’s two red cards in five minutes came when O’Keefe was adjudged to have gone in dangerously on Guthrie... Meanwhile the visitors skipper, Havern, was shown a second yellow card for a needless foul on Frear just outside the area, which saw them reduced to nine men".

FA CUP OPPONENTS

From Essex's Daily Gazette we learn that "Colchester United’s joint interim manager Richard Hall says he expects to hold talks with chairman Robbie Cowling next week about the club’s vacant managerial role. Hall, along with under-21 coach John McGreal, took charge of the Colchester side for their 5-1 defeat at Burton Albion, following Tony Humes’s departure as manager on Thursday.

Cowling has said he is likely to appoint from within the club when he chooses Humes’s successor and Hall, who has worked as the 'U's' assistant manager and under-21 coach, said he is interested in the role.

Hall said, 'I will sit down and speak to the chairman next week along with other people and see where we go. It’s up to the chairman to decide how we take the club forward. If that’s with me then great; if it’s with somebody else, then so be it...

'It’s been a tough and challenging couple of days'...

Colchester got off to a dream start at Burton, going ahead in the fourth minute through Callum Harriott... Hall added, 'We tried to cause them problems and I thought it really worked for the first 20 minutes or so but then the two goals went in and you think, “the next goal really matters”. We conceded from another weak shot and, after we had a couple of decent efforts and hit the inside of the post, it just seems that something has got to click and go right for us.

'You make your own luck though and we’ve also got to cut out the naivety at the other end'".

AFTER THE GAME

FOREST GREEN ROVERS 2 ALTRINCHAM 0

Above: Action from a very wet Forest Green.

A disastrous start saw FGR take the lead after just 43 seconds when Parkin took advantage of a Moult slip to score with a low shot across Deasy from left of goal. Parkin was then left unmarked to convert a corner to make it 2-0 in the 19th minute.

Altrincham hardly threatened at this stage as FGR dominated in a match played in dreadful conditions; a gusty wind and rain which was, at times, torrential. But when Bennett was sent off for retaliation against Richman just before half time, Altrincham were given hope.

But despite seeing more of the ball in the second half, Altrincham only seriously tested keeper Arnold with a Reeves effort. Then, Alty who were the only National League club not to have suffered a red card this season, picked up two in five minutes. O'Keefe harshly saw red when his tackle on a slippery surface led to him sliding into Guthrie (78 mins) before Havern picked up a second yellow for holding Frear (83 mins).

Any hopes of a comeback disappeared with the dismissals.

Match report here.

NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUND-UP

Third-placed Grimsby Town beat Kidderminster Harriers 1-0 at Blundell Park, a result that sent the Harriers back to the bottom of the table...

Lincoln City battled back from a goal behind to earn a 1-1 draw against struggling Welling United at Sincil Bank, but Chris Moyses will definitely still see this as two points dropped... The Imps forced their way back into the game in the 72nd minute with Jack Muldoon scoring a superb long-range effort that was too powerful for Tom King in the Welling goal [to make it 1-1]. The game was then all Lincoln, but they wasted chances to win the game and had to settle for a point.

The lunchtime kick-off live on BT Sport saw promotion-chasing Eastleigh entertain fourth-bottom Southport... But the second period saw the visitors come more into the game and boss the possession stats, although then had to be grateful to keeper Max Crocombe for keeping them level. The hosts finally broke the deadlock with 6 minutes remaining when Andy Drury netted from close range...

Arguably the result of the day saw FC Halifax Town beat a Dover Athletic side who started the afternoon in fifth place. FC Halifax recorded only their second home win of the season and moved off the foot of the table as they won 4-2 at The Shay...

Wrexham's four-match winning run came to an end as they lost 3-2 against Macclesfield Town at The Racecourse...

New Gateshead boss Neil Aspin made a good start with a 1-0 win against Chester FC at the International Stadium. The Blues were edged out by a goal 7 minutes from time from Ryan Bowman who tucked home from close range after an assist from late loan signing from Sheffield United, CJ Hamilton, although the `credit` for the goal may have to go to Chester`s on-loan defender Alex Whitmore.

And Paul Cox also had a winning start as Barrow AFC boss over visitors Woking...

Braintree Town were unable to meet the goalscoring highs they managed the last time they faced Torquay United in a frustrating goalless stalemate at the Avanti Stadium... And another struggler, Boreham Wood, also shared a 0-0 encounter in difficult conditions at Meadow Park against Tranmere Rovers. Guiseley AFC returned to form, however, with a 2-0 win against Bromley at Nethermoor."

SATURDAY RESULTS

• Aldershot Town 0-2 Cheltenham Town
• Barrow 2-1 Woking
• Boreham Wood 0-0 Tranmere Rovers
• Braintree Town 0-0 Torquay United
• Eastleigh 1-0 Southport
• FC Halifax Town 4-2 Dover Athletic
• Forest Green Rovers 2-0 Altrincham
• Gateshead 1-0 Chester FC
• Grimsby Town 1-0 Kidderminster Harriers
• Guiseley 2-0 Bromley
• Lincoln City 1-1 Welling United
• Wrexham 2-3 Macclesfield Town

LADIES' EARLY KICK OFF

BEFORE THE GAME: FGR

Rovers end proceedings in the fourth month of the season with an 18th league meeting with an Altrincham side who the team first faced on the opening day... All eyes in the squad will be on the potential prize of another valuable three points if they manage to secure a win on Saturday...

Alty are a difficult side to play against at this level. They’ve inflicted defeats on the likes of Cheltenham, Tranmere and Grimsby Town this season. So a difficult task awaits the FGR squad this weekend. They’re going to need all the support they can get from an FGR crowd who were fantastic on the road last time out...

Left back James Jennings misses the clash against his former club. He picked up his fifth yellow of the season last weekend and will be forced to sit out with a one-match ban. Marcus Kelly picked up a knock in the Gloucestershire Senior Cup win against Bristol City on Monday. He’ll be hoping to be fit, otherwise Ady Pennock may have to look at other options in the left back slot.

Delano Sam-Yorke earned good minutes on his return from a hernia operation on Monday, however Darren Jones is out as he continues to nurse his injury problem.

New loan arrival Brett Williams is available to make his debut since joining the club earlier this week from Stevenage. Tom Bender has meanwhile moved out on loan to St Albans City".

Altrincham have "A squad made up of many long serving players who have dug in and achieved success with Saturday's opponents, they will prove a tough nut to crack for Ady Pennock's charges...

Wide man Nicky Clee, one of many long time servants in their squad, came off the bench last Saturday and scored their winning goal. He will offer a threat on the left if included in their starting XI. Ex-Fleetwood Town man Ryan Crowther is another winger who can prove dangerous in attack, whereas Josh O’Keefe and Simon Richman will offer a steadier influence in the middle of the park...

There’s plenty of hospitality for home and away fans visiting The New Lawn this weekend. Both sets of supporters can visit The Green Man before the game and enjoy the food and drink that’s on offer. There will also be live sport being shown on the large screens."

And the Stroud News and Journal adds that "Dale Bennett is hoping a good showing in the Gloucestershire derby with Cheltenham Town last weekend will give Forest Green the impetus heading into Saturday’s National League home clash against Altrincham...

Bennett said, 'We went into the game knowing it was a local derby and I think that we played very well... Hopefully we can take it into Saturday and get the three points. We know that there are no easy games in this league."

FGR'S NEW STADIUM PLANS

The Eco Park proposal is a 100-acre sports and business facility located on either side of the A419 near Junction 13 of the M5. Almost half of Eco Park would be dedicated to creating state-of-the-arts sporting facilities, much of which will be open to the public, including a 5,000 capacity stadium for Forest Green Rovers.

The other half would comprise a sustainably built green technology business park potentially capable of hosting up to 4,000 jobs. A third portion of land will become a nature reserve...

The ambitious concept proposal has been brought forward by the Ecotricity founder and Forest Green Rovers (FGR) chairman Dale Vince...

David Drew, former Labour MP for Stroud... speaking as vice chairman of FGR said... 'We believe the club has everything needed to get into the Football League apart from one thing, a suitable stadium,” he said. 'If we are promoted this season we will be getting crowds up to three thousand, which the New Lawn stadium just won’t be able to cope with'...

But Stephen Davies, Conservative District Councillor for Eastington and Standish said... he was deeply nervous whether Ecotricity would actually be able to bring green businesses to the park....

Questioning the 'green' credentials of the scheme, he said, 'There is nothing greener than a green field. And another big issue is transport... The A419 is already close to saturation point, and this proposal will create an extra 4,000 journeys from the business park...

Hugh Barton, emeritus professor in health and sustainability, agreed, saying the traffic and parking issues would undoubtable pose the biggest questions. 'This will be 95 per cent car dependent, emissions from cars would be unescapable... the traffic downside will undermine any zero-carbon claim that Ecotricity make'"

OLD BOYS

News of another former Alty forward comes from our neighbours Trafford who tell us that "After six months with Trafford as our Assistant Manager Chris Denham has decided to step down for personal reasons. Manager [ex-Alty reserve] Tom Baker says, 'I’m so sorry Chris has left the club he was a really good mate of mine but obviously I respect his decision...

Tom Baker immediately appointed 33 year old Chris Shuker as the new Assistant Manager at Shawe View. Chris who is already signed on for Trafford started his playing career in the Academy at Everton & Man City",

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Born in Gateshead, Aspin began his playing career with Leeds United, making over 200 appearances for his boyhood club before moving to Port Vale... Aspin took up his first managerial position with Harrogate Town halfway through the 2004-05 campaign...

He was appointed Halifax boss in 2009, leading the Shaymen to back-to-back promotions before finishing fifth in their first season back in the top-flight of the non-league game...

The Heed’s new boss will be formally introduced to the media this morning [Friday], having put pen to paper on an 18-month contract on Tyneside. Gateshead chairman Richard Bennett [said] 'Neil left Gateshead at the age of 16 to pursue a distinguished playing career before moving into management. His time has come to return to the North East to manage his hometown club... Neil is the perfect appointment... Neil will take in the game [on Saturday] before taking up his new role on Monday morning'".

Barrow's Holker Street Newsletter tells us that "Paul Cox has brought in a couple of players on loan in preparation for his first game as Barrow manager, more details below, but the planned youth-loan deal for Stoke City's 19-year-old French midfielder Eddy Lecygne has been unsuccessful...

Paul Cox seems to looking forwards to his (hopefully long and successful) time as Barrow manager, as he told the Mail, 'I feel as though I'm in the same position as when I took over at Mansfield a number of years ago. I'm coming to a club that's pro-active, ambitious and one that wants to go forward...

I'm going to go in, meet them and see what actually needs tweaking, what needs a total rebuild and what needs leaving alone. At the present time I'm quite open-minded about the whole scenario...

I've got a decent track record and a half-decent win ratio, but I just want to win as many football matches as I can. I spoke to the chairman (Casson) and there are very strong similarities between him and John Radford who was with at Mansfield. They are both ambitious and both want to see their clubs progress into the Football League. The chairman at Mansfield gave me five years, I managed to do it in two (achieve promotion into League Two)'...

As for his new charges, and he diplomatically added, 'Some people might like my methods, some might not. I have a certain way of working, I have a strong work ethic and mentality and I want my players to echo that'".

The NW Evening Mail tells us, "Cox's family will continue to be based in East Bridgford, in Nottinghamshire, but the manager will stay at accommodation in the North-West, probably in the Lancaster area, for the majority of the week. He will meet his new squad and AFC's backroom team including Alex Meechan who served as Edmondson's assistant. He will take training at Barrow's Lancaster University training base...

He will be allowed to choose his own coaching staff and is still open-minded about that scenario, with a decision over Meechan's Holker Street future yet to be taken".

Owner Paul Casson told the Mail, "Prior to the Grimsby game... I hadn't looked at another manager, I hadn't even contemplated it. And as of the Grimsby game I literally had nobody on my plate - the field was still wide open for him (Edmondson) to keep his job. I was obviously disappointed by the Grimsby game for a number of reasons, and so on the Wednesday morning we started looking.

We very quickly came to the realisation that Paul Cox was available and got in touch with him immediately. We arranged to meet the very next day in Manchester. It was the first time we'd met, we talked for two hours. And at the end of that, we decided that he was the person that we wanted."

And Barrow have "signed forwards Liam Hearn and Steven Rigg on emergency loan deals until early in the New Year. 30-year old Hearn joins until January 4th from Lincoln City where he has scored 9 times in 13 appearances this term.

He will link up again with former Grimsby target man Andy Cook. Hearn scored at virtually a goal every two games in his sixty-odd games for the East Coast outfit. Meanwhile 6’1, 23 year old Rigg comes from Carlisle until Jan 2nd and has made eight league two appearances for the Brunton Park outfit this season".

According to NL Pitchero "Macclesfield Town have confirmed that midfielder Lindon Meikle has left the Silkmen. The winger joined Macc in late September...

The former Eastwood Town, Mansfield and York winger went on to make seven appearances for the Silkmen... After the return to fitness of the likes of Chris Holroyd and Paul Lewis, Meikle, capped three times by England C, has found himself on the fringes of the Macclesfield squad in recent weeks and has now left the Moss Rose."

Elsewhere, "Oxford City have re-signed striker/winger Marlon Jackson, who was released from his non-contract deal with Tranmere Rovers. The 24-year-old had been with City for just under a year having arrived from FC Halifax Town before signing for Tranmere in August".

In Hampshire, "Just ahead of the deadline, Aldershot Town completed the signing of winger Marcus Harness, who joins on loan from Burton Albion until Saturday January 2nd. The 19-year-old was first involved in the Brewers’ first-team squad aged just 15 and made his competitive debut in September 2013".

Torquay United confirm that "Local lad, Ben Gerring, has signed a deal until the end of the season having impressed over the past month whilst on non-contract terms.

The 24 year-old made his Torquay United senior debut last weekend in the heart of the back-line... Said player-manager, Kevin Nicholson, 'He’s a no-nonsense defender who is prepared to give his all for the cause'".

From Guiseley we learn that "Wayne Brooksby is to spend the next month on loan at North Ferriby United in a bid to regain match fitness.

Brooksby has been sidelined with injury in recent weeks... The winger will be back and available for the Lions in time for the Boxing Day meeting with Grimsby Town at Nethermoor."

MANAGER LEAVES OUR FA CUP OPPONENTS

Humes felt that his presence was becoming detrimental to the club and the young players that he had nurtured in his time at the 'U's and it would be best to remove himself from the equation. Robbie would like to place on record his thanks to Tony for his hard work, not only over the past fourteen months but throughout the years he has been at Colchester United.

Assistant boss Richard Hall and current U21s boss John McGreal will take charge of Saturday’s game at Burton Albion, assisted by Wayne Brown. No further comment will be made by Colchester United at this time."

It will not be the first time Alty have faced a very new manager this season as league games against FC Halifax Town, Kidderminster Harriers and Torquay United all testify.

SUPPORTERS' TRAVEL TO FGR

FGR MATCH ARRANGEMENTS

Please note that the seating tickets are strictly limited and are expected to sell out; as such, if you would like or need a seat for this game, please buy your ticket in advance. Once these tickets are sold out, there will be no more available.

All away supporters (standing and seating) will gain access to the stadium via the North Stand turnstiles (7&8) and will be using the North Stand facilities (catering, toilets). This means that any away supporters with a seating ticket, will need to walk back into the North stand to use the facilities.

We have a limited number of wheelchair accessible seating in our main East stand and limited numbers of disabled parking for both home and away supporters. These are booked over the phone via the FGR Reception (01453 834 860). Please note that these are sold out for most games, so we recommend all supporters book in advance to avoid disappointment.

How to Buy Your Tickets:

We recommend supporters purchase their tickets in advance, by downloading to your smart phone, having it posted out to you or they can be collected on the day from our Ticket Office (right in front of the stadium as you arrive). Tickets will be available to purchase on the day, but to save time and avoid the queues, we are recommending that all supporters purchase their tickets in advance:

• Via our website online (link)
• Over the Phone: via Reception (01453 834 860), from 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday.

Ticket Prices:

• Adult £15 standing or £17 seated
• Senior (65+) £11 or £13
• Young Adult (16-21) £7 or £9
• Junior (U16) £4 or £6
• Kids (U10) Free (with an adult)

Parking: There are over 450 parking spaces available onsite at £4 (cash only), with very limited parking in the local area. It can get very busy on a Matchday, so we would recommend supporters to travel down in plenty of time. For any supporters that choose to park in the local residential area, we would request you please park with consideration for our neighbours and adhere to local parking enforcement.

Food/Drink: In terms of catering, our Green Man pub will be open to both home and away fans from 12pm, serving a great range of hot food, with a fully stocked bar (real ale, cider, lager) and hot drinks to boot. The North Stand also has a catering outlet serving a good range of hot food and cold & hot drinks.

How to find us? We are located near Nailsworth on the A46, 9 miles from Junction 13 of the M5 or 16 miles from Junction 18 of the M4. Some older Sat Nav’s will struggle to recognise our new postcode (GL6 0FG), so we recommend you use our old post code

REFEREE

• ALTRINCHAM 1 FC HALIFAX TOWN 3, Vanarama National League, 6 October 2015
• ALTRINCHAM 1 AFC TELFORD UNITED 2, Vanarama Conference, 18 April, 2015
• ALTRINCHAM 1 MACCLESFIELD TOWN 0, Vanarama Conference, 30 September 2014
• ALTRINCHAM 1 NORTHWICH VICTORIA 0, Blue Square Premier, 3 February, 2009
• ALTRINCHAM 3 BARROW 4, Blue Square Premier, 12 August 2008.

RADIO ROBINS

• First half
• Second half

VANARAMA NATIONAL NEWS

'We have been keeping an eye on him for a while', Robins' manager Gary Johnson told BBC Radio Gloucestershire. 'He is an athletic boy who is very fit. He is a competitive lad too, which is good, so we are pleased we have that other string to our bow'".

From Ebbsfleet United we learn that "Ebbsfleet United midfielder Robbie Willmott, whose loan move last week to Crawley Town fell through at the last minute, will join up with Eastleigh in a temporary deal. The 25-year-old , who has played 14 games for the Fleet this season, will stay at the Silverlake Stadium until 2nd January.

Daryl McMahon told FleetOnline, 'It says a lot for our squad that Robbie Willmott’s gone up a league, and it would have been two if he’d gone to Crawley, but he’s not been getting into our side lately. He’s a fantastic, intelligent player but is still getting to grips a bit with dropping down to this level. So hopefully, this will kick-start him again and he’ll be back in a month or so’s time and we’ll see a rejuvenated Robbie Willmott'".

The Grimsby Telegraph says that "The race is on for Grimsby Town boss Paul Hurst as he looks to make more additions to his squad ahead of the deadline for loan signings. The window shuts at 5pm today [Thursday), and the Mariners are believed to be in the hunt for new players, with Hurst taking phone calls throughout the day.

If Town were to bring in any new signings, they would join Ipswich Town striker James Alabi, who made the move to Blundell Park yesterday. The 21-year-old, who started his career at Stoke City, joined the Mariners on a one-month loan after enjoying previous loan spells at Scunthorpe United (twice), Forest Green Rovers, and Accrington. Town's other current loan signing, Alex Jones, is coming to the end of his month with the club, with no word yet as to whether his loan will be extended."

Also in the loan market are Wrexham who explain that "With recent injuries to the likes of Javan Vidal, Jon Nolan and Jonathan Royle, manager Gary Mills has moved into the loan market to bolster his squad ahead of the Emergency Loan window closing on Thursday evening.... he has moved to bring in a couple of young players. With both Taylor McKenzie and Danny O’Brien signing deals until early January. Taylor is a 21-year-old defender from Notts County, who has been at Meadow Lane since signing for the Magpies in 2014. "

"Meanwhile, coming in from Wigan Athletic is 19-year-old Danny O’Brien, who has featured in all three reserve league games against the Reds this season. The Leigh-born player moved to the DW Stadium in the summer following his release from Aston Villa, signing a one-year professional contract... with the club during pre-season. He’s a winger with an eye for goal... When at Villa Park, Danny earned a cap for England at Under-17 level.

The club can also confirm that trialist John Cofie has been offered non-contract terms, as he continues to work with the first team squad."

Further South, Woking are "pleased to announce that Cameron Norman’s loan from Norwich City has been extended until 2nd January 2016".

According to Lincoln City, "Manager Chris Moyses has bolstered his attacking options with the acquisition of striker Nathan Blissett on loan from Bristol Rovers. Blissett has been with Rovers for the past 12 months having joined them initially on loan from Kidderminster Harriers before making the move permanent... He will be with the Imps until 4 January 2016."

Still in Lincolnshire, Grimsby Town "are pleased to announce the signing of Crawley midfielder Conor Henderson on loan. He was released by Arsenal in 2013 and joined Hull City in September 2013 and made his Tigers’ debut in a League Cup tie against Huddersfield Town. He finished the season with a loan spell at Stevenage."

Elsewhere, Guiseley "are giving away 1,500 free junior tickets to this weekend’s game against fellow Vanarama National League debutants Bromley. Saturday’s fixture against the 11th-placed Ravens is the last home league game before Christmas and the club are keen to get a big vocal backing for the team before they head back off on their travels. If all of these tickets were taken up, we would have one of our largest ever attendances at Nethermoor!"

From Dover Athletic we learn that the club is "pleased to announce the signing of winger Mitchell Pinnock, who joins following his release from Maidstone United...

20-year-old Pinnock began his career with Southend United, making two appearances for the Essex side. Following his time at Roots Hall, the Gravesend-born man joined Bromley, and has had loan spells at Concord Rangers and Tonbridge Angels.

Pinnock was most recently at Maidstone United but had his contract mutually terminated this week in order to seek other opportunities.

We are also proud to announce that twin brothers Jack and Alfie Paxman, who have both progressed through our Academy setup, have also signed forms with the club. Jack is a full-back, and has been named as Player's Player of the Year for Kent for two seasons in a row. Alfie is a striker with a natural eye for goal".

WALKING FOOTBALL

PENSIONERS' CHRISTMAS LUNCH - JUST £10

He writes, "For the first time, this year's Pensioners' Christmas Lunch will take place in the new Community Sports Hall, at 12.30pm on Wednesday December 16th.

Our Christmas Chef is Richie Bentley and the menu is as follows:-

• Cream of Fresh Vegetable Soup
• Roast Cheshire Turkey (Chipolata Sausages/Chestnut Stuffing) with Sprouts, Carrots & Roast Potatoes
• Christmas Pudding & Cream
• Traditional Mince Pies
• Tea or Coffee
• Red or White Wine & Soft Drinks will be served with the meal.

All this for just £10!

To reserve your place at this festive culinary extravaganza simply pick up the phone and call the Football Club on 0161 928 1045 or send an email here.

FOOTBALL MANAGER - JUST £25!

FA CUP OPPONENTS: COLCHESTER UNITED

The "u"s saw a two-goal lead wiped out by Crewe Alexandra’s second-half comeback at the Weston Homes Community Stadium as they lost 3-2 to slip to within a point of the relegation zone. A crowd of just 2,602 may have been the smallest home gate of the season, but loud booing rang out around the ground in the latter stages of the game and at the final whistle.

Humes was critical of the way that his players went on the back foot rather than looking to build on their lead, but was also disappointed with the negative outpourings from the stands. 'I have worked as hard as the players out there,' he said. 'I was encouraging all game, trying to get them to be confident and trying to get them through the game but it obviously wasn’t enough either... I can do more, there’s always things you can do. Obviously, by the tone of what was around the game, a lot of people don’t agree with that. That’s their opinion but the players need an encouraging environment around them. They needed it but it seemed as if there were people there who were quite happy for them to fail'".

ColchesterUnited says that "Colchester United's players left the pitch shell shocked on Tuesday night, as Crewe came from two goals down to take the points in the dying moments of the match. A goal either side of half time looked to have put the U's in a strong position, but Ryan Lowe's lobbed effort gave the visitors a much needed three points and leave the U's players aghast at how the game had slipped from their grasp.

The U's had most of the chances in the opening 25 minutes... Callum Harriott broke the deadlock in spectacular fashion with a scorching effort that dipped and swerved beyond Ben Garrett in the Crewe goal and clipped the underside of the bar on its way in with 40 minutes gone on the clock.

The U's then got off to the perfect start to the second half after a Tom Eastman effort wasn’t properly cleared and George Moncur was on hand to double the lead two minutes after the restart.

With half an hour left, Crewe pulled one back... It was all square on 79 minutes after Crewe substitute Ryan Lowe beat his man on the right hand side and cut the ball back from the touchline to Haber who was waiting to slot the ball into an empty net. The Crewe comeback was completed with the last kick of the game as a long clearance left Jones in two minds about how far to come.

Lowe again was on hand to race through and lob the ball over the U's keeper with the last kick of the game to make the final score 3-2 to the visitors and increase the U's woes."

In the East Anglian Daily Times we read that "Colchester United let two-goal lead slip away in horrible home defeat... The U’s looked to be on course for celebrating what would have been their first home win over Crewe, for 23 years...

COLCHESTER: Jones, Olufemi, Kent, Eastman, Briggs, Lapslie, Edwards, Moncur, Massey, Porter (sub Bonne, 86), Harriott. Unused subs: Parish, Elokobi, Wright, Sembie-Ferris, Curtis, Ambrose".

MIDWEEK GAMES

• Chester FC 1-1 Dover Athletic (att. 1,479)
• Woking 4-1 Tranmere Rovers (att. 1,477)

Wednesday 25 Nov.

• Boreham Wood 1-1 Lincoln City - attendance 661 (inc. 364 Lincoln supporters)

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

The 34-year-old sports retailer said he wanted to sweep away an 'old boys' club' ethos at the head of Woking FC and start 'running it properly'. 'The club needs a complete overhaul,' he told Get Surrey. 'This would be a complete change. There is no big financial experience on the board at the moment, no particular skill set. I want the public to look at the current board then look at the consortium and compare; then we can start pushing the club forward and not back.'

The takeover bid comes in the context of financial losses for the club of up to £437,000 in the year ending May 31 2015. In October, chairman Mike Smith sought to reassure supporters that there was nothing new about the financial situation and that the club was trading in 'exactly the same way as any other year'.

Mr Read, from Ockham, was critical about the state of the club’s finances, however, in particular the money spent on non-player salaries. He also lampooned a suggestion made at last week’s annual general meeting that Woking FC might have to run a playing budget comparable to the National League South,...

'How depressing is that?' he said. 'You won’t stay up that way, not even if you employ Alex Ferguson'...

Through his company M1 Events Ltd, Mr Read has already sponsored Woking FC to the value of more than £30,000 this season. He said he believed Peter Jordan was not prepared to put any more of his own money into the club and that the rest of the directors would not be able to finance it on their own. Mr Jordan, who has declined to comment, is one of six directors along with Mr Smith and Ian Nicholson, Kelvin Reay, former mayor of Woking Rosemary Johnson MBE and ex-first team manager Geoff Chapple.

Mr Read said Mr Jordan had originally approached him about a possible buyout in June, but that the club had since been dragging its feet over disclosing due diligence documents. On Wednesday, Mr Smith declined to respond to the 'old boys' club' comment... saying only, 'I’m aware of the statement of intent and I have put that to the directors... We’re in the middle of a season and we need to concentrate on that'.

The board is due to meet on Thursday night when Mr Read’s statement of intent will be discussed. The names of the other consortium members are expected to be released next week."

At Guiseley the club announces that they "have extended the loan of 19-year-old striker Anthony Dudley, who initially arrived on a one-month deal from Bury. The young forward has impressed during his time at Nethermoor, scoring twice on his debut before registering again a week later in the win against Barrow...Dudley will now remain available for the Lions until January 2nd."

Cheltenham Town "have rejected an offer from Derby County for youngster Luke Thomas. Chairman Paul Baker commented, 'The offer was considered at Board Level but was rejected due to it not reaching our valuation of the player'. 16-year-old Luke has been on the bench several times for the first team so far this season and is one of several bright sparks in the club's

According to the Football Conference, "FC Halifax Town have confirmed that striker Danny Hattersley has joined league rivals Chester FC on loan until January 19th. Hattersley... [had]successful spells with Southport and Stockport County, where he netted 16 goals in thirty-seven games between 2012 and 2013. The former Lancaster City frontman... joins Chester`s two other loan signings made this week in Burnley defender Alex Whitmore and Port Vale midfielder Ryan Lloyd."

CHESHIRE SENIOR CUP

• 16/01/16 19:45 Cheadle Town v Tranmere Rovers FC
• 16/01/16 19:45 Runcorn Linnets v Northwich Victoria FC
• 12/01/16 19:45 Congleton Town v Stockport County FC
• 16/01/16 19:45 Chester FC v Hyde United FC
• 19/01/16 19:45 Crewe Alexandra FC v Altrincham FC
• 12/01/16 19:45 Warrington Town FC v Northwich Manchester Villa FC
• 16/01/16 19:45 Cammell Laird 1907 FC v Macclesfield Town FC
• 12/01/16 19:45 Alsager Town FC v Barnton FC

FOREST GREEN ROVERS v ALTY

Saturday's match is the reverse fixture of the opening game of the season which FGR won 1-0 thanks to a headed goal by Jon Parkin after 74 minutes. As the picture above shows, only five of Alty's line-up for that game started the match against Boreham Wood last Saturday - they were, left to right, Jordan Sinnott, Josh O'Keefe, Damian Reeves, Jake Moult and Adam Griffin.

Mike Garnett reminds us of the history of games betweeen the two clubs:

• At Altrincham: p8-w3-d4-l2-f14-a15
• At FGR: p8-w1-d3-l4-f11-a18
• All: p16-w4-d7-l6-f25-a33

COLCHESTER LOOK FOR REINFORCEMENTS

And, after their weekend game, news came from Essex's Green 'Un. "The 'U's were sunk without a trace at the Den, well beaten 4-1 to cement their tag as having the worst defensive record in the Football League.

Humes lost both centre-half Frankie Kent and left-back Matt Briggs to illness, on the morning of the match, which caused a reshuffle to the back four. George Elokobi came in at centre-half, but endured a torrid afternoon, while Tosin Olufemi was recalled at left-back. He too struggled to keep the Lions at bay. Added to this Tom Eastman, who has not missed a league match for more than two years, served up possibly his poorest performance in a 'U's' shirt, although the centre-back could still have been feeling the effects of a calf injury picked up in the previous weekend’s 3-1 home defeat to Coventry.

'My desire to strengthen the team is that much greater, absolutely,' insisted Humes, after witnessing his side’s fourth away league defeat on the bounce. 'You look at that display and we’ve got a long, hard week in which to see what we can do to bring support in, because it’s clear that it is not happening... I have to look at myself as well, with what’s going on defensively. It’s my responsibility to put the team out there, albeit we had two late call-offs today.

'Two defenders called off, and we have six defenders injured at the football club, but that’s the same as other teams, so I’m not making any excuses in that respect... They do it in the week, but they don’t do it on a Saturday. I’m not passing the buck, and listen, it’s my responsibility, first and foremost'".

Meanwhile Colchester United themselves announced that they had "signed front man Femi Akinwande to join up with the club's development squad. Femi, who was previously with Millwall, had spent two games on trial with the 'U's earlier in November after impressing with Maldon & Tiptree so far this season... He has now signed a contract to stay with the U's until the end of this season and he will be looking to get his first goal for the club soon."

OLD BOY

'In a funny way he reminds me of Gareth. When he came on the scene at Tottenham, he used to just get the ball and glide,' the 33-year-old said. 'He's such a nice boy, I don't think he's bothered about signing new contracts and stuff, all he wants to do is play football and do well for the club. If he can go on to do what Gareth has done then he'll be fantastic. He's the future of this club'".

VANARAMA NATIONAL NEWS

Chester FC "confirm that Burnley defender Alex Whitmore has joined the Blues on a one-month youth loan... Whitmore, 20, is a central defender and is an academy graduate of Sean Dyche’s team. The youngster is a regular in the Turf Moor development side, having signed a new deal back in April." And on the same day, Chester also acquired Port Vale central midfielder Ryan Lloyd on loan.

BILL MARSHALL R.I.P.

The funeral will be at St. Michael's Church, Perranporth, Cornwall on 27th November at 11 am. Condolences go to Bill's family and friends from all at Altrincham FC.

STUART'S GOAL - HIS 1,000TH APPEARANCE

"Gradually as the weeks went on, my mood improved and so did the opinion of our physio. While I can't sit here and say I'll ever play again, I'm determined not to bow out limping off the pitch down in Dover.

"When I go out, I want it to be on my terms. The way I see it panning out is that I announce one season will be my last. I play my final game at Moss Lane, pull off some great saves, wave to the crowd as I leave the pitch for the last time then we all bowl into the bar for some drinks!...

"I would also like to pass the 700 [appearances] mark for Alty but I have also counted up the total number of matches, games from clubs I was at before, like Trafford and Leigh RMI. I'm at around 970 now; how good would it be to get to 1,000?

"I miss playing so much. The away games are the worst. I don't travel so I don't get to see the boys....

"The chairman has invited me down with him to the Colchester FA Cup tie. I asked the wife and she had That tone in her voice... 'Well, you can go if you really want to'. I may just go to the game and deal with the consequences later!"

NEXT OPPONENTS STRENGTHEN

Snapped up by League Two Stevenage at the end of last season following a prolific two-season spell in the fifth tier with Aldershot Town, Williams has featured 17 times for Stevenage this year, with his last goal coming in a 1-1 draw at Portsmouth in front of 15,000 spectators last month. He hit the back of the net 15 times for Aldershot last season [including against Alty], while the previous 2013-14 campaign saw him notch 24 times in the league.

The 27-year-old started his career in non-league circles at Eastleigh, and after successful goal scoring stints for the Spitfires, as well as AFC Totton and Winchester City, he joined Reading in a five figure move in January 2011. He’s since spent time on loan in the Football League at Rotherham United and Northampton, as well as time again in the fifth tier at Woking... He could make his first league appearance for FGR on Saturday when Altrincham are the visitors".

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

This is a minority of fans who spoil the enjoyment of the majority, and The Club have to take action before it becomes a wider problem. The Club would urge all supporters to abide by the ground regulations set out, and inform the nearest steward if you think anyone is breaking these rules.

The Football Club strive to ensure that the Moss Rose is a pleasant place to watch football and encourage families and our local community to come to a game in a safe and enjoyable atmosphere. As a consequence of some fans behaviour there ha[ve] already been temporary football bans to individuals put in place, with potentially more to follow. This is intended to send out the message that there will be zero tolerance to misbehaviour, to ensure that the Club does not suffer any penalty from the National League, the FA or from unnecessary Policing bills.

Thank you to the majority of our loyal fan base who continue to support our team in a positive way".

NL Pitchero reports that "Barrow AFC have appointed former Mansfield Town and Torquay United boss Paul Cox as their new manager. Cox, 43, led Mansfield to the Conference title in 2012 and had a short spell at Torquay earlier this season.

Barrow CEO Austin Straker said, 'After a few detailed and constructive meetings Barrow AFC are pleased to announce that Paul Cox has agreed to be the new manager. Confirmation on the length of the deal will follow with his appointment beginning today. Paul Cox will meet the squad and support staff tomorrow, guiding the training for the rest of the week leading up to our next home game against Woking on Saturday'".

Following the departure of previous manager Darren Edmondson, the NW Evening Mail quoted Barrow AFC owner, Paul Casson as saying, "Darren has taken us to the point that we're at, for which we are obviously grateful, before I took the club over he took the club from the bottom of the Conference North to the midpoint and then got us promoted last year. And now, in my opinion, it's just time to pass the baton on and to go forward...

'I just don't think we've got the best out of the players that we acquired in the summer. The Fylde game was the pivotal event but that's not the reason (for Edmondson's departure)... We acquired a number of new players, we went full-time and so I was looking for a progression. When I look at the games that I can best sort of make a direct correlation, so that would be teams like (National League newcomers) Guiseley and Bromley and certainly the part-time teams that are in the National League and Fylde in the Cup and what I see is not a great difference.

'In fact, we haven't done very well against a lot of those teams. What I would have looked for is a marked difference (between Barrow and the type of teams highlighted) because we've acquired some, not well-known players, but players with pretty strong CVs and we've gone full-time. And so I would expect us to then differentiate ourselves between teams from the Conference North, particularly those that remained part-time and the other part-time teams in the National League. And I haven't seen that".

NL Pitchero reports that "Following the departures of manager Malcolm Crosby and assistant-manager Gary Owers, Gateshead have confirmed that skipper Ben Clark and reserve team boss Micky Cummins have been installed as joint-caretaker-managers. The duo will lead training in the days ahead and take charge of the side for Saturday’s clash with Chester FC, assuming the vacant managerial position has not been filled.

Managing Director Brian Waites said, 'There is nobody closer to the players as a group than the two of them. It was a natural choice. The players have returned to training this morning, and they are highly motivated to get their season back on track'".

HOLY GRAIL?

The manager revealed his players paid for their own hotel rooms on Thursday night so they could stay in Maidenhead and prepare better to play two games inside 48 hours. The chairman, who subsidised coach travel for supporters to the game, said he is putting between £80,000 and £100,000 a month into the club... He added, 'An offer to put all concerned in my hotel in Crewe Thursday night was rejected'...

Reflecting on that game, the chairman said, 'My anger after the FA Cup home game was noted and anything other than a resounding win on the replay was articulated to all. I understood we are in a results business'".

CHESHIRE SENIOR CUP

• Hyde United 1 Stockport Town 0

IN THE FRAME

Above, Gavin Rathbone captures Nicky Clee's goal against Boreham Wood, whilst below, Mike Ripley shows Nicky's celebrations and he has more images here

Match report here

Alty TV has match highlights here and a post-match interview with Alty goalkeeping coach, Ian Senior. LEE INTERVIEWED AFTER SATURDAY'S GAME Jack Wylie, who is assisting Brian Flynn and John Edwards on media reporting, interviewed Lee Sinnott following Saturday's match.

How do you assess the game today?

We were very fortunate to win today. We know that, we’re an honest bunch. Over the course of a season every manager will say that and I will have said at Southport and Macclesfield when we’ve lost them both 3-0 and afterwards you think how did that happen. I can fully appreciate Boreham Wood thinking why they’ve not taken anything out of the game. That’s just the way football works. I think we were a little bit leggy today to be honest. Maybe having 3 demanding games in a week against Barnsley, Macclesfield and Bromley caught up with us a little bit. But, in saying that, in the dressing room afterwards I said to the players that they were magnificent because they played absolutely below par but they’ve won.

We had to ride our luck a bit but they’ve had to drag themselves over the line. They know it, they’re an honest bunch. They know what’s coming at half time. Maybe they didn’t expect what was coming at full time but they know they can play a lot better than that.

You started the game with a 4-1-3-1-1 formation but quickly felt the need to switch things up...

It was the same formation as we started against Bromley last week. Same personnel at 4-2-3-1. But I had to change it after 15 minutes because it was giving us a problem. We changed to a 4-1-4-1, which was minimal improvement. And that tells me it’s the players. You can’t get away from it. You make a system change you’d expect a better improvement but it was minimal. We were off the pace today. We’ve got to be honest. I think if you’re honest with yourself you can adjust the problems. If you just think everything’s all right, no that’s not the case. But they’ve had a demanding week with Barnsley, Macclesfield and Bromley and I think those 3 demanding games caught up with us.

You seemed to get a bit more in the game in the second half?

Yeah a bit more. It wouldn’t take much to be more in the game though would it?

I sent them back there, gave them the riot act and challenged them. I sent the same personnel out with the same system, but I knew that substitutions would be made. I had to do a bit of thinking to be honest because we had four players who could easily be on the pitch and I can only pick three of them. And then the game’s evolving and you thinking well what am I going to do?

What am I going to need or do I just be a little brave and see if we can sneak one?

So we went down that route and one substitution led to another which led to another. It panned out well in that case.

When you brought James Lawrie on he had a little spell upfront. What was the thinking behind that?

I wanted to have about 15 minutes with Ryan Crowther and Nicky Clee in the wide areas, seeing if we could attack on a dual front because they can both run with the ball and cause problems. I thought we might have to bring Ryan off. I started Jimmy up there. The next progression and the next substitution was to bring Jimmy out to the right, push Nicky to the left and put Michael upfront. It nicely panned out that way, but it took a little bit of thinking really because you are second guessing. I wanted to try to get something so Nicky was the first sub. But then I knew that I may have to replace Ryan. So then it comes down to Luca and Michael.

And Michael...more or less his first involvement, he causes the goal so the change worked out well in that aspect, but I’m not going to sit here and say we’ve fully deserved to win. We were below par.

And I guess you can claim a bit of credit in the end as you’ve made the two changes and they’ve combined for the goal?

Well it was the only good bit of offensive play in the game for us to be honest, but you do get games like that. Everybody gets games like that where you’re poor with the ball. There’s not many in a season. But then we pop up and something changes and it was a great finish from Nicky on the swivel. But Michael made a lot of that and I thought he looked a handful when he came on which is good to see because we’ve been nursing Michael for the last 3 weeks with his hamstring but I saw him over the far side in front of the supporters; he opened up and you could tell he had full confidence, so that was good. And Nicky Clee as well, when he came on was very bright.

That’s what you get from Nicky. He came on as a sub a few weeks ago and just killed the game for about 3 or 4 minutes in injury time. He will look after the ball, he will draw little fouls. Nicky’s had a groin problem that has never really gone away; we’re still trying to manage it. But full credit to Nicky, it’s been frustrating for him this season because of that niggling injury.

And I guess with a performance like that, it was always going to take something spectacular to get you on top and it was a great goal.

It was a great goal. It’s one of them where you think has the opportunity passed because the ball flashes across; we have a touch and a shot that’s blocked. Then it comes out and Nicky had to turn and shoot with the ball at quite an awkward height and yet he managed to find the top corner, so it was an excellent finish.

When Boreham Wood were hitting the woodwork and having chances cleared off the line, were you thinking this could be your day?

I said something to Neil...I said during the game everything’s going for them but nothing’s going for them. We were not good in the first half. Little ricochets were going their way and decisions were going their way, but then you come down to hitting the post...you’re a centimetre away from scoring. It could’ve been one of those times where they could’ve been here till midnight and still not scored.

I know you’ve spoken earlier on in the season about seeing out games and keeping clean sheets. You managed to do that, just about, today

Well it’s interesting. You’re 1-0 up and into injury time. What does anybody do in that situation?

They throw bodies up, they throw caution to the wind, they’re playing four up top, the keeper’s come up, they’ve put a centre half on at the end, so everyone’s come up. So what do you do, put two up front?<

Well if you’re 1-0 down you’re still going to punt that ball into the box and hope you can get an equaliser. You won’t go to mark the two at the back, so you’re in a dilemma as a manager, with one man up or bringing everybody back for corners. In an ideal world, I think against Barnsley, Jordan at right back hit a long diagonal out for a throw in, which is the perfect thing to do in a way because they’ve got to trot back, get their formation all the way back to then come back at you. But you’ve got to deal with it. You’ve got to concentrate.

I’ll be honest with you, even in the last two minutes of extra time, I saw a couple of things that could’ve cost us. As a centre half I’m seeing that we’ve got 8 or 9 bodies out there and against maybe only 5 or 6, but they’re staring at the ball and it could’ve easily dropped to one of them, and that’s the difference. That’s how you see things out. But we got there in the end.

Obviously a difficult day for the team but the midfield three of Richman, O’Keefe and Moult really stepped up in the second half.

They did better in the second half. When we made the formation change we simply detailed who they were up against and they didn’t do that in the first half. So they had most words fired at them at half time. I have never known a team in the world in the history of football who can play without a midfield and be successful. So I had a dig at them and to be fair they responded. It was a challenge to them because it’s hard at half time to turn yourself round. But full credit to them, they made an improvement and enough of an improvement to help us get a win. I challenged them at half time, which was also challenging the rest of the team.

I said I’m watching you two and if you do things that displease me then you’re off. But then to the rest of the team that’s a challenge to the rest of them because if they’re worse they’ll be off instead. We got enough of an improvement to maybe stake a claim for a draw in the second half. We didn’t do enough at all in the first half. But we’ll take the three points gladly and move on.

And that’s your second win in a row and you go to Forest Green building momentum and against a team at the top end of the table. You have been kind of guilty of playing better against those top sides than the ones around you.

This has been labelled at us for two seasons. The curious consistency.And you’ve got the FA Cup the week after. I guess it’s important to stay focused on the league game rather than thinking ahead. Games look after themselves. If you get ahead of yourselves, you’re a bit of a space cadet. It’s three points at stake. We lost the first game of the season to Forest Green through a Premiership header from Jon Parkin – a great finish. But apart from that there was nothing in it. I know they’ve had an excellent start and I know they’re riding high but there’s no reason why we can’t go and ask them questions.

We never approach any game differently to another. Well I don’t. You’d love consistency over four to six games but it never happens because of fatigue, people in form, everything comes in the whole equation. But we’ll look forward to that, to go down to Forest Green and deal with that. That’s the only thing in my focus because that’s the way it has to be.

And at least now with this win you’ve stretched out more of a gap from the sides below you. Does that enable you to think further up the table rather than looking over your shoulder at the relegation battle?

Every game as it comes. The table looks after itself. We feel that we shouldn’t be in this position. Nobody likes a sob story but we’ve had a lot of injuries. But we are where we are. You just get on with it. There’s no reason why we can’t finish higher. We’re a small squad together, but there’s no reason why we can’t finish higher, but it’s up to the players to prove it. It’s up to the 11 going out there that want to stay in the team. Not taking anything for granted and I think we’ve got that. Although the squad is quite small, there’s options where we can place people around which is perfect for us".

BOREHAM WOOD VIEWS

Luke Garrard demanded a response after limping out of the FA Cup in midweek and it was duly delivered in what was a fine performance. Conor Clifford returned from suspension, with Charlie MacDonald, Luke Howell and Ricky Shakes promoted from Monday night’s bench. There was only one side in contention for a share of the points in a totally one sided first half. Wood were keener, sharper and dominant in a contest between two sides who had just increased their chances of survival with wins on the road against Bromley.

The Robins would have been thankful that BT Sport had chosen last Saturday to showcase their fixture at Hayes Lane, given their first half display. Anthony Jeffrey who gave Adam Griffin a torrid time all afternoon, got beyond the left back after just three minutes, his cross coming back off a defender for MacDonald who guided an effort beyond Tim Deasy only to be denied by the post. Wood won the first of their twelve corners from which Clifford picked out Luke Howell who blasted just over the bar...

With Luke Garrard barking out instructions from his technical area, the application to detail was carried out to the letter on the field of play... For all Wood’s endeavour the teams emerged after the interval still even. There was no sign of improvement from the home side until Alty manager Lee Sinnott introduced Nicky Clee after 59 minutes in an attempt to freshen up his sides hitherto absent attacking options...

Slowly the Robins played themselves back into the game... Clee then won a header that set Jordan Sinnott through on goal down the left and he registered his sides first shot on target after 66 minutes... Clee, who has made just three starts for the Robins this season, started to influence things around the Wood penalty area shooting just over after capitalising on Doe’s half clearance.

Michael Rankine was sent on for Alty with fifteen minutes remaining and his impact was immediate. Introduced by Sinnott Senior whilst son Jordan was about to take a throw in on the right, the giant striker was picked out at the near post. His strength in possession allowed a cross from the right picking out Clee, who saw his first shot blocked by a defender, before crashing home the rebound definitively beyond Russell...

Five frantic minutes of additional time featured an all out assault on the Robins penalty area. David Stephens shot deflected just past a post off a defender before Doe’s header was tipped over the bar, Wood’s 17th attempt on goal on an afternoon when it would just not go right.

Luke Garrard responded to his theory that 'You can put everything right in football in the next 90 minutes', quoting, 'I spoke with the management team from Altrincham and they were astounded how we did not get something from the game. They were as astounded as I was. We could and should have been out of sight by half time. Then, the way we responded to going a goal down was superb. The goal that won the contest was a well hit effort and that was something we did not have in our locker today.

We were denied by the woodwork twice and our inability to hit the target. We were camped out in their half for 45 minutes and, performance wise, if we play like that for the rest of the season the goals surely must come. That said I would be contented having played poorly and earned the three points on this occasion!'".

DUNCAN SIGNS ON TILL 2020

Speaking about Watmore, manager Sam Allardyce said, 'Duncan is an exciting prospect and the kind of talent you want to see coming through at your club. He is a bright young man, he has a sensible head on his shoulders and, if he continues to make the kind of progress we have seen this season, I am sure that he has a great future ahead of him.'

Duncan said, 'I’m delighted to sign my new deal and commit my future to Sunderland. I’ve had a great few years here developing my game and now I hope to push on further, with the help of the staff, my team-mates and the supporters, who have all been fantastic with me.'

Lee Congerton, SAFC’s sporting director, added, 'Every club is searching for young, talented English players, so for us to be able to agree a long-term contract with Duncan is fantastic for Sunderland. Through his own hard work and diligence, and by seizing the opportunities given to him, he has progressed from the youth team through to the first team, which is exactly what we want to see from our young players.'

Watmore made his England U20 debut in the summer before breaking through into Gareth Southgate’s Under 21s squad at the start of the season. His most recent performance for the Three Lions against Switzerland earned him the Man of the Match award, scoring once and setting up two goals in less than 20 minutes in a 3-1 victory."

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

On Tyneside, Gateshead have announced that "Following a run of poor performances and results, Gateshead have terminated the contracts of manager Malcolm Crosby and assistant manager Gary Owers. Chairman Richard Bennett wishes to thank both Malcolm and Gary for their time and effort at Gateshead".

And on the West coast, Barrow state that "Barrow have parted company with manager Darren Edmondson via mutual consent. Darren joined the club in December 2013, with Barrow in the relegation zone in the Conference North. A run of good form saw Barrow rise up the table, to the fringes of the playoffs... eventually leading the club to a mid-table finish.

Darren then led Barrow to the Conference North title the following season,... Barrow then started the newly named ‘National League’ season with a 2-1 victory over Dover Athletic, but with recent results not going in Barrow’s favour, both parties agreed that parting company would be in their best interests. We would like to thank Darren for all his efforts whilst at club over the past two years".

The Halifax Courier says that "The search for FC Halifax Town’s third manager of the season is underway, with Town chairman David Bosomworth starting the interview process today (Sunday). Interviews will also take place early next week with around six or seven candidates in total, but Bosomworth doesn’t expect there to be a second interview stage as there was before the appointment of Darren Kelly, who was sacked on Tuesday.

That could speed up any announcement, although the Town chairman doesn’t know if there will be an appointment in place for next Saturday’s home game with Dover. The club have received nearly 100 applicants, but Bosomworth says the new boss has to be an experienced manager after the appointment of Kelly, who had only been in charge of nine games with Oldham in his only previous management job before his stint at The Shay.

Bosomworth is expecting current caretaker-boss Jim Harvey, who has stated his interest in the job, to be in the running, but admits the pressure is on the Town board to get the appointment right. He said, 'We had to get through this week. A decision had to be made and Jim offered to carry on as caretaker...

'We’ve had one or two particularly good applicants. I’m sure Jim (Harvey) will be wanting to put his hat into the ring as well'...

Bosomworth was delighted with Halifax’s performance in their 4-1 win at Gateshead on Saturday... 'I thought we were absolutely outstanding', he added. 'I know Gateshead aren’t having a particularly good time at the moment but we’re certainly not either. When you’re bottom of the table and you’ve come away from home, lost your keeper when you’re leading 1-0 and concede an equaliser, to go and score three goals with 10-men is an outstanding achievement'".

At another club which recently changed its manager, the Western Morning News says that "At least two more of Torquay United’s injury and suspension-hit squad are out of action in the wake of the 3-1 defeat by Lincoln City which drops the Gulls even deeper into National League relegation trouble.

On-loan French centre-forward Achille Campion is likely to be out for a fortnight with the broken nose he sustained early in the second half at Plainmoor. Midfielder Courtney Richards is now suspended for next Saturday’s trip to play-off chasing Braintree Town after picking up his fifth booking of the season. Talks are also expected to resume this week on the future of 18-year-old United goalkeeper Dan Lavercombe... after reportedly impressing during a four-day trial with Championship club Bolton Wanderers last week...

United may be carrying a large squad at 26-strong, but Nicholson was already without seven players for various reasons going into the Lincoln game. That result racked up their dreadful home record to seven defeats and only five points from ten games this season. After winning two of their first three matches, United have enjoyed only one victory in 19 league and cup games.

Lincoln’s third goal (73 minutes) on Saturday, on a plate for City defender Luke Waterfall after a mix-up between debutant Ben Gerring and Lavercombe, was the 45th that the Gulls have conceded in 21 league matches. Waterfall had helped himself to an unmarked header to give the Imps a 16th-minute lead. Then, trying to rescue his beaten defence, Lavercombe mistimed a charge off his line when Liam Hearn made it 2-0 before half-time.

By the interval Lincoln, who also beat Torquay 2-0 at Sincil Bank in September, had scored twice, had hit the woodwork three times and had two more goals disallowed for offside...

No wonder Nicholson said, 'We gave away three awful goals; schoolboy stuff really. Lincoln are a good side, but they haven’t had to earn their goals. They’ve been given them... I thought Shepherd Murombedzi did quite well and, until the third goal went in, we were on top of them,' said Nicholson".

ALTRINCHAM 1 BOREHAM WOOD 0

Above: Alty were on the back foot for much of the first half; here all eleven men defend a Boreham Wood freekick.

Boreham Wood will count themselves unfortunate not to have taken something from a game in which the BBC statistics show they won the corner count 12-3 and the shots tally by 15 to 6...

Match report here.

VANARAMA NATIONAL NEWS

Harry Pell put league leaders Cheltenham in front with a free-kick which went under the jumping wall. Rovers were given a penalty after Rob Dickie fouled Kurtis Guthrie in the box, but Jon Parkin fired over the bar. However Carter tapped in from close range to make sure the gap between the two sides remains just one point.

Cheltenham Town boss Gary Johnson told BBC Radio Gloucestershire, 'We can play better than that, but there's a spirit not to get beaten'...

Ady Pennock told BBC Radio Gloucestershire, 'I'm just very pleased with the character we showed coming back, to miss that penalty, heads do go down, but I thought we played very well today. Cheltenham are very strong on set plays... We are on a very good run at the moment, and I'm pleased with the football we are playing and I am very pleased with the character of the lads'".

From NL Pitchero we learn that "A crowd of 5,449 saw the newly-titled `El Glosico` between Vanarama National League leaders Cheltenham Town and second-placed Forest Green Rovers finish honours` even... at the World of Smile Stadium...

Grimsby Town leap-frogged Eastleigh into third place in the table after a crucial 1-0 win at the Silverlake Stadium...

Dover Athletic got themselves back on track and into fourth place in the table after a 3-1 win at Crabble against Barrow AFC, who finished the game with ten-men... Barrow were reduced to ten-men in the 69th minute when Niall Cowperthwaite was shown a straight red card for a bad foul on Sam Magri...

Lincoln City moved into the play-off spots with two goals from Luke Waterfall helping his side to a 3-1 win away at Torquay United... Wrexham made it four successive league wins as they beat ten-man Aldershot Town 1-0 at The Recreation Ground...

Macclesfield Town are three points adrift of the top five after Paul Lewis and Kristian Dennis scored in a 2-0 win against Bromley to make it three successive wins for the Silkmen... Tranmere Rovers came back from a goal down to win 2-1 against Guiseley AFC at Prenton Park...

Chester FC suffered a miserable home defeat against Woking, who hadn’t won in six games prior to their visit to the Lookers Vauxhall Stadium...

Result of the day, however, was at the International Stadium where ten-man FC Halifax Town recorded only their third league win of the season with a stunning 4-1 victory against Gateshead. In an action-packed opening 45 minutes, Shaymen `keeper Russell Griffiths was sent-off with Town in-front thanks to a 22nd minute Martin Smith own-goal on his debut after signing on loan from Sunderland yesterday.

Ryan Bowman equalised from the resulting penalty after Griffiths’ dismissal in the 38th minute. But Halifax raced into a precious half-time lead through Kingsley James on 40 minutes and then Shaun Tuton in the 44th minute.

Then on 79 minutes, Tuton scored his fourth in two games and Halifax’s fourth of the afternoon to leave the hosts stunned...

Managerless teams are often dangerous opponents as Welling United found to their cost on Saturday as they suffered a 1-0 Park View Road defeat to struggling Southport... With new boss Dino Maamria watching, Southport moved closer to the safety-mark after a 74th minute goal from Michael Phenix".

ARMBAND AUCTION FOR BRITISH LEGION

SATURDAY ATTENDANCES

• Att: 1483 Aldershot Town v Wrexham
• Att: 1002 Altrincham v Boreham Wood
• Att: 5449 Cheltenham Town v Forest Green Rovers
• Att: 1837 Chester FC v Woking
• Att: 847 Dover Athletic v Barrow
• Att: 2057 Eastleigh v Grimsby Town
• Att: 853 Gateshead v FC Halifax Town
• Att: 1632 Macclesfield Town v Bromley
• Att: 603 Welling United v Southport
• Att: 1752 Torquay United v Lincoln City
• Att: 4352 Tranmere Rovers v Guiseley

FA CUP OPPONENTS

Half time sub Chris Porter pulled one back, but Millwall added further goals through Ferguson and Byron Webster. Boss Humes made three changes to his starting eleven, two of which were enforced.

Matt Briggs and Frankie Kent were too ill to take their places in the U’s defence, with George Elokobi and Tosin Olufemi coming in. The other change came further up the pitch, with Gavin Massey coming in for Tom Lapslie...

Defensive mistakes had cost the U’s but the reaction will have to come quickly though, with [bottom placed] Crewe visiting north Essex on Tuesday night".

SATURDAY RESULTS

• Aldershot Town 0-1 Wrexham
• Altrincham 1-0 Boreham Wood
• Braintree Town P-P Kidderminster Harriers
• Cheltenham Town 1-1 Forest Green Rovers
• Chester FC 1-2 Woking
• Dover Athletic 3-1 Barrow
• Eastleigh 0-1 Grimsby Town
• Gateshead 1-4 FC Halifax Town
• Macclesfield Town 2-0 Bromley
• Torquay United 1-3 Lincoln City
• Tranmere Rovers 2-1 Guiseley
• Welling United 0-1 Southport

ALTRINCHAM 1-0 BOREHAM WOOD

Above: Michael Rankine's penalty settled the reverse fixture at Boreham Wood on 26 September.

LAST MATCH

• First half
• Second half.

INTERVIEW WITH NEIL

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

'He's a good player who's athletic, full of energy and hungry,' manager Chris Todd told BBC Radio Solent. Atkinson, 21, has made one appearance for County this season in the Football League Trophy and spent two months on loan at Cambridge United last season. As well as right-back, Atkinson can also play centre-back and in midfield... Todd added, 'He'll be a good addition, an extra bonus to the squad and one I've had my eye on for a while'".

At the other end of the country, "Gateshead have signed defender Liam Gibson on loan from Newcastle until 19 December and Sunderland midfielder Martin Smith until 2 January. Gibson, 18, has played for Newcastle's under-21 side but is yet to make the step up to the first team. Under-21 regular Smith, 20, is yet to make his first-team debut at Sunderland but has been an unused substitute.

'Newcastle and Sunderland have been great in allowing us to take players on loan', boss Malcolm Crosby said. Gibson added, 'The step up from under-21 football is massive, I just want to help the team get a few wins under their belt. I've come in to play centre-half but I can also play left-back'. The Tynesiders have already taken Sunderland midfielder George Honeyman on a loan basis - an influence on Smith's move...

Smith told BBC Newcastle, 'I had a chat with George, he loves it here and it's helped him a lot. I didn't see any harm in coming here'".

In the Principality, the Daily Post says that "Javan Vidal hopes to be back in contention within two weeks after pulling up in the warm-up ahead of last Saturday’s 4-0 win over Gateshead. Right-back Vidal felt something in his groin ahead of the visit of the Heed and was replaced in the starting XI by Blaine Hudson with Manny Smith moving across from centre-half to cover on the right.

It is the second time Vidal will be forced to have a prolonged stint on the sidelines, a hamstring strain sustained in the draw at Lincoln City previously ruling him out... Said Vidal, 'I think it is going to be another 10-14 days I will be out, and then I’ll take it from there... It is not an impact injury and it is one of them things that you just have to get on with'".

Still at The Racecourse, the Leader reports that "A Wrexham AFC player has been banned from driving for nearly two years after he was caught by police on his way to training while nearly three times over the drink-drive limit. James Gray, 23, a striker for the club, pleaded guilty at Chester Magistrates' Court to driving his Mercedes C220 while over the limit.

Gray was stopped on the A55 by Cheshire Police on October 29 after reports of a Mercedes being driven 'erratically' on the M56 and M53... Police tried to stop Gray’s car at 8.45am...the vehicle slowed down but did not stop and went down the junction 35 slip road towards Dobshill before police moved alongside the car and Gray pulled over... Gray was “clearly intoxicated with slow movements and slurred speech”.

Gray, of Rossendale, Lancashire, failed a roadside breath test which showed he had 102 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mg. Robert Shaw, defending... said the offence occurred because Gray had an argument with his fiancee the night before which had led them to split up...

Mr Shaw said that being banned from driving would have a significant impact on Gray’s life as he was living in Lancashire and travelled regularly to see his family in Middlesbrough... Mr Shaw said Gray would probably have to sell his house in Lancashire and move to the Wrexham area if he wanted to continue to play for the club, which he said was a very serious impact. Magistrates ordered Gray to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work and disqualified him from driving for 23 months...

After the hearing Gray released the following statement through his solicitors Carson & Kaye which read... 'I wish to apologise to my family, teammates and supporters of Wrexham AFC'".

RE-ARRANGED WREXHAM GAME

CSC DATE

SATURDAY'S GAME

SATURDAY'S REFEREE

GATES

GOALS, GOALS, GOALS!

ARMBAND AUCTION FOR BRITISH LEGION

The National League says that it "has received a number of enquiries in relation to the specially produced armbands which member clubs have auctioned off with the monies raised going to their local branch of the Royal British Legion. Due to these being auctioned, a small number of fans have been left disappointed and have asked is there anyway any others may be available. The RBL has supplied a few extra to The National League for ceremonial use so we have made 6 armbands now available for further auction.

If anyone wishes to make a further bid for one of these remaining armbands then they can make a bid directly to The National League and the top six bids will be successful. To make a bid please send your name and telephone number on an email here. All such bids must be received no later than 5.00pm on Friday 27th November.

The six highest bids will be notified and arrangements made for payment, which again will go to the local branch of the RBL of the bidders club, with the armbands following soon after to the successful bidders"

SATURDAY GAMES

• Aldershot Town v Wrexham
• Altrincham v Boreham Wood
• Braintree Town v Kidderminster Harriers
• Cheltenham Town v Forest Green Rovers
• Chester FC v Woking
• Dover Athletic v Barrow
• Eastleigh v Grimsby Town
• Gateshead v FC Halifax Town
• Macclesfield Town v Bromley
• Torquay United v Lincoln City
• Tranmere Rovers v Guiseley
• Welling United v Southport

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Maamria, 44, kept Northwich Victoria in the fifth tier as manager in 2008... Southport are 22nd in the league and have won only once in their past six games. Maamria said his short-term aim is to 'get to know the players'.

'I am aiming to build the club in the longer term and to take it to a better place,' he told the club website. 'I want everyone to enjoy it and let's set off on an exciting journey. This club has tremendous potentia. It is great to be back'". The Lancashire Evening Post adds that "The 44-year-old Tunisian has signed a two-and-a-half year deal. Southport chairman Charlie Clapham said, 'I have known Dino a long time, our supporters know about Dino’s strengths and the excellent career he has had as player, coach, assistant-manager and manager. Dino is a very ambitious young manager with a wealth of experience. He has real belief that he can and will take the club forward'.

Maamria had three spells as a player with Southport. He was on Graham Westley’s coaching staff at Stevenage and Preston, leaving Deepdale in 2013 when Westley was sacked". He has been given a two and a half-year contract by chairman Charlie Clapham.

He was in goal when Jake Moult's thunderbolt secured a point for Altrincham and, now, according to the BBC, "Torquay United goalkeeper Dan Lavercombe is set to move to Championship side Bolton on loan, with a view to a permanent transfer. The 19-year-old, who has made nine appearances for the National League club, has been on trial at Bolton this week.

'If it happens, the deal has to suit both clubs and suit Dan', Torquay boss Kevin Nicholson said. 'He's a young man with a fantastic future ahead of him'. Lavercombe was one of the final players to come through the Gulls' now defunct youth academy and made his debut in April... 'The reports I've had is that he's done very well up there. They're very keen on him so we'll wait and see,' added Nicholson.

'He's attracted interest off one or two clubs and Bolton have got first go at it if they want. He's got the build, he's got the physique, he's still developing physically. But the most impressive thing for me is his character, how calm he is'".

Another player exiting Plainmoor is the subject of another HL Paper report which says that "Guiseley have signed Torquay United's James Hurst on loan until January. The 23-year-old was suspended by the Gulls last week following an alleged incident in a nightclub in Torquay. He can play in either defence or midfield and is Torquay's leading scorer this season, with seven goals.

'He has plenty of experience and knowhow at this level and higher up, so I'm sure he'll be a real asset for us', Guiseley boss Mark Bower told the club website. Hurst, who began his career at West Bromwich Albion, signed a one-year deal.

However, the Western Morning News tells us that "Player-manager Kevin Nicholson has declined to go into any detail about the departure of Torquay United's leading scorer James Hurst to National League rivals Guiseley, apart from saying, 'It was 100% my decision'. Seven-goal Hurst has joined Guiseley on loan until January, when a permanent move would seem to be a likely conclusion.

The former England Under-20, West Bromwich Albion, Crawley and Hednesford Town right-back had been suspended by the Gulls... Nicholson said, 'I don't want to talk about James Hurst now, because he's not my player'".

Meanwhile the Kidderminster Shuttle says that "Kiddemrinster Harriers will remain full-time even if they are relegated, revealed chairman Rod Brown...

Brown emphasised they will not be relying on gate receipts alone to fund the club from the 2016-17 campaign, with revenue coming in from the youth academy, higher education programmes and futsal scheme. Harriers are also hoping to set-up 'affinity schemes' with other businesses in order to generate funds.

'Whatever happens the club will be staying full-time', confirmed Brown. 'That's because we have plans in place to make sure we have stronger ties to the community and extra revenue streams. We will be generating funds through the youth academy as well as the higher education and futsal programmes. Those revenue streams will generate the main bulk of money the club needs and all the funds we make through the commercial side will be the icing on the cake.

'We have got to get away from relying on season ticket sales and benefactors and become more forward thinking and we've got plans in place to do that... It doesn't matter what division we are in next season because the budget will be smaller than this year but we'll have good young players coming through. We'll be developing players and sell them and there's nothing wrong with that; we want to copy the success of Crewe and Bournemouth'...

The Harriers have "a testing run of games, which will see them play all of the top five teams in the next seven weeks. In a boost, on-loan Walsall forward Jordan Murphy has extended his stay until January, while Calvin Dinsley looks set to join Gloucester City. Adam Dawson will return from his spell at Tranmere Rovers on December 12, as he recovers from a groin injury, with the possibility he will go on loan again in New Year.

With the deadline for emergency loans November 25, the club may well look to reshape the squad and bring in new faces. Harriers are hoping to obtain international clearance for French forward Arthur Gnahoua, who was previously at Macclesfield, and extend Kyle Howkins's stay from West Brom...

Despite a season of struggle, attendances have remained impressive with 1,790 fans watching the win over Aldershot".

THURSDAY REPLAY

JOSH O'KEEFE INTERVIEW

LADIES' REPORT

NEXT OPPONENTS: BOREHAM WOOD

The two sides have been locked in their current positions in the National League since before they first met at the end of September, a game which ended 1-0 in the Robins’ favour at Meadow Park...

Looking ahead to the trip to Cheshire, Wood's second to the area after the draw at Northwich Victoria in the FA Cup, manager Luke Garrard said, 'We need a massive reaction after the disappointment of going out of the FA Cup in poor fashion. We have gone from the heights of beating Bromley, to the accomplished performance against Chester, to a third rate showing.

'The beauty of football, however, is that with every game you have the opportunity to put things right over 90 minutes'.

A win on the road would see the sides switch places in the table. But in order to accomplish that Wood will have to find a way past in-form stand-in goalkeeper Tim Deasy... Deasy, coincidentally signed from Northwich Victoria, turned in a man-of-the-match performance in front of the television cameras on Saturday by thwarting Bromley on numerous occasions.

That was the Ravens’ second defeat in four days at home after Wood’s fine performance there four days earlier when a Luke Howell brace handed boss Garrard his first league win since succeeding Ian Allinson...

Damian Reeves has six goals to date this campaign, the same amount as Michael Rankine, a vastly experienced 30-year-old striker. It was Rankine's tenth minute penalty that earned the Robins maximum points in the reverse fixture at Meadow Park on a day that the visitors got in front through a needless infringement before going on to stifle the Wood with a textbook away day win...

Sinnott’s side have won just one of their last seven in the National League... Wood, on the other hand, will be looking to consolidate an improved run of league form which has seen them lose just two of their last seven."

According to the BBC "Boreham Wood boss Luke Garrard has questioned his team's commitment after Monday's FA Cup first-round replay loss to eighth-tier Northwich Victoria. The 30-year-old, who is the youngest manager in England's top five divisions, saw his side knocked out by the lowest-ranked team left in the cup.

'I have to question the hunger to want to win a tackle and a header', he told BBC Three Counties Radio. 'That's the first time I have done that.' Garrard, who has led the National League side since 14 October, added, ' I have always said previously that the boys' commitment, desire and hunger was never in question.

'Maybe (there has been) a lack of quality at times but today I question both. You can't install desire and hunger into a player; Northwich Victoria have got it in abundance.'

After their surprise victory, Northwich, whose boss Jim Gannon believes they can play at a higher level, will now travel to League Two side Northampton on 5 December in Round Two."

FA CUP: WEDNESDAY

OLD BOY

Having plied his trade at Hurst Cross in the past, Burns gained a reputation for being one of the most prolific goalscorers in the club's 137-year history. Scoring over 100 times during 250 plus appearances, the forward has played for Nantwich Town and, most recently the Magpies, since leaving the Robins in 2013."

VANARAMA NATIONAL NEWS

Earlier this week, the club posted its annual accounts, and revealed that the club made a loss of £2.9 million last season, which followed losses of £2.4 million the year before. By comparison,Forest Green Rovers' rivals for promotion to the Football League scrimp and save and call for a whip-round among supporters, and warn of bankruptcy if their losses sneak into six-figure sums.

Now known as the 'non-league Chelsea', with Mr Vince the Gloucestershire version of Roman Abramovich, the club is paying its players often more than double the best-paid player at most other National League clubs.

'For me it does nothing more than make me angry at how, in my opinion, the non-league game is becoming undermined more and more by the presence of big-spending clubs like Forest Green Rovers,' complained John Pakey, the Lincoln City reporter on the Lincolnshire Echo. 'Their decision to ratchet up such high wage bills is only over inflating the value of football players at this level.

'It affects how competitive the division can be and it takes away some of the enjoyment of the game for fans of clubs who are trying to live within their means, even if they are well supported,' he added.

Mr Vince said the criticism didn't bother him. 'I think this 'moneybags' thing is something that people throw at us and is a distraction. Fans and managers of other clubs like to use it as an excuse if they lose and I'm not too troubled by it.

'Our playing budget now is actually much smaller than it was a couple of years ago, so it's not a question of throwing money around and hoping for the best. Everything we do is meticulously planned and for the long term, and football has become a big part of what we do at Ecotricity. It's about pushing back the boundaries and it's exciting,' he added.

But after turning the whole football club vegan, apart from the leather boots the players still wear, Mr Vince has big ambitions. With a new stadium right on the junction of the M5, he sees new Forest Green Rovers fans from Bristol to Tewkesbury, something the club's rivals will shudder at.

'Our aim is to get to the Championship and I think that's realistic with the new location. Logistically we'll be much more accessible to people all over the county, stretching from north Bristol up to Tewkesbury. It's a big catchment area for us. The infrastructure would enable it, so it's a question of us getting things sorted out on the football side of things,' he said."

The NW Evening Mail reports that "Boss Darren Edmondson still believes Barrow AFC can achieve a positive National League finish this year to satisfy ambitious owner Paul Casson. Edmondson’s job is in serious doubt – with a decision over his Holker Street future to be taken this month by Casson... P> At the start of the season, the US-based Bluebirds' chairman wanted Barrow to be fighting in the top of half of the table and to be in the ‘play-off conversation’ this term. In a question and answer session, conducted by the Bluebirds Trust last week, Casson said a 10th-place finish would represent a ‘solid’ performance...

Responding to that expectation, Edmondson said, 'These are things that we’d already spoken about, myself and the chairman, about could the top eight be realistic... I still think it’s achievable'.

Casson was asked by the Bluebirds' Trust, 'What is the board’s realistic or expected finishing position for this season and next?' The owner replied, 'Tenth. Tenth is solid. We’re not in a position to push for the Football League just yet. We’re getting ahead of ourselves at the end of the day. We gave ourselves two years to get out of the Conference North, and we did it in one, and we’re sort of paying the price, and to get into the Football League in another year would be ridiculous'...

Casson insisted, 'You have to go full-time if you’re serious about the business, it’s not a part-time industry as you try to approach the Football League. It’s been less than fulfilling, to date... I think teams in the lower half of League Two are as good as teams in the Conference, I don’t think there’s that much difference...

'It’s just a huge monetary hurdle to get over, really, and everybody sees that as the Holy Grail. We’re going for it, some of the evidence of which you’ll see in the coming weeks.'"

At the other end of Engand, the Daily Star reports that "Southampton have jumped the queue in the hunt for Cheltenham forward Luke Thomas. Premier League rivals Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and Championship sides Bristol City and Derby have all been monitoring Thomas's progress.

But the Saints are the first to firm up their interest in the 16-year-old forward, who is making waves at youth level, with a £50,000 bid submitted. Thomas has scored 14 goals for Cheltenham's Under-18s this season and been on the bench for the Robins' first team, three times in the FA Cup and once in the National League.

Portuguese giants Benfica invited him for a trial spell in the summer after impressing on a pre-season tour...

'Gary Johnson has told him he's seen something special in him and all the senior players have been saying he is a "baller" which has helped him too,' Thomas's older brother Kieran told the Gloucestershire Echo in September."

In the Western Morning News we learn that "Hard-up Torquay United are quitting their Seale Hayne training ground near Newton Abbot, despite spending £200,000 on the site over six years under the previous boardroom regime.

Chairman David Phillips confirmed, 'We have taken the decision with some regret, because there has been significant money spent there. But it's not a viable proposition for us any longer, mainly financially but also because we decided that it wasn't fit for purpose from a football point of view.'

Long-serving former director Brian Palk, who had taken personal responsibility for developing United's first proper training ground, said he was 'staggered and stunned' by the news. Palk commented, 'For any new investor, which is what the club desperately needs, not to have a training ground or a youth Academy on offer, well, the list of assets gets very short.

'I am sure, for the cost of one less player on the current budget, that would pay for the rent on the training ground'...

United's then director of football Dean Edwards negotiated a deal, believed to be for two years initially, which gave Plymouth Argyle's Academy... the use of two-thirds of the Seale Hayne site. United retained the remaining area...

Palk added, 'I am staggered and stunned that they are just pulling out. It's such a backward step... The fact that Plymouth Argyle are rubbing their hands at the thought of getting potentially a Championship training ground tells you everything. We have wasted all that money, Thea's money, which she sanctioned, for nothing. Many people aren't aware of the full facts about Seale Hayne – it's not a 'white elephant' and never was...

'We spent around £200,000 over the last six or seven years,' Palk added... 'One of the reasons that Luke Young signed for us last year was that he was impressed with the training ground and could see the way it was going'".

NL Pitchero adds that "Tim Sills is on the list of players to play in a Torquay vs Plymouth legends game this weekend to raise funds for the cash-strapped Gulls. The National League strugglers have quit their training ground this week to further cut costs".

HALIFAX BOSS GOES

Kelly's tenure included eight league games - his only league win was, as we well know, at Altrincham! Apart from that the only wins were in the FA Cup against Guiseley and in the West Riding County Cup against Farsley.

NEXT OPPONENTS: BOREHAM WOOD

After Junior Morias forced a replay in the initial tie at Wincham Park, Wood were comfortably beaten by a side who play three tiers beneath them in the Northern Premier League Division One North.

Wood have not reached the second round proper since 1998 and the Vics, who boast a proud FA Cup history and are top of their league after 14 games, advanced with goals in either half from Jordan Williams and Ryan Astles. Charlie MacDonald struck late to reduce the deficit.

Garrard made four changes from the side held to a goalless draw by Chester in the National League on Saturday, bringing Sam Cox, Junior Morias, Anthony Jeffrey and Mustafa Tiryaki into the side in place of the suspended Conor Clifford, MacDonald, Ricky Shakes and Luke Howell.

It was the Vics who showed more intent from the outset in what proved to be a direct contest. Yet, in a fiery encounter which saw six players booked before half time, three apiece, it was Wood who had the first chance..

In the 28th minute it was the Vics who finally got their noses in front, Williams following in from close range after James Russell spilled a low shot into his path. Russell didn’t cover himself in glory shortly before the break either, miscuing a clearance straight to Brian Summerskill before atoning for the error by nicking the ball off the midfielder’s toes...

Northwich broke into Wood’s half and won a free-kick out on the left flank which Williams whipped to the back post for Astles to nod beyond Russell. Falling 2-0 behind lifted Wood and they went close... But the Vics still retained a threat and almost put the game out of sight when substitute Josh Amis flicked a header against the underside of the crossbar after the Wood defence switched off...

There was still time for MacDonald to reduce the arrears with an overhead kick but in the final telling it mattered little and Wood could have no complaint about the result. A trip to Altrincham, the side directly above them in 19th, awaits on Saturday.

Boreham Wood: Russell; Devera, Stephens, Doe, Woodards (B.Clifford 62); Vilhete, Kamdjo, Cox (c), Jeffrey (Shakes 82); Tiryaki (MacDonald 62), Morias. Subs: Edwards (GK), Reynolds, Howell".

The Borehamwood Times adds that "Boreham Wood boss Luke Garrard accused his side of having no fight, heart or desire as they were knocked out of the FA Cup... The former defender continued by stating Wood were 'third best' to the Vics...

Assessing his side’s performance, a candid Garrard said, 'There was no fight, no heart and no desire. Everything we lacked, they had. And I felt they thoroughly deserved the win. I don’t think it was complacency,' he continued. 'They have a winning mentality, they have a togetherness... They were hungry and fought for each other. For me, I didn’t have that tonight. I felt our players though they could just leave it to their ability rather than working hard and I questioned that just then...

'I felt we had an opportunity tonight... It’s not because we performed badly, because we didn’t. They were phenomenal on the night and I give them a lot of respect'...

Asked what Wood could have done better, Garrard replied, 'We could match their work rate. That’s the first thing I felt we had to do tonight; match their hunger, match their endeavour and match their desire. I felt we didn’t do that at all. I felt we were third best, let alone second best, all night'".

FA CUP REPLAYS

• Morecambe 2 Dagenham & Redbridge 4
• Newport County 4 Brackley Town 1
• Oldham Athletic 2 Mansfield Town 0
• Oxford United 3 Braintree Town 1

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

The £10k Dash campaign was launched by Support Our Silkmen, a group of super-fans, backed by the Silkmen Supporters' Trust, which raises funds for the club. In just over a month fans pledged online, through cheques and cash collected at games raising £11,000. And, in an exciting twist, the mysterious donor has now offered the club another £3,000 in January,

This means John Askey has £39,000 to spend on bolstering his squad. Tony Brown, from Support Our Silkmen, said the reaction to the campaign had been brilliant.

He added, 'We had dozens of fans from all over the world digging deep to help the campaign. I always hoped we would reach the target but to actually do it is brilliant. We had people throwing in change at home matches, and cheques for hundreds of pounds being sent in. I’ve been clear from the start but every penny is held by SST for the manager to spend on players.'

The campaign was supported by John Askey and club chairman Mark Blower... Askey said, 'Players, managers, owners, come and go, but the fans stay and, once again when they were called upon, they have really shown their support'. Mr Askey has already spent some of the cash bringing in forward Reece Styche, the Gibraltar international who has also represented England C team. He has pledged not to waste the remainder.

He said, 'At the moment we have a great squad who are all performing and we need to push on into the play-off positions. It’s great to know if we suffer injuries and need to bolster the team we can, but I don’t plan to simply spend it for the sake of it. I might even hold onto it for next season'".

An interesting tale of one of last season's opponents comes from NL Pitchero, which says that "Dartford received notification yesterday afternoon from the office of the National League that, following a request from Maidenhead United, their game with them is to be postponed because they play Port Vale on Thursday evening with it also being televised live by BT Sport.

A statement from Dartford reads, 'If Maidenhead had contacted us as soon as the announcement was made by BT Sport, it would have given more time for consideration of the options. They waited until last Friday and we politely refused. On Saturday morning they then went direct to the National League, who, without any contact with ourselves, agreed to Maidenhead's request for a postponement. A League representative telephoned club secretary Peter Martin to advise us of their decision yesterday.

'Despite our immediate appeal to the newly-appointed Chief Executive of the National League, their decision is final. We, at Dartford Football Club are appalled by the League's decision, which leaves us without a fixture for another weekend. It also means players, management, directors and fans, having to make arrangements to take extra time off work on the afternoon of the re-arranged date. We will undoubtedly be supported by far fewer fans than would have been at this Saturday's game.

'A request was also made by us to switch to the Sunday but, with tenants, Hayes & Yeading United at home to Truro City, that would have involved "inconveniencing" two other clubs in the process, which the league were not prepared to do. We have also been made aware this morning, that Port Vale have had their request to postpone their home game with Chesterfield on Saturday declined!'"

Also from NL Pitchero we learn that "Striker Kristian Dennis, who is currently on a season-long loan with Macclesfield Town, is rumoured to be a target for a number of League clubs in the January transfer window. The 25-year-old striker is regarded as one of the best prospects outside the Sky Bet League after impressing on loan from Stockport County.

Dennis has scored 14 goals in the National League this season, including a hat-trick in last weekend's 5-2 win over Woking.... Dennis began his career at Macclesfield making four appearances before dropping into non-League football to have spells with the likes of Woodley Sports, Ashton United and Mossley AFC. He enjoyed a prolific spell at Curzon Ashton which earned a move to Stockport in 2013.

Scouts from Football League clubs have been flocking to watch Dennis... Dennis is out of contract at the end of the season and Stockport would prefer to cash-in on him in January rather than risk losing the forward for nothing next summer."

News of another ex-Conference opponents comes from the BBC which says that "the owners of AFC Wimbledon, the Dons Trust, have backed plans to sell the club's Kingsmeadow ground to Premier League side Chelsea. However, the sale is conditional on Wimbledon receiving planning permission to build a new stadium in Merton.

The Dons Trust, formed by Wimbledon fans, held a vote on the proposal on Monday, with 98% in favour of the sale. Chelsea intend to use the ground, which is also home to non-league Kingstonian, for youth team and women's matches. The proposed sale to the Blues is now subject to a vote by all shareholders in AFC Wimbledon next month, although approval is expected to be a formality as the Dons' Trust controls 90% of shares in the League Two club.

'The successful vote on the stadium sale is an important milestone in helping to return AFC Wimbledon to its spiritual home in Merton,' said Dons' Trust chair Matthew Breach. 'There is still a lot of work to do to deliver a new stadium but the outcome of the vote shows the overwhelming support among the club's fans for having Wimbledon play where it belongs, back in Merton.'.

AFC Wimbledon have played at Kingsmeadow since their formation in 2002 and bought the lease on the ground from Kingstonian a year later. However, the Dons have a long-standing ambition to return to Plough Lane, which they see as their spiritual home, and have submitted a planning application to Merton Council to build a new 20,000-capacity stadium on the site of Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium. Wimbledon say they will pay Kingstonian 'a substantial sum of money' to help the K's secure their future at another ground in or around Kingston".

COLCHESTER GAME: STADIUM AND COACH TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE

Both sets of tickets can be purchased as follows.

• Tuesday 17th, till 5pm.
• Wednesday 18th, from 10am to 7pm
• Thursday 19th, from 10am to 7pm
• Friday 20th, from 10am to NB 5pm
• Saturday 21st, from 11.45am to shortly before kick off against Boreham Wood (k.o. 3pm). Before the Alty game, the Watford v Manchester United match will be shown on the TV screens in the Community Sports Hall. Volunteers to sell Colchester match and travel tickets will be welcomed for Saturday and, if sufficient people are forthcoming, ticket sales will also be open after the Boreham Wood match. Please ring the club (928-1045) to volunteer.

Please read the details below so that you are fully aware of arrangements both for the stadium tickets and for the transport.

It should be noted that, although the stadium tickets bear a specific seat number, this will not be enforced; you will be able to sit anywhere within the designated away section of the stadium. This arrangement will allow the "Alty choir" to group together and provide more cohesive vocal support for the team.

Please note that when using anything other than a standard adult ticket, you will be checked at the ground on matchday and anyone who cannot prove their age entitlement to concessionary tickets of any kind will be liable to exclusion.

ADVANCED PURCHASE

• Adults: £16.50
• Seniors (65+)/Forces/Disabled: £11
• 18-21s: £13
• U18s: £11
• U14s: £5
• U11s: £3

MATCHDAY PRICES

• Adults: £20
• Seniors (65+)/Forces/Disabled: £13
• 18-21s: £16
• U18s: £13
• U14s: £6
• U11s: £4

For this game, only the West and South Stands will initially be open, with visiting fans allocated blocks W7-9.

CAR PARKING

Stadium parking costs £6 subject to availability. It can be booked here

Match-Day Programme

TASC SUPPORTERS' TRAVEL TO COLCHESTER

We are delighted to announce that, thanks to support from the football club, we are able to offer fans a discount on the price of travel. Prices have been reduced by £5 per ticket for all users so will now be priced at:

• Adults - £25
• Concessions - £20
• U16s and Full-Time Students with ID - £15

• The Vine, Washway Road, Sale (bus stop) - 07:30 am
• Hare and Hounds, Timperley (end of layby on corner of Seymour Grove) - 07:40 am
• Altrincham Leisure Centre, Oakfield Road - 07:45 am
• J.Davidson Stadium, Moss Lane - 07:50 am

Please note that, as with all TASC transport, there is strictly no alcohol to be carried, or consumed, on board without exception. We have travellers of all ages and our coaches have a welcoming and family friendly atmosphere. Please help us to keep this by adhering to this rule.

To keep pricing simple we are just offering three prices. TASC members who travel, who usually benefit from a discount, will receive a double discount on their next trip with us to ensure they don't miss out.

Please note tickets will need to be purchased in advance for this trip due to the numbers and cash involved and the requirement for confirmed place numbers to judge vehicles needed.

Coach tickets will be on sale from The Altrincham FC Community Sports Hall throughout the day and a number of evenings and from the TASC table in the Community Sports Hall at the Boreham Wood game on Saturday 21st November. Please call ahead on 0161 928 1045 if outside normal office hours.

If seats are still available, then tickets can be bought from the ground before boarding on the day although we recommend guaranteeing your seat by booking early, which will help organisation on the day

Coaches will stop midway for half an hour at a service station and aim to get to the stadium in Colchester around 12:30 - 12:45, in time for a pre match drink and to soak up the atmosphere.

We return after the final whistle to get travellers home as early as possible.

If you have any questions regarding the travel the please email Travel Co-Ordinator Mark Eckersall, who will be happy to assist with any enquiries".

INDEPENDENT TRAVEL

Red Planet offers a useful interactive means of selecting your route to Colchester.

IDEAL CHRISTMAS PRESENT!

Prices are as follows...

• Adults standing £130
• Concessions standing £75
• 12-16 year-olds standing - £30

• Adults seated - £150
• Concessions -£80
• 12-16 yr old £30

MONDAY REPLAY

LEE ON OUR INCONSISTENCY

"Two-goal Damian Reeves led the way as Altrincham hit the jackpot on the pitch, if not off it, before the BT Sport cameras on Saturday.

Alty looked to have been seriously undervalued by BT, who paid them just £1,000 to be part of their live coverage, and the impression was reinforced as Lee Sinnott's side turned on the style for a richly-entertained TV audience and a noisy, enthusiastic away support at promotion-chasing Bromley.

Reeves (2) and Josh O'Keefe provided the cutting edge, while keeper Tim Deasy continued to prove an able deputy for the injured Stuart Coburn with a string of saves that earned him the man-of-the-match award and helped secure an outstanding 3-1 win.

'People are saying some of Tim's saves are the sort Stuart makes, and there can be no greater accolade,' remarked Alty boss Sinnott. 'Stuart was often credited with safeguarding or even winning points for us, and now Tim is doing the same, so there are similarities between them.

'Two goals in quick succession in the second half knocked the stuffing out of Bromley, and while they made mistakes at the back, we seized on the opportunities superbly. Josh put his away perfectly, and all you can say about the third goal is, it was typical Reevesie. It was poaching at its best, sensing an opening, latching on to it and dinking a clever finish over the keeper.'

Alty go into this Saturday's home game with Boreham Wood (3pm) desperate to correct an imbalance in results against teams at the top and bottom.

'People must look at some of our results, like the Bromley one, and say "They're where in the table? 19th?",' said Sinnott. 'It can be frustrating, but maybe it will all click together one of these days, and we'll run away with the league! That's football, though. It's not a given science.

'The challenge is to do the same against Boreham Wood as we did at Bromley but, then, every game is a challenge. No one game is less important than another, because three points is three points. The aim must be to do it on a consistent basis.'"

LADIES' THRILLING DRAW

DUNCAN EXCELS FOR ENGLAND

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

More comes from the Southport Visiter which says that "Paul Carden leaves Southport Football Club with the team firmly nestled in the bottom four since the opening day of the season and having used 24 players so far this campaign. No manager other than Liam Watson has started a season and completed it since Phil Wilson in 2001.

The Sandgrounders go looking for their fifth manager in 30 months since the long-standing Watson departed from the club in April 2013. The hunt for a replacement must begin immediately and everyone throughout the club must look at the direction the club is currently travelling along and the playing staff who have underperformed for much of the season must take their share of the blame.

Surviving in the National League is a difficult task and this is Southport's fifth relegation battle in six seasons. Given the mortality rate of managerial tenure at Southport finding the sought after quality replacement is becoming more difficult on each occasion.

With their full-time regime in place, looking down to the lower leagues offers the club slim pickings with most of the promising managers working part time and supplementing their income with other jobs. Southport must look for a full time manager and quickly. Which manager will be the next on the merry go round? Martin Foyle, Alan Wright and now Paul Carden were all sacked whilst Gary Brabin and John Coleman hot-footed out of the door to more attractive options at the first opportunity".

The Football Conference report that "Sunderland midfielder George Honeyman has extended his stay at Gateshead until 2 January. Honeyman, 21, initially joined the Tynesiders in October and has since made three league appearances, scoring once against Boreham Wood. Gateshead will have the Prudhoe-born player eligible for selection in the FA Trophy, which begins in December".

Elsewhere, "Kidderminster Harriers have extended the loan of forward Jordan Murphy from Walsall until 9 January. Murphy, 19, initially joined the struggling National League club in October and scored on his debut at Macclesfield Town. He also netted the only goal as Harriers won their first game of the season against Woking. Murphy, who has made two appearances for the Saddlers, spent seven months on loan at Worcester City last season. "

At our next opponents, before Monday night's FA Cup replay, "Boreham Wood boss Luke Garrard must decide whether to name the same starting line-up that drew 0-0 at home to Chester on Saturday. Garrard's side have won just one of their last seven matches, against AFC Hornchurch in the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup. Northwich returned to the top of Evo-Stik First Division North following Saturday's 5-1 win over New Mills. Jordan Williams and [ex-Alty midfielder] Brian Summerskill were both rested and could feature."

A press release from the National League tells us that it "has much pleasure in announcing the appointment of Michael Tattersall (left) to oversee the continued development of the competition. He will take up his duties as of today (16th November) in a new role of Chief Executive Officer, being based at the competition offices in Birmingham.

He joins The National League after almost 12 years at the Football League, where he was Deputy Operations Director and will bring a wealth of experience from that role. Prior to that, he held several executive posts within the sporting world.

Michael is well known to the Board and executive staff at The National League and his appointment has been well received, with Chairman Brian Barwick commenting, 'Recruiting someone of Michael's experience is confirmation that, along with the rebranding of the Football Conference to The National League this year, this demonstrates our aspirations and ambitions. We welcome Michael and, I am sure, our member clubs will look forward to working closely with him to enhance our position within the game'.

In response Michael stated 'I am delighted to join The National League at this exciting time in its development as a football competition. I am grateful to have been offered this opportunity and will be working hard with my colleagues on the Board to build upon the successes and strengths of the organisation.’"

LEE SALUTES HIS PLAYERS

Paid a paltry £1,000 as the away team, Alty already looked undervalued by BT Sport, and they wasted no time reinforcing the impression, as two goals from Damian Reeves and another from Josh O'Keefe shocked their promotion-chasing hosts and brought them a memorable 3-1 win.

Keeper Tim Deasy (right) was voted man of the match, while Scott Leather again minimised the absence of injured Luca Havern, and a delighted Sinnott said, 'People are comparing some of Tim's saves to those Stuart Coburn makes, and there can be no greater accolade. There are similarities in the way both have effectively won points for us, and that speaks volumes for the way Tim has stepped in.

'I had a little chat with Scott and said how Luca had looked after him and it was now his turn to do the same for Sam Heathcote, to be the leader. He is approaching the start of his peak years and has played enough games to know what is going on. The next step is to marshal those around him. That's the challenge, and there were signs he is rising to it.

'It was a massive three points and a great performance. The whole back four were outstanding, there was drive and energy in midfield and the goals were excellent. The third was poaching at its best by Reevesie, on to a defensive mistake like a flash and a clever dink over the keeper.'"

GREAT SUPPORT

Above, we see The Altrincham supporters who travelled to Bromley, endured a pre-dawn start and a post-sunset arrival home for a lunch-time kick off some 230 miles from home at Bromley. Here, those who can, take shelter from the persistent rain which lasted throughout the match. Some other supporters had already booked their transport for the original 3pm kick off, only to find the start had been switched by BT Sport and so they missed the match. In the foreground is Alty's Man of the Match, Tim Deasy.

An estimated 150 supporters watched the game on live television in the Community Sports Hall at the J. Davidson Stadium, well fed by Richie Bentley and his catering team.

Video is available of Altrincham's third goal and of a post-match interview with Tim Deasy and Damian Reeves.

ENJOY THE GAME IN THE SPONSORS' LOUNGE

Also, if individuals would like to enjoy matchday hospitality in the Sponsors' Lounge, they can do so for the bargain price of £30 or £25 a head if you are an Alty season-ticket holder. For this you will be treated to a hot meal from club caterer Richie Bentley, pre-match drinks, half-time coffee/tea and snacks as well as a complimentary matchday programme and a pre-match talk about the game from one of the Alty management or playing squad.

To take advantage of this offer please ring Barry Pond on 07957 456375.

COLCHESTER MATCH TICKETS

A dedicated webpage, which will have all the relevant match information once it has been determined, is here.

IT GETS NO EASIER!

ALTY'S OTHER TEAMS

On Wednesday, Altrincham's EDP team lost 7-5 in the league cup away to Peterborough United. This Wednesday they play a league match at home to Farsley.

KENNY KEEPS EVERYONE SMILING

"No apologies for this week's column having a theme running through it after the incomparable Kenny Palin turned 70 last weekend.

The first tale concerns a party in Kenny's honour at Timperley cricket club, where the highlight was the presentation of an Altrincham shirt, autographed by all the players, with Palin and 70 on the back. Stuart Coburn was there, and was having a laugh and a joke with Kenny, and Graham Heathcote was linking everything together in his inimitable style as compere. Stuart was the obvious choice to make the presentation, so when the time arrived, he left the room and waited behind the door while Graham gave it the big build-up.

Right: Kenny is pictured in the driver's cab of the Altrincham FC float at the 2015 Altrincham Festival.

'Now Kenny, we've got something a bit special to mark the occasion and someone a bit special to present it,' says Graham. 'If I said it was an Altrincham legend, someone who has been at the club years and become a cult figure, who would you want it to be?' Kenny gives him a look and says, 'John King.' Stuart is already opening the door at this point, and the whole place just falls about laughing. Fair play to Stuey. He just gives Kenny a shake of the head and hands over the shirt. Classic Kenny.

Kenny was part of a great turnout for the Meet The New Recuits evening in the Community Sports Hall last Saturday, and proceedings began with a chorus of 'Happy Birthday'. After I replaced Brian Flynn as compere for the second half of the evening, I fully intended it to end the same way. 'Finally, ladies and gentlemen,' I said. 'Let's all sing Happy Birthday once again to the legend that is Kenny Palin.' But he wasn't having it. 'No, no,' he said. 'Give me the mike, and I'll sing to you.'

We all waited with baited breath, and away he went with 'There was a woman who swallowed a fly.' Slight pause, then 'perhaps she'll die.' There was verse after verse, about swallowing a bird, how absurd, and swallowing a cat, imagine that. There was every variation you could think of. I think he covered the animal kingdom in its entirety, and, each time, there was a pause just long enough to make you think he was done, then he'd launch into another. The room was in absolute hysterics. You couldn't get your breath. When he finally handed back the mike, it packed in. Gave up the ghost. The evening couldn't have ended any better.

The following conversation took place between Kenny and the gaffer's wife in the Community Sports Hall. 'Who are you?' 'I'm Lynn.' 'Where are you from?' 'I'm from Hull.' 'Hull? That's a long way. What are you doing here?' 'My husband works for the club.' 'Who's he?' 'Lee Sinnott, the manager.' 'Tell him he needs the sack.'"

"SHINE ON YOU CRAZY DAMIAN"

LAST SATURDAY'S GATES

• Att: 1119 Barrow v Torquay United
• Att: 589 Boreham Wood v Chester FC
• Att: 1737 Bromley v Altrincham
• Att: 1065 FC Halifax Town v Braintree Town
• Att: 1661 Forest Green Rovers v Dover Athletic
• Att: 4108 Grimsby Town v Welling United
• Att: 699 Guiseley v Eastleigh
• Att: 1790 Kidderminster Harriers v Aldershot Town
• Att: 3176 Lincoln City v Tranmere Rovers
• Att: 947 Southport v Cheltenham Town
• Att: 1324 Woking v Macclesfield Town
• Att: 4055 Wrexham v Gateshead

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Yes, Torquay were poor, and they had a man sent off with 30 minutes to play, but we dispatched our visitors with some oomph, and that's been missing for some time now... Before the game, Darren Edmondsnon told the Mail, 'If you don't win games, those fans don't come, simple as that. I didn't hear the crowd or look at the crowd (on Tuesday night), all I was focused on was the game. Because we're losing the games, the locals aren't coming and that's disappointing and frustrating...

At the moment, we're in a situation where we're getting kicked in the teeth a lot. But they need to now back the lads and get behind them. As frustrating and awful as it is, and they're spending hard-earned money to come down, it's their football club. They've got to get behind the boys and help them in any way they can. They've got to back the players so if it's me, if it's someone else, players continue to be motivated by the fans...

At the moment I feel that the players are still with us. We're just having a run where you go down to nine men away from home, you get a man sent off, you get a man stretchered off. The results have been what they have, but there have been other circumstances in the last three games as well.

On Tuesday night we came up against a very strong Grimsby side who are, however we look at it, four, five or six players better off than we are... This football club deserves better than what it's seeing at the moment and, until I'm told differently, I'll be fighting right until the end'".

OLD BOY

Danylyk will continue as a player for Leek and current club captain, backing up Casswell on match days and in training... Midfielder Danylyk is now in his fourth spell at Harrison Park after first arriving in 2002 from Stone Dominoes. In between, he has completed a season at Belper Town, a brief stint at Witton Albion and three and a half years with Altrincham".

COLCHESTER WATCH

The home side took the lead as Macauley Bonne scored his hot scoring streak, but the Sky Blues... were organised and determined enough to seal a victory...

It was 17 minutes in when Joe Edwards ventured across the pitch from right back and found Callum Harriott on the left, he then delivered an inch perfect for in-form Macauley Bonne to deftly flick the ball in to make it 1-0 to the U's.

This seemed to spark the U's into life and they could have added to this lead... Coventry made them pay for the missed chnaces on 32 minutes when ex-Colchester loanee Murphy pulled the scoreline level... Coventry completed the turnaround on the 40 minute mark as Murphy got his second of the game... Coventry added to their lead to make it 3-1...

The third goal put Coventry firmly in control and the U's struggle to find their attacking way again until the dying stages of the match... The U's now travel to the Den for the next game as they face Millwall."

More comes from the Coventry Telegraph. It says "The referee warned Charles-Cook about time-wasting but it was the fourth official who squandered several minutes as a farcical spell of substitutions saw him hold up the wrong number at least three times...

Colchester (4-2-3-1) Jamie Jones; Joe Edwards, Frankie Kent, Tom Eastman (51 mins, George Elokobi), Matt Briggs; Tom Lapslie (70 mins, Gavin Massey) , Alex Gilbey; Macauley Bonne, George Moncur, Callum Harriott; Marvin Sordell. Substitutes not used: Elliott Parish, Chris Porter, Tosin Olufemi, Dion Sembie-Ferros, Jack Curtis...

The U’s made one change to their previous line-up with goalkeeper... Jamie Jones returning in goal in a 4-2-3-1 line up that mirrored the Sky Blues. Striker Marvin Sordell led the line with the highly talented George Moncur in the No.10 position and Macauley Bonne and Callum Harriott either side of a very attacking formation".

AFTER THE GAME

We stopped Bromley getting their tails up, I thought, and, although some of the goals were down to errors on their part, we were worthy winners".

Bromley boss Mark Goldberg added, "We let in two foolish goals".

BROMLEY 1 ALTRINCHAM 3

Damian Reeves headed them ahead in the 19th minute, from a Crowther cross, before Bromley levelled in the 36th minute through Emmanuel, despite Deasy initially seeming to have scooped the ball off the line.

Two goals in as many minutes after halftime sealed the outcome. First, O'Keefe scored with a low shot from the edge of the box before an error by Udoji let in Reeves for his second (52 mins).

Deasy produced several excellent blocks to keep out Bromley but Altrincham played out the closing stages fairly comfortably.

Match report here.

Right: Damian Reeves is submerged beneath team-mates after opening the scoring at Bromley.

SATURDAY GAMES

• Barrow 4-0 Torquay United
• Boreham Wood 0-0 Chester FC
• Bromley 1-3 Altrincham (k.o. 12.30pm BT Sport)
• FC Halifax Town 3-6 Braintree Town
• Forest Green Rovers 3-1 Dover Athletic
• Grimsby Town 3-1 Welling United
• Guiseley 1-4 Eastleigh
• Kidderminster Harriers 2-0 Aldershot Town
• Lincoln City 1-0 Tranmere Rovers
• Southport 0-4 Cheltenham Town
• Woking 2-5 Macclesfield Town
• Wrexham 4-0 Gateshead
• Through the Years from Howard Watts.

BROMLEY ARRANGEMENTS

Tickets will also be available on the turnstiles which open at 11am for the earlier kick off time of 12:30. Our guest ale this Saturday is J.W.Lees Manchester Pale Ale 3.7% ABV. We also have the usual selection of beers... We are fully stocked with traditional handmade Cornish pasties available at £3 in The Ravens Bar, and Pizza Hatch. We will also be serving handmade ten inch pizzas (cheese and tomato or pepperoni) for just £5, these are only available at the Pizza Hatch. However if you are looking for the more traditional football food, we have chips, burgers, hot dogs etc, which are available in The Venue Kitchen, Pizza Hatch, and Burger Van.

Admission Prices:

• Adults: £15
• OAPs 65 and over: £10
• Armed Forces, NHS and Emergency Services*: £10
• Students (16 years and over)**: £5
• Under 16s: FREE (when accompanied by a full paying adult and arriving before 12:00pm, otherwise £5)
• Premier League and Football League season ticket holders***: £10

Seating inside the stadium is unreserved and on a first come, first served basis. Seating is free of charge."

BEFORE THE BROMLEY v ALTRINCHAM GAME

Alty's casualty list this season has included...

1. Goalkeeper Stuart Coburn, who has now missed the last 15 league games with an Achilles tear.
2. Centre-back Tom Marshall, who broke his leg early in the season and has now been out for 16 league matches to date.
3. Right-back and captain Shaun Densmore, who also remains sidelined, and has so far been unable to start eight league games this season in two separate spells with knee injuries.
4. Centre-back and replacement captain, Gianluca Havern, like Shaun, is sadly in his second injury spell of the season and has been unable to start eight league games to date with hamstring problems.
5. Midfielder Anthony Griffith, who failed to start a game this season and played for little more than five minutes in total before declaring that he had to retire through injury.
6. Midfielder Nicky Clee has been fit enough to start just three of the 20 league games to date.
7. Striker Michael Rankine has been absent from the starting line up four times, so far, through injury.
8. Midfielder Simon Richman, though thankfully now fit and playing again, has missed six league matches this season with injury.
9. Forward James Lawrie missed last Tuesday's game with a dead leg and remains a doubt for Saturday.

In addition to the above, Alty's only loanee this season, centre-back Andy Parry had to return twice to his parent club, Luton Town, for treatment during his two-month loan spell, which consequently had to be curtailed because of injury. Others, such as Ryan Crowther and Josh O'Keefe, have also missed matches through injury this campaign but are now fit again.

IF YOU CAN'T GET TO BROMLEY...

Richie adds that he and his deputy, Dawn Abbott, "Would like to remind everyone that, this Saturday, from 11.30am onwards, the Comunity Sports Hall will be open for breakfast/brunch before our televised match at Bromley (k.o. 12.30pm). After that game, Altrincham Reserves [weather permitting] play a home fixture on the J Davidson Stadium pitch. Last time we did this, we had 175 people watching and we want to beat that number, so tell your friends, bring the kids, etc. As Grahame Rowley has said, the costs of our away fixture at Bromley, to accommodate a lunchtime kick-off, are not addressed by the league and we are never compensated. So, our supporters can help by coming to the Community Sports Hall and cheering on the lads and having a great hot meal knowing all the money is coming back to us. Everyone is welcome. We will do prizes for guess the attendance and first goalscorer also.

We are growing accustomed to seeing Alty on TV these days! See you this weekend".

Richie also wishes to extend "A big thanks from all the catering team for such a great custom from Alty and Barnsley fans alike at the weekend."

"If anyone has any dietary requirements for the weekend, and that excludes Ian Senior asking for ten monster breakfasts, deep fried of course, please e-mail me".

FA CUP OPPONENTS

There wasn't such good news about Ambrose or Garvan though, who will once again sit out the action with their respective injuries. Gavin Massey came on as a late substitute in the cup and could be pushing for a starting place in the U's attack.

The other sub for the "U"s a week ago, Jack Curtis, will be hoping to add a league game to his record after making his "U"s's debut against the non-leaguers in the cup.

Squad: Parish, Jones, Barnes, Eastman, Elokobi, Kent, James, Briggs, Olufemi, Edwards, Lapslie, Gilbey, Moncur, Curtis, Sembie-Ferris, Wright, Harriott, Massey, Bonne, Sordell, Porter "

Also at Colchester, "Sammie Szmodics' loan takes him into early December with Braintree Town, Dan Holman is with Woking until January and David Segura remains with Maldon & Tiptree until the first month of 2016".

MACC REVISITED

COLCHESTER CUP TIE NOW ON SUNDAY!

Other FA Cup Round Two matches moved to the same time, so far, are...

• Aldershot Town / Bradford City v Chesham United
• Cambridge United v Doncaster Rovers
• Welling United v Carlisle United
• Dagenham & Redbridge / Morecambe v Whitehawk
• Braintree Town / Oxford Utd v Forest Green Rovers

ALTY OUT OF POCKET

For the second season running, Alty have been selected as the away team for live TV coverage, with the kick-off for their Vanarama National League game at Bromley brought forward to 12.30pm.

The early start has forced the club to fork out for overnight accommodation and other additional running costs that will far outweigh the £1,000 fee they receive as the away side.

Despite live TV coverage of FA Cup second-round ties netting participants a £72,000 windfall each, BT pay just £7,000 for Vanarama games, with £6,000 going to the home team. 'It was Welling last time, and now, for the second season running, we've been asked to travel to one of the furthest venues on the fixture list, and all for the princely sum of £1,000,' fumed Alty chairman Grahame Rowley (left). 'The cost of hotels, meals and an additional day's travel will cost the club approximately £3,500, so where is the justice in the distribution of TV funding?

'We all want to be showcased on TV but it can't be right that it financially impinges on participating clubs. I will be taking it up with Conference bosses at the annual meeting, and I hope to rally the support of other clubs who have suffered the same injustice.'

Manager Lee Sinnott was just as aggrieved at effectively having to pay £2,500 for the privilege of appearing on television.

'Good for Bromley, having the cameras at their place, but I can't figure out for the life of me why we have not had the same,' he said. 'It is an expense for the supporters and ourselves, and we both have budgets to try and keep to.

'By the time we head back, it will have cost us five grand to fulfill the Welling and Bromley fixtures, and anyone who thinks that is chickenfeed has no understanding of the value of money. Each time we are the away team, it's costing us £2,500, because, under normal circumstances, we would travel down on the day. It's a big thing for us. We have to cut our cloth accordingly and be careful with expenditure. Last season, for instance, we travelled down to Torquay on the day.

'So it begs the question about a divi up between the home and away teams, because five grand is a lot of money for a club like us to lose. When you've got people working really hard on a voluntary basis to keep the club ticking over and bring sponsorship in, it is galling to see five grand going out unnecessarily.

'This is our second season in this division, and we have yet to have a home game on TV. People don't seem to consider that, like other clubs, we have advertising boards to sell and sponsors who want to be seen on TV and are more likely to come back again next season if they are.

'I can understand why TV go for the big clubs most of the time, but it is about fairness. There are 24 teams in this league, not just a select few, so how about fairness and equality for all. It's about time.'"

CHESHIRE SENIOR CUP

• Cheadle Town v Tranmere Rovers
• Runcorn Linnets v Northwich Victoria
• Congleton Town v Stockport County
• Chester FC v Hyde Utd or Stockport Town
• Crewe Alexandra FC v Altrincham
• Warrington Town FC v Northwich Manchester Villa
• Cammell Laird 1907 FC v Macclesfield Town
• Alsager Town FC v Barnton

Crewe Alexandra report that they "have drawn Altrincham in the first round of the Cheshire Senior Cup. The tie will take place at the Alexandra Stadium and we will bring you the date of the fixture and details as soon as they have been confirmed between the two clubs. Alex Morris's [under-21] side progressed to the first round stage after a convincing 5-0 win over Witton Albion in the previous round."

VANARAMA NATIONAL NEWS

That has allowed Burr to bring in Calum Dyson, James Roberts and Jamie McDonagh on loan and sign Ben Gordon and Luke Woodland on non-contract terms. Chester beat Kidderminster Harriers 3-1 midweek to make it three wins from four in the National League and Burr reckons the tide is turning.

He said, 'I said from day one, if we get any little knocks and lads missing, that’s going to effect us with the squad that we’ve got. We’ve everybody back fit now and down to the fans we’ve been able to get some money together to get some loans in and that’s helped us no end and, hopefully with competition for places in a lot more positions, that will keep everybody on their toes'".

At Cheltenham Town" "have completed the loan signing of Ryan Jennings from Wigan Athletic on an initial one-month loan. The winger, 20, joins from the League One side with their Manager, Gary Caldwell, pleased with the deal... 'Cheltenham are a team full of confidence at the moment with their recent form and Gary Johnson is an experienced manager who has a proven record with younger players'" he said.

In the NW Evening Mail we learn that "Striker Anthony Wilson is preparing to leave Barrow AFC by mutual consent to end his injury-plagued spell with the club... Barrow's chief executive Austin Straker confirmed the news. Wilson's contract was due to expire at the end of the current season and, while it is understood that he verbally agreed a severance deal this week, he has yet to officially seal his departure by signing release forms...

Wilson joined the Bluebirds on a two-year deal in the summer of 2014, but his first-team impact has been severely hit by injury, having undergone three knee cartilage operations within the space of a year... He has made one National League start and five substitute appearances this season, when he has also sustained niggly injuries...

Straker said, 'It's been a very difficult year-and-a-half for him and... things haven't worked out in the way we had hoped when we signed him last year... The club have supported him through a number of operations. It's come to a conclusion that in order for him and for us to move on, he could well be leaving the club."

The lure of the "Class of 92" continues as FC Halifax town confirm that "Cheshire-based Gareth McClelland, Head of Recruitment, has accepted a similar position with Salford City. After a successful four years with The Shaymen, Gareth is looking forward to his new role".

And a National League player is moving to the Ammies as the Chester Chronicle tells us that "Chester FC forward Tom Peers has moved to FA Cup giant-killers Salford City on a month’s loan. The 20-year-old academy product has found opportunities limited this season and the arrangement will allow him to gain some regular first-team football. Warrington-born Peers has made seven substitute appearances in the National League, scoring once".

The Football Conference reports that "On-loan FC Halifax Town midfielder Nicky Wroe has revealed his delight at being able to extend his loan deal with the club to 2016. Wroe, who is on loan from Notts County, joined the Shaymen soon after the appointment of Darren Kelly, and signed for a further two months on Monday. The 30-year-old, who has made six appearances so far in league and cup, will stay at The Shay until 9th January, though could stay longer from then".

Afollow-up to the Braintree Town manager Danny Cowley's earlier comments on fixture timing comes from the Braintree & Witham Times which says that "Cowley has called on the Vanarama National League to introduce a ruling to govern the scheduling of league games around the dates of FA Cup ties. The Iron boss was left 'disappointed' that his team were required to play a league fixture at Woking on Tuesday, which ended in a 1-1 draw, that came just 48 hours after a gruelling FA Cup First Round encounter with Oxford United.

While their opponents had had ten days to prepare for the league clash, Braintree’s players had to travel to Woking, before playing through exhaustion and injuries, and Cowley felt it put players’ safety at risk. The current ruling says that it is up to both teams to agree if a league fixture is delayed by a day if there has been weekend cup action but Braintree were the only side playing on Sunday who then had to go again on the Tuesday.

Cowley... would like to see the league step in with a ruling that makes it obligatory for games to be set back a day if one of the teams is in Sunday FA Cup action.

He said, 'We are disappointed with the league and I wouldn’t be saying this if we had lost because it would sound like sour grapes, but we feel the league should support its member clubs when they are in the FA Cup. The FA Cup brings a great profile to the league and if clubs are involved then they should get at least 72 hours before playing again. Games can be rescheduled now, but only if both clubs agree. Woking wanted the game on the Tuesday and I can’t blame them really.

'I’d have done the same, if I was blatantly honest, and I wouldn’t want to rearrange it, so I’m not disappointed with them, I’m disappointed that the league don’t have a rule in place to protect players in this situation... A part-time team has been allowed to play 48 hours after a cup tie. We love being in this league and are proud to be involved in it, but we feel there should be a rule in place to govern the situation'".

NEXT MATCH: BROMLEY

Meanwhile, "An injury stricken Bromley side lost 1-2 at home to Boreham Wood this Tuesday evening".

Admission prices are...

• Adults: £15
• OAPs 65 and over: £10
• Armed Forces, NHS and Emergency Services*: £10
• Students (16 years and over)**: £5
• Under 16s: FREE (when accompanied by a full paying adult and arriving before 2pm on Saturday match days and 7:15pm on midweek matches, otherwise £5)
• Premier League and Football League season ticket holders***: £10
• *Employers ID required
• **Valid student ID required
• **Valid in date season ticket required on entry

According to News Shopper, "Bromley boss Mark Goldberg has admitted that the Ravens may struggle to keep hold of Vanarama National League top scorer Moses Emmanuel if bigger clubs were to come sniffing around. Emmanuel, who notched his 15th of the campaign in the defeat to Boreham Wood on Tuesday evening, has previously played league football for Brentford...

And Goldberg confessed that the Hayes Lane outfit may have a fight on their hands to keep the Lewisham-born man if a football league club tries to swoop... Explained Goldberg, 'I think it’s inevitable that clubs will have a look. He’s doing extremely well and he’s shown tonight the class he has when he got us back into the game'.

The Bromley chief was talking after his side's loss to the [Boreham Wood] team that finished as bridesmaids in the Conference South last season when Bromley took the title. Two goals in the opening 11 minutes had put the visitors in command, and despite Emmanuel pulling one back from the edge of the area before half time, Bromley were not able to find an equaliser after the break.

Goldberg was unhappy with the poor opening... 'Very disappointed with the way we started tonight', explained the former Crystal Palace Chairman. 'It was a bit of a makeshift back four. It could take a little bit of time for Lee Minshull to settle in as a centre half. He did us a favour today by playing there. But at the same time, there’s no real excuse for trying to play the ball out from the back the way that we did. We got caught out with the basics but had chances to clear our lines before they started dominating possession.

'In all fairness, when they went 2-0 up it looked like they could go on a bit of a rout. The fact that we grinded [sic] ourselves back into the game and, then, as time went on, if we got a goal before the half then "game on". So it was very disappointing having got that goal just before half time that we didn’t make more of it in the second half.'

The Lilywhites, who have suffered somewhat of an injury crisis in recent weeks, face Altrincham at home on Saturday in what will be the club's first ever live televised game, with the BT Sports cameras making an appearance at Hayes Lane for a 12.30pm kick off. Goldberg hopes that he’ll have some bodies back in time for the historic occasion.

'My hope is that we can get some players back from injury', he said. 'We’re hopeful with Max Porter and Ben May, hopeful with Pierre Joseph-Dubois potentially. Anthony Cook will be back and hopefully Ben Chorley.'

The Bromley boss insisted that the extra pressure of the TV cameras will not affect his side adversely. 'If anything, it should inspire the players to respond and put on a good performance,' he explained... 'If we don’t get enough players back it's going to be another difficult fixture for us. We’ve been in front of TV cameras before (albeit not live). We’ll treat it as just a game that we need to respond from our disappointment tonight with a win'".

From the other side, the Borehamwood Times reports that "A brace from Luke Howell saw Luke Garrard pick up his first National League win as Boreham Wood upset the form book with a 2-1 win at fourth-placed Bromley on Tuesday. Howell, recalled to the side after sitting out the last seven games, scored twice in the opening 12 minutes to seal Wood’s first victory since beating Welling United in Ian Allinson’s final league game in charge.

Garrard had demanded a response from his players following Saturday's lacklustre FA Cup draw at Northwich Victoria and rang the changes in both personnel and formation. Out went the injured Anthony Jeffrey, along with Junior Morias and Mustafa Tiryaki, replaced by Howell, Ricky Shakes and Charlie MacDonald in a 4-5-1 system.

Bromley's ten-day break clearly had a negative effect and the hosts were sluggish from the outset...

Wood finished the stronger side with a superb exhibition of one-touch keep ball leading to a corner. Bromley were now spent".

WEDNESDAY SCORE

• Aldershot Town 1-2 Lincoln City

LADIES' LATEST REPORT

MACCLESFIELD TOWN 3 ALTRINCHAM 0

Match report here.

Above: Backs the the wall. Injury-ravaged Altrincham will continue to play with their backs to the wall as their injury crisis is not likely to be signifincantly resolved on Saturday at Bromley. Seven players were unfit to start last Tuesday at Macclesfield, where Michael Ripley took the above photo. Further images from the Macclesfield game are here

Macclesfield Town say that they "earned the bragging rights in the derby as they cruised to victory at the Moss Rose... The Silkmen got back to winning ways following three defeats on the road...

It was Alty who had the first chance of the game in the fourth minute and it was fullback Jordan Sinnott, as the defender tried his luck from right hand side of the edge of the box and saw his effort rebound off the crossbar. But it was the Silkmen who took the lead...

However, The Robins could have equalised in the 21st minute, but in what must be a contender for miss of the season, Damian Reeves fired wide from a matter of yards out with the goal gaping...

During the first half, the away side's discipline seemed an issue [?] and in the 39th minute, Josh O’Keefe could have quite easily have seen red for a foul on David Fitzpatrick, but was only shown a yellow from the referee. Macclesfield doubled their lead just a minute later...

Just before half time whistle, controversy struck as a fantastic spell from Macc resulted in Dennis playing in Paul Lewis, who to everyone[?] in the stadium, looked to have been fouled in the box, but the referee waved away the decision before blowing up for the interval...

Styche made an immediate impact after holding up the ball and starting the attack by playing in Whitaker who found Chris Holroyd and the number nine fired past Deasy to make it 3-0...

Last night’s 3-0 victory at the Moss Rose over rivals Altrincham saw Macclesfield Town claim their first win in three games and rise to 11th in the National League table...

Macc boss, John Askey said, 'I think it is for the supporters, obviously for us it’s three points that we needed to kickstart us again so from my point of view it’s just three points... You’ve got to be satisfied, but having said that I think we’ve played better in other games. We’ve passed the ball better, but the conditions were tricky, especially in the first half it was hard to play but, after the first ten minutes, I thought we battled well and then obviously Kristian set us off with that good goal'".

GETTING TO KNOW COLCHESTER

Colchester United, escaped relegation to League Two on the last day of the 2014-15 season, thanks to a win over Preston North End and simultaneous defeats for Crawley Town and Notts County. Colchester had started the day in a relegation spot but eventually survived by two points. Since then, the "U"s have lost top scorer Freddie Sears to Ipswich Town.

Their manager, Tony Humes (49) joined the Club in 2009 and was promoted via the Essex club's youth/academy management system and took over as first-team manager on 1 September 2014. Aged 49, he hails from Blyth, Northumberland, a location which Alty visited last season in the FA Cup with unfortunate results! As a player, Humes had ten years as a defender at Ipswich Town, making around league 120 appearances for the East Anglians before spending seven years at Wrexham where he played more than 200 times.

Their 30-man first-team squad currently comprises four goalkeepers, four strikers, eleven midfielders and eleven defenders.

Right: The programme from the last occasion when Alty travelled to Colchester.

• 1. Sam Walker, goalkeeper
• 2. Owen Garvan, midfielder
• 3. Matthew Briggs, defender
• 4. Joe Edwards, defender
• 5. Alex Wynter, defender
• 6. George Elokobi, defender
• 7. Drey Wright, midfielder
• 8. Alex Gilbey, midfielder
• 9. Chris Porter, striker
• 10. George Moncur, midfielder
• 11. Gavin Massey, striker
• 12. Jamie Jones, goalkeeper, on loan from Preston NE
• 14. Tosin Olufemi, defender
• 15. Frankie Kent, defender
• 16. Byron Lawrence, midfielder
• 17. Sammie Szmodics, midfielder
• 18. Tom Eastman, defender
• 19. Macauley Bonne, striker
• 20. Tom Lapslie, midfielder
• 21. Dion Sembie-Ferris, midfielder
• 22. Kane Vincent-Young, defender
• 23. Michael O'Donoghue, defender
• 24. Richard Brindley, defender
• 26. Jamie Harney, defender
• 27. Jack Curtis, midfielder
• 28. Darren Ambrose, midfielder
• 29. James Bransgrove, goalkeeper
• 31. Callum Harriott, midfielder, on loan from Charlton Athletic.
• 33. Eliot Parish, goalkeeper
• 45. Marvin Sordell, striker

Colchester United now play at the Weston Homes Community Stadium, located on United Way, Colchester CO4 5UP. they moved there from their historic 1910 Layer Road stadium for the start of the 2008-09 season. Its capacity is 10,105.

...AND THE RICH GET RICHER

For the second time in succession, Salford City, the Northern Premier League club owned by the ‘Class of 92’, will open up Emirates FA Cup weekend when they entertain League Two Hartlepool United on Friday 4 December – a tie that will be live on BBC Two. BT Sport will then take over the reins and will broadcast the all-League One clash between Rochdale and Bury. And they will once again round off the weekend of Cup action by showing Grimsby Town v Shrewsbury Town.

The FA live broadcast fee is £72,000 per club, while the winning clubs will also receive £27,000 from The FA prize fund.

• Friday 4 December 2015: Salford City v Hartlepool United (7.55pm) – Live on BBC Two
• Sunday 6 December 2015: Rochdale v Bury (Midday) – Live on BT Sport 2
• Monday 7 December 2015: Grimsby Town v Shrewsbury Town (7.45pm) – Live on BT Sport 2

For the Emirates FA Cup, Second Round Proper, winning clubs will receive £27,000".

VANARAMA NATIONAL NEWS

'The league should be really proud and support their member clubs when they do well in the FA Cup,' said Cowley. 'For the league it's more profile and will help in sponsorship. I can't believe that the league don't take responsibility and make a decision... For us to be asked to play 48 hours after an FA Cup tie is unfair and the league should be a level-playing field but, more than that, it's unsafe,' he told BBC Essex.

'We get all these guidelines from the Football Association in terms of player safety, well what about this one? People will say you play on a bank holiday, you do, but you have a Sunday recovery. We were back in [non-football] work yesterday. I'm really disappointed with the league but most importantly I'm just ever so proud of the group'".

According to NL Pitchero "Gary Mills, manager of Wrexham, has offered a trial to former Manchester United striker John Cofie. The Ghana-born player, who started his career at Old Trafford, is a free agent after leaving Crawley Town in the summer. Cofie, 22, joined Crawley in March but only made one appearance for the Reds, coming on as an 84th minute substitute against Gillingham.

However, Mills believes the young striker may add strength in depth to his squad. 'We have got a trialist in starting today, John Cofie, I think he came and had a game last year here,' Mills told the Wrexham Daily Post. 'He is a striker, and we are going to monitor him over the next couple of weeks. He has got a good pedigree and he is hungry to get back and make a name for himself, so we are looking at him'".

According to the Gloucestershire Echo, "Paul Baker, who is himself a Lib Dem councillor and the chairman of Cheltenham Town FC, has said that the proposed landswap with Cheltenham Borough council of Cakebridge Place for some of the club's car park is a 'one-off opportunity to make something happen'.

And he said the club will be looking at building student accommodation, or a gym or possibly offices on some of the land in order to bring in money but that it would have to be in partnership with a developer...

Cheltenham Borough Council will build homes on the car park above the stadium, from Whaddon Road... up to the football ground's main stand. The club will have the cul-de-sac of bungalows above the top right corner of the ground. 'From the club's perspective it gives us an opportunity to generate revenue going forward. Of itself, it's not a revenue generator. But giving us access off the Prestbury Road allows us to develop that end of the site into something that does generate revenue like a crèche, student accommodation, a gym or office accommodation. We don't have that opportunity at the moment with the access off Whaddon Road, we just can't do that...

'Things will take time, the old bungalows will need to be demolished, the card park sorted. Then the houses would be built at the Whaddon Road end of the site and then we could start talking to developers about what we could do to fund a new development and generate revenue... There is a huge demand for student accommodation and there is the need for all sorts of things in the stand. The football club has got no money to put into it, so it would have to be in conjunction with a partner'.

Mr Baker added that the club might be able to look at redeveloping the main stand of the stadium, the oldest part of the ground which dates back to the 1960s. The other three sides of the ground have all been upgraded in the last 15 years, with terracing at the Whaddon Road end and the side opposite the main stand being converted to seating in the that time. He added, 'If [the land swap] doesn't happen then I don't think that we will be looking at developing the stand'".

TUESDAY GATES

• Att: 1255 Barrow v Grimsby Town
• Att: 939 Bromley v Boreham Wood
• Att: 2237 Cheltenham Town v Guiseley
• Att: 1956 Chester FC v Kidderminster Harriers
• Att: 913 Dover Athletic v Eastleigh
• Att: 1801 Macclesfield Town v Altrincham
• Att: 660 Welling United v Forest Green Rovers
• Att: 1182 Woking v Braintree Town

CHESHIRE SENIOR CUP

• 1874 Northwich 1 Alsager T. 1, Alsager win 6-5 on pens
• Stalybridge Celtic 1 Northwich Manchester Villa 2

MACCLESFIELD TOWN 3 ALTRINCHAM 0

Right, captured by Gavin Rathbone is Jordan Sinnott in action at the Moss Rose.

Altrincham were without seven "first choice" players from their starting eleven at Macclesfield last night. They were the defensive trio of goalkeeper Stuart Coburn, right-back and captain Shaun Densmore, and centre-back Tom Marshall, plus James Lawrie and Luca Havern who picked up knocks in last Saturday's match. Additionally, striker Michael Rankine and winger Nicky Clee were only sufficiently fit to be named on the bench. So it was always going to be an uphill battle but in the opening stages Alty were the better side...

Some idea of the scale of the impact of the absences through injury can be gauged as follows. If you take the seven players named above, their total number of starts for the club (1,595) comprises a remarkable 65% of the total number of starts for the club (2,411) by the whole of this season's first-team squad (including departed loanee Andy Parry)! And don't forget that several other players have missed games this season through injury as well.

Match report here.

LEE'S COMMENTS

"Lee Sinnott vowed to guard against Altrincham's FA Cup exploits having a detrimental effect on their Vanarama National League fortunes after a 3-0 derby defeat at Macclesfield on Tuesday night.

Barely 24 hours after landing a second-round tie at League One Colchester, Alty found themselves uncomfortably close to the drop zone after failing to make the most of a lively start at Moss Rose.

Jordan Sinnott clipped the bar, while the normally-clinical Damian Reeves missed a glaring chance from six yards in between two first-half Macclesfield goals that set up the win.

'I like the tie we've been given,' said Alty boss Sinnott. 'It's going to be tough, but I like the challenge it presents. It will be a good surface and a chance to play our football, and we will embrace it when the time comes.

'But I've told the players to file it away, put it out of their heads completely and concentrate on the matter in hand, which is trying to pick up important league points.

'It was frustrating at Macc because of many aspects, not least the brilliant support we had. Some of our approach play was excellent early on, and we were getting to the ball first, but generally we lacked the killer touch in the final third.

'Reevesie hasn't said anything about the one that got away, but he knows it should have gone in. He doesn't need telling. It might have made a difference at 1-1, the way we were playing, but you only need to look at his goals for Alty to know he has scored his fair share.

'Macc have had home advantage first this time, so when it's our turn, it's up to us, as a group, to make the most of that and put a smile on Altrincham faces. I don't like seeing our supporters go from euphoria to disappointment like that. You come to places like this and get dog's abuse, so we have to make it vociferous and hostile for them, in the right way.'

James Lawrie should return at Bromley on Saturday, but Luca Havern is unlikely to be fit."

TUESDAY GAMES

• Barrow 1-3 Grimsby Town
• Bromley 1-2 Boreham Wood
• Cheltenham Town 5-0 Guiseley
• Chester FC 3-1 Kidderminster Harriers
• Dover Athletic 1-2 Eastleigh
• Macclesfield Town 3-0 Altrincham
• Welling United 1-1 Forest Green Rovers
• Woking 1-1 Braintree Town
• Through the Years by Howard Watts.

DAMIAN SPEAKS ABOUT THE FA CUP

How do you assess the game today?

We’d had them watched and the reports came in about the way they play and the fact that they’ve not been in the greatest form. We had a plan from the start to not give them any time to settle and to try to disrupt any rhythm that they were trying to get and harry and rush them. I think in the first half we did that and it started to show where they were just kicking balls and rushing balls out of play.

I think we got to them a little bit and then, obviously, we get to half time and we’re 0-0 and we’re in the game. We sat down in the dressing room at half time and we were happy that we were in the game but at the same time we felt that we’d not played the best football that we could’ve played in the first half. So, we came out in the second half and the aim was to get in amongst them but to try to pass the ball a little bit better than we did in the first half and obviously we got the early goal which settled us down and from there on we knew that we were going to have to do a bit of defending but, in all fairness, they didn’t really come until the last 10 minutes. But when it did come, the lads were putting blocks in, they were diving in and getting in front of the ball. To get a result against a League One team in the manner that we did with a clean sheet, it can only speak well for us as a club.

I guess that gives you confidence going back to the League and for the next stage of the competition?

Yes, a lot of people say that you never have your cup form in your league campaign but, hopefully, we can take the momentum from today into the league game on Tuesday, which is another massive game, against Macclesfield. It’s a local derby so it’s not like we’ve won today and we’ll celebrate. We’ve got a tough game on Tuesday. If we’re not on our game we’ll end up getting beaten so we need to focus on that game and put in a performance there.

Just talk us through your goal. There weren’t many chances in the game so what went through your mind as the chance opened up for you?

Well, I think as a striker and the type of player that I am, it’s always going through your mind that you’re going to get one chance in any game. Today there weren’t nine or ten attempts on target at either end. But I always maintain that you get one chance in the game and, if it comes, you’ve got to take it and it’s down to you to take it. If you don’t, then you’ve only got yourself to blame.

We came out for the second half and, near enough from the kick off, Ryan (Crowther) had his man and he took him on the outside. As a striker who wants to score goals and wants to be in the box, as soon as he goes out wide, there’s only one place he can really shoot which is across the keeper. He did that and then it’s my job to be there for any bits that drop off the keeper and, luckily for me, the block went straight into my path.

You’ve scored a lot of goals here; you’ve had a lot of great moments with Alty. How does this goal and this result compare?

It’s got to be up there. As a club, the last few years, we’ve not done very well in the cup competitions. The other year we took Burton to a replay when we should’ve really won the first game but, apart from that, it’s been a tournament where we’ve gone into and we’ve been knocked out early doors. It’s time that we got a decent run together and today showed we’ve got the belly for the fight. We’ve just got to keep going and, obviously in the FA Cup, just make sure we turn up.

Any player who plays for a club, especially at Conference playing against a League One side, you’re going to turn up. Where we seem to come unstuck and struggle is against teams a little bit lower than us. Whether that’s the mentality that goes with going into a game and you think we need to turn up today. It’s good to get a run going and, now we’re into the second round, we’ll see who we get in the draw and then move on from there.

What would be the ideal draw? Another home game or another big team?

From the club’s point of view, a home game will be massive against a decent club. Personally, and I think I speak for a lot of the lads, it wouldn’t really matter. If you get a team from in and around your own division, you know they’re beatable. On the flipside, you could get a massive team from the higher divisions home or away. So we’re in a win-win situation at the minute. So we’ll just have to wait and see what comes out the hat on Monday night. As long as we don’t have a long trip to Stourbridge.

You played your part upfront. I know you’ve touched on it already but, at the back, Luca Havern went off in the second half but you still managed to get a clean sheet. How impressive was Sam Heathcote’s performance coming off the bench?

Sam (right) is a very good player. He’s young and he’s still learning and I think at times this season he’s been used in various positions, from centre half to centre forward. Especially at the point in the game when Luca went off, it was a massive point in the game. He’s come on and he’s played his part in the clean sheet. He won his headers, he won his tackles and as a young lad that’s trying to break into the team you can’t ask for anything more, especially in a game where we were winning 1-0 but we were under pressure. He’s come in and he’s done well.

And finally, there were over 2,500 fans here today and there was a pitch invasion at the end. It must be great to see for the club and great for you to play in front of support like that?.

It’s always nice because when things like that happen, you know that you’re doing something right. It’s a great day for everyone involved with the club".

TELEVISED CUP REPLAYS

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Meanwhile, "Dave Hockaday... has made a double signing... in the form of striker George Obosu and winger James McQuilkin. Bustling teenage striker Obosu has enjoyed the last few weeks training at Aggborough, scoring a number of goals in closed-doors fixtures and catching the eye in training. The 18-year-old, who is from Ghana, has signed a deal with Harriers until the end of January...

Winger McQuilkin starts his second spell at Aggborough after signing non-contract terms. The hard-working 26 year-old wide-man had a short loan spell at Aggborough in 2011/12 while at Hereford United, since going on to feature for Walsall and Torquay United". Elsewhere, "Boreham Wood have announced that Jason Goodliffe has accepted an offer to return as Luke Garrard's new assistant-manager. In recent weeks Wood chairman Danny Hunter and Garrard have been in discussions, regarding key positions throughout the club`s management structure. Following on from those talks, it has been agreed that not only would an assistant-manager be brought in as a priority but that a new goalkeeping coach and director of football would also be sought going forward...

Garrard said 'I felt I needed somebody I could trust... I played with Jason at AFC Wimbledon for three seasons and played under him when he was Ian Allinson’s assistant here four or five seasons ago... Goody and myself have had a long chat about what has been built since he was last at the club, we also spoke about what we need to achieve for the remainder of this season and what to date have been our strengths and weaknesses... I’m really looking forward to renewing acquaintances and working with him again'".

From NL Pitchero we learn that "Chester FC have confirmed that forward Calum Dyson has joined the club a one-month loan deal. Dyson, 19, has joined from Everton after impressing on-loan earlier on this season for Neil Young’s Stockport County."

And "FC Halifax Town have confirmed that midfielder Nicky Wroe has extended his loan spell with the club until the 9th January from Notts County."

Grimsby Town have announced that striker Alex Jones has joined on a one-month loan deal from Birmingham City. Jones joined the Blues from West Bromwich Albion last summer on a two-year deal plus a one-year option... A product of the Baggies' Academy, Jones was a regular for West Brom's development squad side, but did not made a first-team appearance for them prior to leaving the Hawthorns. The 21-year-old is said to have good pace and has a high work rate".

Another club acquiring a new face is Braintree Town, who "ave signed striker Ibra Sekajja, whose last club was Scottish Championship side Livingston. The 23-year-old, a former England under-16 international, started his career with Crystal Palace and had loan spells with MK Dons, Barnet, Kettering Town and Bromley whilst on the books at Selhurst Park. He played twice for the Palace senior side, scoring with virtually his first touch on his debut against Hull City in April 2011. He was released by Palace in May 2014 and after a successful trial, signed for Inverness Caledonian Thistle. He played a handful of first-team games for Caley before leaving for Livingston in January. "

We learn from the NW Evening Mail that owner "Paul Casson insists Barrow AFC boss Darren Edmondson is not a dead man walking... Since Edmondson was given a month to save his job, Barrow have stumbled to morale-sapping defeats at Wrexham (4-1) and Guiseley (3-1)...

Texas-based Casson will be at Holker Street when AFC will take on Grimsby Town. Casson always planned to attend tonight’s game and he is also scheduled to take in AFC’s home clash with Woking on November 28, after which he is due to make a final decision on Edmondson’s future, and the Holker Street game with Boreham Wood a week later. The millionaire still insists he has yet to make a decision over whether Edmondson will remain in charge of AFC and at this stage he is keeping faith with his month-long assessment plan...

Asked if he has made up his mind up about Edmondson’s future in the wake of Barrow’s latest two defeats, Cason said, 'No I have not. He’s still in charge, still making all of the decisions. The only decision at the moment is not to make a decision, based on the timeframe that has been provided. There has been no change...

'We need three points, so they are all important games at this point, right?... Passion, that’s what I want to see, the passion to play for Barrow AFC, for the fans, the people and the community,” he added... There have been games where we have shown lots of passion and there are games that we have not. And that’s what I want to see, consistent passion'...

Following tonight’s game, Casson plans to speak to Edmondson about general football business. But Edmondson’s one-month bid to save his job will see him receive formal feedback, in the form of a letter from Casson, following Saturday’s home game with Torquay....

Casson said, 'He will be provided with some formal feedback on the four games so far, things that we think have gone well, that have not gone well and things that we think he probably needs to still work on... We were honestly just trying to be as fair as we possibly can and give him all of the opportunities that we can'".

FA CUP DRAW: ALTY AT COLCHESTER

Mike Garnett provides the full record of games between the two clubs...

• Home p.2 w.0 d.1 l.1 f.3 a.4
• Away p.2 w.0 d.2 a.0 f.4 a.4
• Overall p.4 w.0 d.3 l.1 f.7 a.8

The away games were at the "U"s old Layer Road ground; the full list is

• 19.1.1991 H d 2-2
• 20.4.1991 A d 1-1
• 5.10.1991 A d 3-3
• 28.2.1992 H l 1-2

Colchester won 6-2 away at Wealdstone in the First Round. Currently, United lie 16th in League One but Alty will take heart from the fact that they have conceded 34 goals in 16 matches, seven more than any other club in the division.

Ties are to be played over the weekend of Saturday, 5 December 2015.

• Aldershot T./Bradford C. v Chesham Utd
• Barnet v Brackley T./Newport C.
• Peterborough U. v Luton T.
• Portsmouth v Accrington S.
• Stourbridge v Eastleigh
• Northampton T. v Northwich V/Boreham Wood
• Exeter C. v Port Vale/Maidenhead U.
• Cambridge U. v Doncaster R.
• Grimsby T. v Shrewsbury T.
• Yeovil T. v Stevenage
• Rochdale v Bury
• Welling U. v Carlisle U.
• Leyton Orient v Scunthorpe U.
• Millwall v Wycombe Wanderers
• Colchester U. v ALTRINCHAM
• Chesterfield v Walsall
• Sheffield U v Mansfield T./Oldham A.
• Salford C. v Hartlepool U.
• Dagenham & R/Morecambe v Whitehawk
• Braintree T/.Oxford U v Forest Green R

BEFORE THE GAME WITH MACC

Our Tuesday night opponents Macclesfield Town reported that they "battled hard against League Two side Portsmouth on Saturday afternoon, however they left Fratton Park on the wrong end of a narrow 2-1 scoreline...

Despite the defeat, Silkmen manager, John Askey, was delighted with how competitive his team were against tough opposition... Askey told Silkmen Player HD, 'For the majority of the game we competed really well, there wasn’t a great deal in the game, it’s just very disappointing with the goals that we conceded. It was poor defending but having said that, I’m sure there will be a lot of teams that go to Portsmouth and find it very difficult'...

'I spoke to their manager and they thought we were unlucky not to get something, but you make your own luck and we’ve got to be better than what we were defensively on Saturday'".

The Silkmen also report that "Following a run of defeats, John has called for his side to turn their strong performances back in to wins... Attention now turns back to the National League and a local derby with Altrincham next up tomorrow night as they look to get back to winning ways.

Manager John Askey... said, 'We just take it game by game, you might do well in one game and in your next game you don’t know what to expect and we’ve been a bit inconsistent. We need to get that consistency back, were playing well enough, as we have done all season but, obviously, there’s something not quite right so we need to keep working hard and make sure we start climbing up that table'".

From the other side, Portsmouth manager "Paul Cook admitted he had been left at his flattest point as Pompey boss having watched the 2-1 win.Adam McGurk was the difference against Macclesfield, netting twice in the first half... They were sandwiched between Kristian Dennis’ equaliser, achieved in bizarre circumstances after charging down Brian Murphy’s clearance.

LADIES' BIG WIN

Phil Taylor has kindly provided match reports on the two previous games, against Merseyrail Bootle and Warrington Wolverines.

MONTHLY DRAW WINNERS

1. £100.. Ian Foden (96)
2. £50... Simon Ellis (1)
3. £35... David Meadows (60)
4. £15... Lori Flynn (39)

CONGRATULATIONS TO DUNCAN

FA CUP FIRST ROUND

Monday 9 November:

• FC United Of Manchester 1-4 Chesterfield

FAC Round 1 replay dates are as follows...

Monday 16 November 2015

• Boreham Wood v Northwich Victoria

Tuesday 17 November 2015

• Oldham Athletic v Mansfield Town
• Newport County AFC v Brackley Town
• Bradford City v Aldershot Town
• Morecambe v Dagenham & Redbridge
• Oxford United v Braintree Town

BARNSLEY BOSS STANDS FIRM

With the dismal Reds already on a run of seven straight league defeats, the worst since 1959, they then went and lost 1-0 in the FA Cup first round to National League strugglers Altrincham, a side who were a whopping 45 places below them in the pyramid ahead of kick-off. These are incredibly tough times for Johnson, and this awful defeat by non-league opposition would have been one too many for some clubs, but the former Oldham boss still stands defiant despite the majority of Reds' fans now seemingly wanting him out of Oakwell.

Johnson said, 'Football is football and you never know what’s round the corner but I still believe I’m the man. I can only apologise to the fans. I understand their frustrations and I’m sure they think I’m useless right now, but I’m not. I don’t think sacking me is the right answer. You’ve only got to look at previous managers and what they’ve gone on and done when they’ve left. They’re good managers, and I’m a good manager. I believe in myself and I will turn this around, if I’m given the opportunity.

'I’m angry at the situation because I have to concede that Altrincham deserved to win'...

Altrincham had not won in their previous five league fixtures, and ahead of this test Johnson made a couple of changes to his starting line-up following the 4-3 defeat at Coventry last time out. Swindon loanee front-man Michael Smith was ineligible, so the fit-again Marley Watkins was handed a return, while youngster George Maris was also given a rare chance to shine at Moss Lane. Southampton loanee Lloyd Isgrove had to be content with a place on the bench, alongside the welcome sight of the presumably now fit-again Conor Hourihane.

The Reds could probably have done with Hourihane being on the field in what turned out to be a laboured performance in a goalless first half... The goal that killed the Reds’ cup hopes came exactly 60 seconds into the second period. And, ironically, it was the player who has arguably been the best of a bad bunch so far this term who was at fault. Manchester United loanee Ben Pearson, so impressive so often despite the recent tribulations, dithered in the midfield and was robbed by Ryan Crowther, who charged at the heart of the defence before firing in a shot which was parried by Davies.

The ball fell invitingly for Damian Reeves, and the Doncaster-born hot-shot slammed home the rebound to sink his fellow Yorkshiremen. There was still plenty of time for the Reds to try and find a way back into contention, but they struggled to do that in difficult conditions and against a part-time outfit who defended like Trojans...

The final whistle was followed by the customary pitch invasion by overjoyed Altrincham fans, with Johnson later adding, 'We didn’t have enough. It’s been no secret that we have been poor recently, and some of the players need to now look very deeply at how we’re going to turn this form around. More players need to be putting their bodies on the line. Too many are taking opportunities to go under at the moment... It is unacceptable what went on here. Maurice Watkins and Ben Mansford know things have gone wrong, but they are being very supportive'".

More comes from Barnsley Vital Football, which says "With FA Cup disappointment and an apology behind us, manager Lee Johnson has now turned his thoughts to the Johnstone's Paint Trophy tie against York City tomorrow evening... With defiance and a desire for change in the air, we go quickly into the Johnstone's Paint Trophy tie against York now looking for a turnaround in fortunes, and Johnson's expecting a tough game once more.

'Josh Scowen is going for a scan today. Josh has been fantastic for me, he`s a great lad and if he's out we'll miss him. Conor Hourihane came through ok which is good as he did well when he came on. We are checking on Lloyd Isgrove today and Marley Watkins is suspended because he has five yellow cards. There is an opportunity for somebody and we'll change things round. You never know, we might find a hidden gem in the academy...

'By winning tomorrow we keep our Wembley dream alive. We would love to give the fans a day out and it's an opportunity for the players... We need a win. The players need it, the fans need it, I need it. The next win, hopefully on Tuesday, will galvanise everyone and start us on an upward cycle'. There was fire in his belly as he spoke though, and he was determined to turn our current form around. 'I'll never stop fighting. I'll keep going, that`s been built in me since I was a kid. The players need to get that belly of strength to come out and produce everything they`ve got.'"

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

GRAHAME SPEAKS OUT ABOUT KICK-OFF TIME

Grahame states, "I can't say that I was pleased when we were asked to move the kick off time to accommodate BT Sport. This is the second time in two seasons that we've been asked to play away at one of our furthest fixtures at lunchtime, last time it was at Welling, a 442 mile round-trip and all for the princely sum of £1,000.

"The cost of hotels, meals and an additional day's travel will cost the club approximately £3,500, so where's the justice in the distribution of TV funding? It's certainly a matter I will be taking up with the Conference bosses at the AGM and I hope to rally the support of other clubs who have suffered the same injustice".

NEXT GAME

Mike Garnett provides the statistics on games between our two clubs...

• Home: P110-W52-D27-L31-F232-A172
• Away: P98-W29-D26-L43-F142-A190
• Neutral: P8-W5-D0-L3-F16-A15
• All: P216-W86-D53-L77-F390-A377

LEE ON THE BARNSLEY MATCH

The second half was only moments old when Barnsley keeper Adam Davies parried a Ryan Crowther shot, and Reeves pounced on the loose ball to put Alty ahead. The home contingent in a bumper crowd erupted, but there was just one problem for Sinnott - he didn't know which set of fans were celebrating.

'I missed the goal, because I was still in the changing room, looking at my notes,' said the Alty boss after a hard-fought 1-0 first-round win. 'Not only that, I didn't know which side had scored. A roar went up, but it could have been Barnsley's fans, as easily as ours, because they travelled over in numbers.

'Thankfully, when I got back out, one of the lads on the bench said "Reevesie, 1-0". There was a sigh of relief, but, of course, there was still a long way to go. There was still a job to do, but the players did it superbly. It was sheer grit that got us through in the end.'

Alty rolled back the years to the days when Cup upsets were the norm under skipper John King, and Sinnott added, 'I challenged the players to draw inspiration from that side and they rose to it magnificently. I never like to put myself forward in these situations. I'd rather stand in the background and see everyone else smiling and enjoying themselves.

'This result and performance has rekinded things a bit. Altrincham are a brilliantly traditional non-League name in the Cup so, to show everyone it's still alive, still there, is great. I'm delighted for everyone. We have supporters who still vividly remember the Cup exploits under John King and others, and it's nice to think we may have revived a few memories for them.'

Alty went closest to breaking the deadlock in the first half, when a 30-yard piledriver from Jake Moult was tipped over. They came under intense pressure in the closing stages, but, such was the protection for keeper Tim Deasy, he was hardly tested, even though injured stand-in skipper Luca Havern had to be replaced by teenage centre-back Sam Heathcote for the last 26 minutes.

'We defended well as a back four, as a back six and even as a back eleven, because everyone did their job,' said Sinnott. 'I had to crack the whip a bit at half-time, because there seemed to be a feeling what we were doing would be good enough to see us through the second half, which it wouldn't.

'The response was all I could have asked for. It was grit and a strong mentality that got us through. That's the defining tactic when you see a Cup shock. It was the marrowbone of our performance. When Luca came off, I could have juggled things and put Jake Moult to centre-back, but you have to trust people. Sam is only 18 and still learning his trade, but I trusted him, and you could see why. He did really well.'"

TRANSPORT TO BROMLEY

As previously indicated there will be no organised transport to Macclesfield this Tuesday.

MIXED FORTUNES

However, the Alty Youth Education team lost in midweek, 6-1 away to AFC Fylde.

BARNSLEY GAME REVISITED

Above: The jubilant scenes after Saturday's match, with Michael Rankine and Jordan Sinnott leaving the pitch in the foreground.

Brian Flynn, has provided a recording of Saturday's Radio Robins' commentary on the Altrincham v Barnsley FA Cup tie. It can be heard here.

Alty goalscorer Damian Reeves was an excellent studio guest on Sunday evening's Match of the Day.

Barnsley FC report that "Head Coach Lee Johnson spoke to the press after watching his side go out of the Emirates FA Cup in the first round against Altrincham...

'I’m massively disappointed,' said Johnson. 'I have to be big and say congrats to them, they deserved their win. They had more energy and we didn’t show the character to break them down... The whole club needs to work out how to go forward, there’s a losing mentality at the minute. “We need a clean sweep of the mind-set and get some people to change. I take full responsibility and it’s my place to make sure that changes. We’re not in a situation where we can feel sorry for ourselves'.

Johnson was asked about his squad today and the on-going injuries that he has to deal with after Josh Scowen went off the pitch through injury. 'We’ll assess Scowen', continued Johnson. 'He was in tears at one point. We had a decision to make whether we took him off or left him on, and I wanted to get him off and assessed even though it was important for him to be on. Marley Watkins today played with an injury so fair play to him. Conor (Hourihane) was playing a week too early and Lloyd Isgrove played with a shoulder injury as well. That’s three players that have put their bodies on the line for the club and that’s what we need...

'I apologise from myself and the players. Nobody wants to see their club get giant-killed. I also say thank you, I understand they’re upset but they could be more disruptive and they haven’t been. I will be fighting till the end to get this back for them'".

Barnsley Mad says that "Barnsley were knocked out of the FA Cup [by non-League opposition] for the first time in 40 years! Marine FC, who were in the Cheshire County League, beat Barnsley 3-1 in November 1975. It is the first time they have been eliminated in the first round since 2004. It means Barnsley have lost each of their last six games in all competitions. The first time this has occurred since they lost their first six matches of the 1986-1987 season. The Reds have lost eight of their last nine matches and failed to score in four of those. Barnsley have failed to score a first half goal in any of their past five matches. They have gone nine games without a clean sheet in all competitions."

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

If Darren Edmondson it to keep his job as Barrow manager come the end of the month, he might like to concentrate on keeping eleven players on the pitch at the final whistle. Barrow's goal came from the penalty spot, courtesy of Andy Cook. At least Edmondson can't say the sending-offs cost us the game, as we were 2-1 down when Mellor was given his marching orders (48 mins), and by the time Nick Wilmer-Anderton saw red (78 mins), we were 3-1 down".

MORE CUP UPSETS

• Didcot Town 0-3 Exeter City (12pm)

The games at 2pm on Sunday, from which highlights are being shown, are:

• Bristol Rovers 0-1 Chesham United (Chesham also missed a penalty)
• Brackley Town 2-2 Newport County (Brackley were 0-2 down and equalised in added time)
• Aldershot Town 0-0 Bradford City
• FC Halifax Town 0-4 Wycombe Wanderers
• Gainsborough Trinity 0-1 Shrewsbury Town
• Maidstone United 0-1 Yeovil Town (Yeovil finished with nine men)
• Braintree Town 1-1 Oxford United
• Whitehawk 5-3 Lincoln C.
• Port Vale 1-1 Maidenhead United (3pm)

YOUTH MATCH OFF

MANAGERS' VIEWS ON ALTY v BARNSLEY

Gavin Rathbone's image captures Simon Richman in the heart of things in the Alty midfield against Barnsley.

After Saturday's win over Barnsley, Alty boss Lee Sinnott told the Non-League Paper that he had not seen Alty's goal as it occurred straight after half time, before he had reached the touchline. He admitted "I had a go at them at half-time a little bit... I just thought we'd done OK and sometimes you need to get the whip out a bit, don't you? Otherwise, they'll think that's good enough for the second half and I didn't think it would be. We just had a few quiet words.. I didn't go bananas, because we had done well, but just to see us through and see if we could get the result we've got now".

He added, "All non-League teams who beat higher opposition show the grit and mentality that 'No, we're not going to be broken down, we're going to win everything'. That is the defining factor when you see a shock. We showed that today.

"I'm pleased the Cup spirit has been rekindled. It's ben a while since Altrincham, a brilliantly traditional name in the FA Cup, have shown everyone it's still there. We have some supporters who remember those games in the 80s. It's nice to see it's come back for people like that".

Counterpart, Lee Johnson, manager of Barnsley lamented, "I'm angry and frustrated. They deserved their win today which is not on, from our point of view.... I just feel there's a soft underbelly all the way through the club. The 18s can't get a win, the 21s can't and the first team can't. We need to shake it up and, if I'm still here like people keep questioning, then I'll be the one to shake it up".

ALTY v BARNSLEY IN WORDS AND IMAGES

Right: Mike Ripley captures Damian Reeves's joy at scoring the winning goal on Saturday.

Match report here.

• Gavin Rathbone's images of the game are here
• Mike Ripley has photos of the game here

The goal sparked a triple substitution from Head Coach Lee Johnson... The game did change on the substitutions and the Reds looked dangerous, with the best chance falling to Wilkinson who hit his volley just wide. The Reds had a late onslaught into the Altrincham box but couldn’t find an equaliser after some good saves from Tim Deasy in goal. Hourihane hit the bar with a free kick, and Wilkinson had a late volley trickle just wide. In a match that saw lots of stoppages in play, many free kicks, torrential rain and a bobbly surface, the home-side came through winners by the single goal."

SECOND ROUND DRAW

BRAINTREE CHAIRMAN HITS NAIL ON HEAD

Braintree chairman Lee Harding hits the nail on the head in the NL Paper, saying, the increased payments will be "A free pass back into League Two".

The NLP explains that "The money League Two clubs receive for dropping out of the Football League... is now set to soar to a total of over £700,000... and a further £237,000 in their second year down".

Harding says, "This is an absolute disaster for non-League football. It's a reward for failure. If there is that sort of money to spend on clubs that have failed in their objectives there is money to invest at our level, to distribute it fairly around this level. The game at this level is disintegrating and the fault lies at the door of the Football Association... This is a Football League matter but the FA govern them and provide backing... Once again they have let us all down, the rich are getting richer and the rest of us are left to suffocate.

"What they (the Football league) are looking to do is close the promotion trapdoor. If they can't do it by failing clubs on ground grading issues then they are going to do it by giving relegated clubs a £500,000 head-start to help them get back there... They don't want us in there, the romance of it will be over".

The Braintree chairman continued, "The amount one of these two (relegated) clubs will make in parachute payments alone is three or four times the size of our playing budget and many others' as well. What they want is the same two clubs down back up again... It's great for the two clubs and very bad for the other 22... We get £40,000 from central funding for being National league members. They are coming down here with nearly £500,000... plus that £40,000".

League Chief Executive Shaun Harvey opined, "We've seen a number of clubs suffer severe financial trauma folowing relegation and, in some cases, fold altogether. As a result, it became increasingly clear that we needed to review existing arrangements".

FIRST ROUND ROUND-UP

At Kingsmeadow Elliott Frear netted a dramatic last-gasp winner as Forest Green Rovers knocked out AFC Wimbledon. The visitors took the lead on six minutes thanks to Darren Carter before Callum Kennedy equalised midway through the first period. The game looked like it was heading to a replay but midfielder Frear popped up from just outside the box and fired his side in front deep into injury time.

Seventh-tier Stourbridge meanwhile booked their passage into the next round with a 2-1 win over Dover Athletic. Aswad Thomas cancelled out Stourbridge’s opener from Chris Lait before goalkeeper Mitchell Walker saw red for the hosts and Karl Hawley’s spot-kick gave the visitors victory.

There was also jubilation for three League Two sides as Barnet, Stevenage and Northampton all dispatched of League One opposition... It all started so well for Wealdstone who were 2-1 up against Colchester – a side 71 places above them – but four goals from Macauley Bonne ended their dreams in a 6-2 defeat. Winners of the Cup in 2008, Portsmouth are through after Adam McGurk netted either side of a Kristian Dennis goal as Macclesfield went down 2-1.

In the north-west, Bury put four past Wigan without response while Accrington Stanley held on for a 3-2 win over York City... There were plenty more goals in the day’s other fixtures with Grimsby Town winning 5-1 at home to St Albans while Leyton Orient were 6-1 winners over Staines Town.

Meanwhile three ties will need a replay to find a winner as Dagenham & Redbridge drew 0-0 at home to Morecambe while it was also goalless between Mansfield and Oldham Athletic, and 1-1 between Northwich Victoria and Boreham Wood".

FA CUP ROUND ONE

• Salford City 2-0 Notts County

Saturday 7 November

• Burton A. 0-3 Peterborough U. (att. 2517)
• Barnet 2-0 Blackpool (1869)
• Cambridge U. 1-0 Basingstoke T. (2974)
• Mansfield T. 0-0 Oldham A.(2886)
• ALTRINCHAM 1-0 Barnsley (2570)
• Crewe A. 0-1 Eastleigh (3008)
• Northwich V. 1-1 Boreham Wood
• Coventry C. 1-2 Northampton T. (9124)
• Grimsby T. 5-1 St Albans City (2263)
• Hartlepool U. 1-0 Cheltenham T. (2287)
• Dover A. 1-2 Stourbridge (1392)
• Stevenage 3-0 Gillingham (1619)
• Millwall 3-1 AFC Fylde (3445)
• Walsall 2-0 Fleetwood T. (2532)
• Bury 4-0 Wigan A. (3856)
• Portsmouth 2-1 Macclesfield T. (9834)
• Sheffield U. 3-0 Worcester C. (11108)
• Barwell 0-2 Welling U.
• Crawley T. 1-2 Luton T. (1929)
• Doncaster R. 2-0 Stalybridge C (3991)
• Dagenham & Redbridge 0-0 Morecambe (900)
• Leyton Orient 6-1 Staines T. (2287)
• Accrington Stanley 3-2 York City
• Scunthorpe U. 2-1 Southend U. (3335)
• AFC Wimbledon 1-2 Forest Green Rovers
• Plymouth A. 0-2 Carlisle U. (6005)
• Rochdale 3-1 Swindon T. (2060)
• Wealdstone 2-6 Colchester U. (2440)

In the First Round Proper winning sides receive £18,000 whilst clubs selected for live TV match coverage receive £67,500.

ROUND TWO

ALTRINCHAM 1 BARNSLEY 0

Match report here.

Right: Damian Reeves takes a deserved breather with his marker before the rain deluge at the J. Davidson Stadium.

LEAGUE RESULTS

• Gateshead v Southport POSTPONED
• Guiseley 3-1 Barrow
• Torquay United v Wrexham POSTPONED

BEFORE THE GAME: ALTY v BARNSLEY

Before the match Altrincham will make a matchday decision about the fitness of Nicky Clee but four injured players will certainly be missing, goalkeeper Stuart Coburn, defenders Tom Marshall and Shaun Densmore, as well as striker Michael Rankine.

Saturday's referee is Mr Andrew Haines of Sunderland, who has overseen Altrincham previously but has not seen them score a goal! His previous encounters with us are...

• ALTRINCHAM 0 WEYMOUTH 0, Nationwide Conference, played on Saturday, 7 October 2006.
• YORK CITY (2) 5 ALTRINCHAM (0) 0, Nationwide Conference, played on Saturday, 17 September 2005

Barnsley tell us that "Barnsley will meet referee Andy Haines for an eighth time this weekend, with the Reds enjoying a mixed set of results with the official in the past. The most recent of those meetings came in December 2013 when the Reds went down to a 1-0 home defeat against Bolton which was a third defeat in Haines’ company; with two draws and two wins also coming the Club’s way when Haines has been at the helm...

He has overseen 11 games so far this term, dishing out 33 yellow cards and two reds".

TYKES' PREVIEW

Hosts Altrincham meanwhile, are currently on a four-match unbeaten run including three draws in the National League and an FA Cup qualifying victory against Chester... with the Greater Manchester-based Club losing just two of their last 10 home games they will prove strong opposition for the Reds at the J. Davidson Stadium despite the 45 league places between them".

Head coach Lee Johnson is likely to name a strong side... That will see goalkeeper Adam Davies remain between the sticks, while Sam Winnall is likely to lead the attack for Barnsley once again. Both Marley Watkins and Conor Hourihane are facing a race against time to be fit for the trip to Greater Manchester, with Irishman Hourihane further ahead in his recovery from a hamstring problem.

One man who will not be involved however is Ryan Williams who remains side lined with a groin injury, while the Club will have to wait to discover whether or not on-loan winger Lloyd Isgrove can feature under the terms of his loan switch from Southampton".

Someone to have played for both Alty and Barnsley is Ryan Shotton, "the versatile defender joined Saturday’s hosts Altrincham on loan for the 2007-08 season at the age of 18... Shotton spent the 2008-09 season on loan at League One side Tranmere... and in September 2009 Shotton joined Barnsley in the Championship. Despite failing to score for the Reds and picking up two red cards during his time at Oakwell, the current Derby County man became a regular for the Tykes; making 32 appearances as Barnsley finished 18th... After further loan moves to Wigan and then Derby, he joined the latter on a permanent basis in January".

FLYNNZINE

1970 Winter Solstice Woes for Tykes

I can remember seeing Barnsley play on three occasions, the most recent of which was for an FA Youth Cup 1st Round game at Oakwell, which saw George Heslop’s Altrincham Youth team bow out of the competition to an impressive Barnsley Youth team by a 4-0 scoreline, in a game where my abiding single memory is Kieran Lugsden sending a penalty into orbit, with the score at 2-0 early in the second half. Barnsley’s goals were scored by Nicky Wroe, Nathan Joynes and a second-half brace from Simon Heslop. All of the scorers, as well as Nathan Jarman and Rhys Meynell, went on to play against Alty for various National League Premier and North clubs…with Simon Heslop featuring here last Saturday for Torquay United.

In the Altrincham Youth team that night were Lewis Chalmers, Kieran and Kelvin Lugsden, Ashley Timms and Alex Frost.

My other visit to Oakwell, which is a lovely stadium, was in Barnsley’s single season in the Premier League, when an Ashley Ward goal was enough to secure all three points against Derby County, in front of a crowd of almost nineteen thousand, in a game played three days after Christmas Day 1997.

It was my first Barnsley game that, despite being so long ago, was the most memorable. Fittingly, considering today’s fixture, it was an FA Cup game, and a tie that shows how much the competition has changed in recent decades. Four days before Christmas in 1970, I went to an FA Cup 2nd Round, Second Replay between Barnsley and Rhyl. Many younger fans will not understand the term second replay, but these were the days before penalty kicks were introduced to decide FA Cup Replays, which continued until one of the combatants prevailed. Second replays were played at a neutral venue, which was generally half way between the location of the competing clubs and following draws at both Belle Vue and Oakwell, the venue chosen for this game, quite remarkably was Old Trafford!

I believe that the crowd for this encounter was around three thousand and I watched from the Old Stretford End as the Welsh side, then members of the Cheshire League, triumphed 2-0, setting up a third round trip to fellow countrymen, Swansea City, who ran out 6-1 winners to end the North Wales’ side excellent run. To my knowledge, this was one of only two games, that today’s opponents have played at Old Trafford, the other didn’t end too well either, as Manchester United ran out 7-0 victors in that one season sojourn in the Premier League (1997/8).

South Manchester does not appear to have been a good hunting ground for the Tykes and most Alty fans would settle very happily for a third fruitless trip to these parts, although it’s over twenty years since a Football League team left this ground with their FA Cup run for the season completed.

It’s a big day, and a big game for everyone involved... enjoy it, if you can".

BIGGER REWARDS FOR FAILURE

• 100% of the equivalent Basic Award payment made to League 2 clubs in the first year following relegation.
• 50% of the equivalent Basic Award payment made to League 2 clubs in the second year following relegation (unless a club achieves promotion back to The Football League at the first attempt).

The Football League's Chief Executive, Shaun Harvey said, 'In recent seasons we’ve seen a number of clubs suffer severe financial trauma following relegation from The Football League and in some cases fold altogether. As a result, it became increasingly clear that we needed to review existing arrangements and address our approach to managing the financial transition for clubs in these circumstances. I would like to pay tribute to our clubs for taking this decision which is testament to their collective solidarity, given that the League's financial distribution formula means that the bulk of this money will come from funds that would otherwise be provided to Championship clubs, who are ultimately the least likely to benefit from it."

Clubs also voted to amend the existing parachute payment regulations within The Football League which will see:

• Clubs relegated from the Sky Bet Championship receive 11.1% of the Basic Award payment to Championship clubs for one season.
• Clubs relegated from Sky Bet League 1 receive 12.6% of the Basic Award payment to League 1 clubs for one season.

This change will ensure that clubs receive an enhanced figure... For illustrative purposes, this would have equated to £230,000 and £85,000 respectively for the current season (whereas relegated clubs actually received £120,000 and £50,000 respectively under the previous regulations)... Additionally, existing regulations relating to clubs that default on transfer payments to their fellow clubs were strengthened."

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

AFC boss Darren Edmondson has been looking for cover on the left-hand side of defence after Neil Ashton was taken off injured in the 4-1 defeat at Wrexham last weekend, and Wilmer-Anderton fits the bill. The 19-year-old, who played on loan for Aldershot in their 3-1 win at Holker Street in September, has signed on youth loan deal terms until December 5. Mo Fofana has been loaned out to his former club, Conference South side Oxford City, for the same period of time, as Edmondson juggles his pack in a bid to reverse AFC's poor form of late."

National League says that "With a few managers in the zone to receive the Vanarama National League Manager of the Month Award the panel decided on Chris Kinnear of Dover Athletic... The Vanarama National League Player of the Month is Will Norris of Braintree Town. His club may have suffered a loss at Lincoln City, their only one during the month; but a number of clubs have come up against a 'keeper who has performed magnificently in the Vanarama National and the FA Cup. Will, who is on loan from Cambridge United, has proved to be a shrewd signing by manager Danny Cowley".

SIGNATURES

HOPING FOR A RECORD

Ticket sales up until Wednesday night had topped 2,000 and, with two further days of sales, Chairman Grahame Rowley is hoping for a crowd in excess of 3,000. He said, 'Ticket sales have gone well at both clubs and I'd like to think that we can get somewhere near or even beat our best FA Cup attendance in the last fifteen years, which was 3,302 for the visit of Darlington in 2001'.

Tickets are available from the ground between 10am-7pm today & Friday. Full details and arrangements for the game can be found here.

ALTY BOW OUT OF FA YOUTH CUP

Match report here.

The above team photo, taken before the game, is courtesy of Michael Ripley who has more images from the,game here.

Rochdale have a match report on Wednesday's FA Youth Cup win over Altrincham. "In an entertaining game at the J Davidson Stadium, his second half goals ensured victory for Dale over Altrincham FC. Rochdale gave their all in a dominant first half but were twice denied by the woodwork and were kept out by a string of excellent saves by ‘keeper Daniel Havern, who deserves the plaudits.

Gilliam went on to open the scoring shortly after the hour mark and put the game to bed four minutes from time".

SATURDAY'S REF

BARNSLEY BOSS LOOKS FORWARD TO ALTY GAME

Barnsley add that "Reds midfielder Ben Pearson is looking forward to a 'local' match this Saturday, with a trip to Altrincham practically on his doorstep. Pearson has played at Moss Lane many times with Man United's Reserves, and can't wait to face Altrincham in the FA Cup First Round.

'I know a few of their players and it’s not far from my house!' Said Pearson. 'The lads I know told me they are strong and they will be well up for it. It’s probably the biggest game of their season. If we get the win it’s something to build on and we need that. We have York on Tuesday so, if we win this one, it will put us in good confidence. The game has come at a good time. We’ve had a torrid time of it the last few weeks but now we’ve got two cup games in which we are favourites so we should win and gain in confidence for the Port Vale game.'

After a run of defeats in recent weeks, Pearson is determined that the team get back to winning ways. 'In my career I’ve probably never lost three games on the bounce so this is new to everyone', he continued. 'We’re all frustrated and annoyed but we’re taking each game as it comes. We need to pick up points as quick as possible. It’ll all come back with confidence. The gaffer has been great and each game we have a different plan. We’ve been on a bad run but if we win the next two the confidence will be back'".

Also we learn that "Lee Johnson is upbeat ahead of this weekend’s first round FA Cup first round tie against Altrincham... He is hopeful of a couple of players returning from his injury list. 'We’re going to try Marley Watkins', said Johnson. 'Hourihane we are hopeful of, he’s also doing work today. Ryan Williams is still out. Kadeem Harris has gone back to Cardiff', confirmed Johnson...

Johnson said he was ‘excited’ at the prospect of the Reds' first ever competitive meeting with Altrincham FC. 'I’m buzzing for this game', said Johnson. 'It can’t come quick enough. We go into it excited as the fans will be there and if we can put in the performance needed and get a result, it could be a catalyst for us... I was delighted with the draw because I love the cup...

They are a solid side that works hard, which you’d expect at that level. We need to go out there and respect the opposition but there’s nothing we don’t know about them. They had lots of our [their?] staff at our game on Tuesday so they’ll have a plan too... Going into these games there’s a realistic chance that if we perform we’ll get the results'".

And the Yorkshire Post adds that "Barnsley's next port of call may be Moss Lane and not Wembley, but for Lee Johnson, Saturday’s FA Cup first-round tie at Altrincham is very much a ‘cup final’... with Johnson’s nine-and-half month tenure very much on the line if the Reds lose out at Altrincham...

Johnson’s predecessor Danny Wilson was in a similar position before Christmas... After seven successive defeats, the situation is just as serious, if not more grave for Johnson, who is under no illusions of the importance of Saturday’s tie... [After] Tuesday’s 4-3 loss at Coventry City – which equalled the Reds’ worst losing league run since 1958-59, he said, 'I believe if we play like we did at Coventry, we will win. We have to make sure we respect the opposition as it’s a big game for us. The players have to treat it not like an FA Cup first-round tie, but a cup final and we will get them going to do that'".

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Meanwhile central-defender Nathan Smith has had his loan spell from Port Vale extended until the end of the season. 'They want to win, they want to prove people wrong and they're both characters that I want to work with', said Torquay manager Kevin Nicholson... Verma is a former team-mate of Nicholson, with the pair having played for Harriers together last season... He scored two goals in 14 games for Kidderminster this season...

'He's exactly the kind of character and kind of attitude that I want in the building', Nicholson told BBC Sport. 'Ability-wise, he's an athlete, he's big, he's strong, but he's also very good on the ball and when we get in the opposition's half and we want to get the ball down and play; he's certainly got that in his locker. Andre brings something that we've not really got at the moment, particularly with Tyrone Marsh being out, which is that pace and threat in behind'".

Meanwhile, Shrewsbury Town report that "Town winger James Caton has joined Wrexham on loan until 2 January, 2016.".

At Guiseley, "The club can confirm the loan signing of winger Adam Smith from Wrexham pending international clearance... Smith, 30, will move to Nethermoor on loan until January with the prospect of extending the deal likely to be discussed in the new year.

The winger lists Mansfield Town, Lincoln City and FC Halifax Town among his former clubs and joins Liam Marsden and Anthony Dudley in arriving on loan at Guiseley in recent weeks... Said Mark Bower, 'He’s got plenty of experience at this level and we’re confident he can give us something extra in the final third as well as providing extra competition for our attacking players'".

EMIRATES FA CUP: ALTY v BARNSLEY

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Tickets are on sale this week from 10am to 7pm at the J Davidson Stadium (cash only) and are also available online.

VIEWS ON BARNSLEY

'I thought, first half, they were brighter than us', said Johnson. '"Our back four showed a bit of fear in their play and conceded another poor goal after we got back into it. We rallied and, second half, we were the better side. The lads were playing for everyone. Coventry are a good side and we penned them in. We should have had another penalty and quite a few attempts at goal.

'Pearson, Scowen, Isgrove and Mawson were fantastic, they were excellent. We keep conceding goals from basic errors, it’s far too basic. It’s not the way the errors are coming it’s the timing of them. At 2-1 we are in the ascendency then we give another poor goal away. We’ve come away to a good side it was always going to be difficult and we’ve been clapped off. It won’t be long before we pick up results, I’m sure of it. A couple of players will be coming back and even that side today looked good enough to gets results'.

'The one thing that I felt was weak, was that it is very easy to play at 3-1 down. What you must do is have the same attitude at the start of the game as we did the second half. We had some fear in our team which played into their hands, and their chances were from us giving it away. I bet if we saw the shot count there won’t be much in it. Their good chances were from poor errors'.

The Barnsley boss now has back-to-back cup ties with a trip to Altrincham on Saturday before hosting York in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy next Tuesday.

'We’re short at the moment, we’ve got injuries', he added. 'Our bench tonight was really young, maybe a bit too young. It’s really important that we get a win Saturday and then Tuesday. If we play like that we will. We will fully respect the opposition but it’s a big game for us now, the players can’t treat it like a first round tie it needs to be a cup final. We’ll take an abundance of fans I’m sure and I hope everyone enjoys their day.'"

The BBC has "Lee Johnson's post-match interview with thoughts on Saturday here and player Josh Scowen's post match interview with thoughts on Saturday here.

Scowen told the Barnsley website, "'We let ourselves down in the first half. We had a right go in the second half and scored three goals... I think we knew we had nothing to lose, second half. We gave it a right go. We should play like that from the start of the game. We've scored three goals which is something we haven't done in a while so that's something to build on.

I think that's why we're losing, from little individual mistakes... As long as we don't argue amongst ourselves, we do have the players to get through this'".

The local Barnsley Chronicle adds that "Barnsley suffered their seventh successive League One defeat...

Head coach Lee Johnson made just one change... as Adam Davies replaced Nick Townsend in goal. The formation also changed to a 4-3-3 with centre-back Mawson partnering Scowen and Ben Pearson in midfield while Sam Winnall and Lloyd Isgrove were either side of Michael Smith in an attacking three".

MACC GAME

THREE YEARS AGO...

By way of mitigation for the outcome, Altrincham did play six teenagers and included four players making their first-ever start for the Club, i.e. Danny Mitchley, Derryn Ofori, Sam Grimshaw and Ollie Riley. The full squad for the game was 1. Adam REID, 2. Shaun DENSMORE (capt), 3. Sam GRIMSHAW, 4. Oliver RILEY, 5. Matt DOUGHTY, 6. Scott LEATHER, 7. Derryn OFORI, 8. Patrick LACEY, 9. Danny MITCHLEY, 10. Ryan BROOKE, 11. Duncan WATMORE. Subs: 12. James LAWRIE, 14. Damian REEVES, 15. Simon RICHMAN, 16. Nicky CLEE, 17. Jake MOULT

SPONSOR A GAME!

BARRY'S HALLOWEEN MEMORIES

CHESHIRE SENIOR CUP

Tuesday games:

• Chester 10 Winsford United 1
• Cammell Laird 1907 2-2 Nantwich Town. Laird won 5-4 on penalties AET

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Macclesfield Town "head into this weekend’s FA Cup clash against Portsmouth with added options in the squad as the injury list begins to shorten. Recently the Silkmen have had a number of players sidelined, including Chris Holroyd, Paul Lewis, Neill Byrne and Theo Bailey-Jones.

However Macc’s last outing against Braintree saw Holroyd return to the starting line-up, whilst Lewis made his comeback from the bench. Manager, John Askey, was happy to have a bolstered team for the trip to Cressing Road, but was disappointed to see Danny Rowe miss out.

Askey told Silkmen Player HD, 'Danny Rowe has been doing well for us, he was ill, so we missed Danny, being naturally left footed... We’ve got people coming back and hopefully for the rest of the season it will make us stronger when we need to be'. Byrne and Bailey-Jones are still recovering from injuries, but the strength in numbers is gradually increasing for the Macc boss."

RADIO ROBINS

Coverage starts at 7.40pm with the game kicking off at 7.45pm. You can listen to Radio Robins on the internet here.

FA YOUTH CUP ON WEDNESDAY

Get in good voice for Saturday's Emirates FA Cup clash with Barnsley (see below) by coming along to the J Davidson Stadium tonight Wednesday (4th) to support the Altrincham FC Youth (under-18) team as they take on Rochdale in the FA Youth Cup First Round Proper (7.45pm). Entrance is just £3 (£2 for concessionaries).

It is the team's first home match in the competition after successive, excellent away wins against FC United of Manchester, Workington and Newcastle Benfield.

Also tickets for the FA Cup match versus Barnsley will be on sale from 7pm at Wednesday's youth cup game and also at half time and full time.

BARNSLEY LOSE AGAIN

Next Saturday's First Round tie at Altrincham against Barnsley on 7 November is an all-ticket match. Tickets are on sale from Monday to Friday 10am to 7pm. Cash only sales can be made during these hours.

SKYLARKS' BIG DAY OUT

Darren Gregory advises us that "Altrincham Skylarks under 13s' team attended The FA Women's Super League Cup Final at Rotherham United's New York Stadium. They got free tickets and travel there and back in a competition they won via Twitter. The girls really enjoyed the day" as the above photo shows.

OLD BOY

The exciting, and very attack-minded, midfielder has already represented England under-21s this season and has a burgeoning reputation following an impressive season with the club’s reserves last term. With the game dead and buried by the time the 21-year-old entered the fray on Sunday, the former Altrincham lad grasped his opportunity in front of the Sky cameras and went about his business with a refreshing naivety that only youth can bring.

He certainly did not allowing the surroundings to affect his game and went on to make the recent media darling, John Stones, look a little silly on a number of occasions with his quick feet and direct style.

A fantastic prospect for the future on Wearside you would imagine? Well, this is where things get a little more complicated.

You see, young Duncan’s contract runs out next summer, and with a host of Premier League and Championship sides circling like vultures, Sunderland could lose out on a fantastic player if they don’t act quickly.

It is believed that contract negotiations were due to take place but Dick Advocaat’s departure and the upheaval within the club that followed resulted in postponement.

Thankfully, Sam Allardyce has already seen enough in training or in coach reports to make the Watmore situation one of his top priorities, presumably behind how he can possibly improve a pathetic defence, but that in itself is another matter altogether.

‘Duncan Watmore is one we’d like to resolve as soon as possible,’ said Allardyce after the game. This will be music to Black Cats fans’ ears, as is the understood eagerness of the player himself to remain on Wearside should certain assurances as to development within the first-team squad and, you would presume, a bit of a pay-rise [materialise?]...

There are some similarities to the impact which James McClean had when he burst onto the scene under Martin O’Neil a few years ago. Much like McClean, Watmore plays the game with no fear, has a willingness to drive at his opponent which gets the fans on their feet but seems to possess a great deal more skill and ability in the final third than McClean could ever dream of.

Thankfully, whilst McClean was never the sharpest knife in the drawer, Watmore is undeniably an altogether different prospect having earned a first class honours degree in economics and business management last year, becoming only the second Premier League footballer to do so in the process.

Quite simply, Sunderland can’t afford to lose a talent like Watmore."

MACC MATCH ARRANGEMENTS

Both sides shared the spoils with one win each last year in the league, while Altrincham also managed an FA Trophy victory over the Silkmen, but with Macc once again impressing at home this year, John Askey's side will be confident of winning the bragging rights for their fans.

It all makes for a great game next Tuesday...

Tickets for the game are priced at:

Seating:

• Adult (advance) £17.00 or (matchday) £19.00
• Concessions (65&Over) £13.00 or £15.00
• Students £4.00 or £5.00
• U18 £4.00 or £5.00
• U12* £2.00 or £3.00

Standing:

• Adult (advance) £13.00 or £15.00
• Conc (65&Over) £9.00 or £10.00
• Student £4.00 or £5.00
• U18 £4.00 or £5.00
• U12* £2.00 or £3.00

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

'After looking back on the incident that led to my sending off on Saturday, I realise how wrong I was to act in this way,' he said. 'I am fortunate that my actions did not cost us the game and am thankful to the lads. I know that I let the team down and would like to apologise to all the people associated with Torquay United FC; the Board of Directors, staff, the Gaffer, team-mates, and, of course, the supporters of the team.

'I would especially like to apologise to the supporters who made the trip to the game and to my team-mate Dan Butler. This was totally out of character and the first time I have been involved in an incident like this. I accept my punishment of a three-game ban and promise all associated with the club that I will return from my suspension, after I have regained my fitness, and do what I am best at, scoring the goals that will hopefully push us up the League table'"

According to the Football Conference "FC Halifax Town have taken goalkeeper Russell Griffiths on a month`s loan from Everton. Griffiths joined Everton’s Academy at the age of 14...

England under-20 international Griffiths spent time on loan with Northwich Victoria at the beginning of the season and is only just back from another temporary spell with Colwyn Bay."

Chester FC "are delighted to announce that forward James Roberts has had his loan extended at the club for a further month. Roberts, 19, joined on loan from Oxford United last month".

And the Chester Chronicle adds that "Chester FC will receive £8,000 compensation for Kingsley James following his summer move to FC Halifax Town, a tribunal has decided.

Although 'disappointed' with the fee for the England C international, chairman Grenville Millington said the club respected the ruling made on Friday at Wembley. The FA tribunal decision includes a 20% sell-on clause should the Shaymen receive a fee for James in the future...

The Chronicle understands National League rivals Halifax made bids of £5,000 for James on two occasions with the Blues turning both down because the amount fell short of their valuation. Rotherham-born James moved to Chester in summer 2014 on a 12-month deal after leaving Hereford United...

Halifax failed with two bids for James but then announced he had signed for them in July meaning a tribunal would be required".

"Macclesfield Town "remain in 13th place following a 1-0 loss to Braintree, however striker Kristian Dennis is hopeful that the Silkmen can push on. P> Macc had plenty of goal scoring opportunities against the Iron and they were unlucky to come up short... P> Dennis told Silkmen Player HD, 'We’re always creating chances, we had a good few chances, myself as well which I should’ve scored but games like that happen, so we’ve just got to keep our heads up and go again next week'.

The Manchester born striker has been in fine form for his club, netting ten league goals already, however he welcomes the introduction of the former Kidderminster talisman, Reece Styche...

'At the minute it’s only me fit upfront so with Styche coming in it takes a bit off pressure off because there’s another striker who can hopefully score a few goals'... P> Not only did Cressing Road see Styche’s debut from the bench, it also saw Chris Holroyd and Paul Lewis return from injury...

'We’ve got quite a few coming back now, like Neill has been in training, Paul Lewis came on, Chris, so I think everybody will be fit within the next couple of weeks and we should be al right going into the Christmas period'" added Dennis.

*Must be accompanied by an adult.

TV TONIGHT

Tickets for Saturday's FA Cup match between Altrincham and Barnsley will be on sale at this screening. Meanwhile the Altrincham FC Football Careers, Scholarship & Education Programme team has drawn Peterborough United away in its league cup competition. Click on the above image for the full-size poster version; (warning the file is more than 6MB). Please display the poster if you can, with the premises' owner's prior agreement, of course!

LEE SPEAKS ABOUT TORQUAY GAME

"JE: We were a bit slow out of the traps in the first half, weren't we Lee?

LS: I would agree we were beating ourselves to an extent in the first half with passes that went astray and being on our heels a bit. But in saying that, I still felt there were patches when we were doing things right. There were little phases where we were cutting through them. Torquay were very much a team who were quick on the counter attack but I thought that, when we did get it right, which admittedly wasn't often enough, we passed through them. It was one of those games where people might expect me to be angry and annoyed with the players, but I'm not.

Without actually matching the result against Chester, I've seen parts of the football we produced against them last week. Once we start doing that consistently, we'll be fine. That's what we are looking for, consistency. We were getting right back into it when they scored, and that seemed to knock us out of our stride a bit.

Maybe the goal was a bit of our own doing. I'll need another look to be sure, but I would say collectively we might have done better. Sometimes we do tend to alehouse it a bit and go route one, which isn't like us. That can be done at times, but not when it's two banks of four. You're not going to be the winners in that scenario.

JE: What were your thoughts on Jake's equaliser?

LS: You've got to say it is a contender for strike of the season. There are different types to consider for goal of the season. It will come into consideration for that as well but, as strike of the season, it will surely take some beating. As a sweet spot strike, it was absolutely superb. I was having a laugh with Moulty after the game, because he was giving me a bit of a dirty look after I chastised him over something. I can't remember exactly what it was, but it would have been a defensive matter. Two minutes later, he sticks it in the top corner from 35 yards. That's one way of shutting me up, I suppose! It was wonderful technique and a wonderful strike, absolutely unstoppable when you consider the speed it was travelling at and the way it went away from the keeper.

No one is going to pull that out of the air. We all remember his goal against Brackley in the play-offs a few years back but this was further out and even better. I can't wait to see it again on the DVD. I always say to the players I will take any flak for having a shot at goal. I encourage them to do that, because you've got to buy a ticket. What we've been guilty of, if anything, is trying our luck from the edge of the area and clearing the bar. Jake was a lot further out but found the top corner, so fair play to him. You've got to back yourself in those situations, and one thing Jake isn't short of is self-belief. He's bought a ticket, all right. In fact, he's come up with The Golden Ticket.

JE: What was the message at half-time?

LS: We simply took stock of the first 45 and how we were making our own problems a bit by not being as in tune as we should be. They were swift on the counter, but we needed to play round them a bit and move them around the park.

Torquay started the game at a high tempo, but you can't keep that going all afternoon. I said to the players afterwards we are sometimes guilty of trying to force things, instead of keeping possession and moving the ball around. If you are moving the ball, you are moving the opposition, and if they have started the game the way Torquay did, then find themselves chasing, they are going to tire. After 65-70 minutes, they will start to fatigue, and if you keep moving the ball around the park, they'll get stretched and opportunities will arise.

So the main message was to look after the ball. For instance, when they scored, I thought we looked like we were inside the last two minutes of the game, and still one-down. We were trying to force everything, instead of playing a bit of a chess game and waiting for space to open up.

JE: Ryan Crowther's introduction in the second half certainly stretched them, didn't it?

:

LS: He went on to give us width, and he delivered on that. He is a confidence player, give him the ball and he will run at people. It illustrated the point about fatigue setting in. Two Torquay players were booked for fouls on Ryan, and each time, they didn't fancy turning and running with him, so they stuck a leg out and took the card, instead. That's what he brings to the play.

JE: Finally, on the injury front, it looks like Michael Rankine may be struggling to make the FA Cup tie with Barnsley, but what about Nicky Clee?

LS: Nicky has to rest for seven days after having an injection in his groin to see if it can get him over the finishing line. The problem is not as bad as it has been, but it is a seven-day settling down period, then we'll see how things are. That will take us pretty much up to the end of the week, so it's clearly going to be a late shout for the Cup-tie".

WORDS AND PICTURES FROM TORQUAY GAME

Alty TV has highlights of the game but had camera problems in the second half. Coverage of that half has been provided by Dan Jones but it does not include the Radio Robins commentary - thanks to Dan who provided footage from the BT camera. Unfortunately no Radio Robins commentary. Hope to have the camera patched up for next week (providing the BBC will give us space on the gantry):

BRIAN LOMAX R.I.P.

BARNSLEY BOSS SPEAKS

Johnson quickly confirmed... 'There’s no new injuries, and there’s nobody back either. We go into tomorrow very much the same as we did at Scunthorpe... It’s another tough game. We have to go to Coventry and cut out the mistakes. We have to dig in, we need to get a result. We’ve got to change the mentality and the mind-set now, the lads have to embrace where we are (in the league) and get out of it...

'It’s a new month now and my aim has to be manager of the month... We’re all a bit disappointed as we wanted to do well and that hasn’t happened so far, but we still have belief that we can turn this around with a couple of tweaks'. The Reds have failed to score from open play for seven games now, and Johnson was keen to ensure that run ended quickly.

'We need the goal from open play,' Johnson demanded. 'It’s become a bit of a ‘hoodoo’ now. We’ve had some great chances and 'keepers have pulled off great saves, then we’ve missed a penalty, so we’re creating which does give us hope. Maybe someone can come up with a bit of magic, or a great finish, or we get a ricochet and it goes in! This is my worst losing run ever. My motivation doesn’t change, I still have my eyes on the prize and I need to make sure I pick the players up'".

Barnsley also report that "The Reds will be desperate to avoid a seventh league defeat in a row when they travel to Coventry on Tuesday night... Lee Johnson’s side have also now failed to win away in the league since the middle of August... The Sky Blues [have] yet to taste defeat on home soil at all this season... Barnsley's last win in Coventry came in August 1923...

Head coach Lee Johnson remains without several key players... Conor Hourihane (hamstring), Ryan Williams (groin) and Marley Watkins (ankle) are not ready to return... Strikers Simeon Jackson and Conor Wilkinson will be eager for a chance to show what they can do, while in defence teenager James Bree is pushing for a recall".

In the Yorkshire Post, we read that "Lee Johnson has confirmed he will run the rule over former Reds midfielder Hugo Colace, who will arrive at his old club for a trial shortly. Johnson and the Reds are doing it tough on the back of a grim six-match losing streak, the club’s worst ever at this level of football.

Johnson, who came under-fire from some supporters at the end of Saturday’s 2-0 loss at Scunthorpe United... is keen to add to fresh bodies to his squad and will hold a recruitment meeting with owner Patrick Cryne today. One option is Argentine schemer Colace, who played over 100 games for the Oakwell outfit between 2008 and 2010.

Johnson said, 'Patrick is in today and we will have a chat and it’s a recruitment meeting. Hopefully, positives will come out that and we will get one or two in... We know we are looking for that experience. But given the fact we have so many loans already, we have to be very picky on what we take in'... Johnson added, 'Hugo is due to come in; he’s just to sort his flight out. There’s no secret there. He’s 31 and I know he’s been working hard physically and sending me some videos of him working and doing some work with a professional trainer. He has a fond memory of the club and the fans have a fond memory of him. But I will assess it just like I would any other player.

'There’s a couple of others who are out of contract who we might have a look at and look at their fitness levels to see where they are. We have got to make a decision on if it will be worth bringing someone in that we need to get fit, given that January is too far away yet'".

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

'In the first major change of its kind at the club for more than a decade, the Board of Directors are tremendously excited about the future of the club, driven by the specific aim of bringing it closer to its local community. Colin and Rod met with the club's three largest shareholders recently, Neil Savery, Jane Murrant and Barry Norgrove. All three were prepared to transfer their shares for a nominal amount to Colin...

Gordon commented, 'Myself and Rod have a very clear vision of what we see as the future for this football club; essentially it needs to once and for all become self-sufficient, and a servant to its local community. Over a large period of time, it is clear that our supporters have been asked, time and time again, to give their money and time in support of the club's ambition to chase the dream on the field, while the club has not been in a position to sustain any such thing.

'We believe that, on and off the field, this club is one that needs to regain its identity and regain the support of its fan base; as a club that communicates transparently, and supports local people and families in every way it can. Quite simply we have to become a football club that is no longer dependant on the results on a Saturday afternoon or the receipts through the gate, because this club hasn't been able to survive purely on those things for many years now. The aim for us is to be able to put the club on a level where, through its own revenue streams, it is fully self-funding and then things like gate receipts and season ticket money can be a real bonus'...

In order to secure the major shareholding of the club, Colin has confirmed that he has made a significant, immediate cash injection in to the club, with a commitment to further deposits between now and the season to ensure the immediate viability of the company... He has stopped working as an intermediary (agent) in order to follow through with his ambitions at Aggborough, adding, 'I did not necessarily see this as a conflict of interest but the FA were quite clear that where I was concerned, it needed to be a choice between my work here at Kidderminster or my career as an agent. I was more than happy to end my involvement as an agent because I fully believe in what I want to do here'...

Gordon's final words were for the Harriers supporters... 'If anyone doubted what we see as the future for this club then I believe they will have witnessed some of it on Saturday. We saw young, hungry players who were well coached and drilled, picking up a win that was fully deserved and playing some good football under tough circumstances... Our ambition is to be a success not only at this level but above as well'".

The BBC says that "Torquay United striker Tyrone Marsh must 'grow up' after being sent off for pushing a team-mate, according to manager Kevin Nicholson...

'It's two team-mates having a good go at each other and he's pushed his mate away', Nicholson told BBC Radio Devon. 'It's not like he's punched him in the face, he's not punched him round the throat, he's pushed him away'.

Marsh, 21, joined the Gulls in the summer after being released by Oxford United, and had found a rich vein of form since Nicholson took over at Plainmoor in September, scoring in each of his last three appearances. 'Marshy was very good for 80 minutes, but he's got to grow up, he's got to learn, you can't give a referee any opportunity whatsoever with things like that', said Nicholson. 'As daft as what it is, it's the first time I've been involved on the pitch when that's happened in 20 years of playing'...

Nicholson, who is considering whether to impose any sanction on Marsh, feels his side are improving after the 1-1 draw at Altrincham made it four league games without defeat... 'We're crawling our way back up there and we're showing a lot of good signs', Nicholson added."

In the Grimsby Telegraph, "John Fenty insists that those in charge of Grimsby Town are running a tight ship but reiterated that the club's future lies away from Blundell Park. Town's latest set of accounts revealed that the club made net losses of over £78,000 for the year ending May 31, 2015. The club's accumulated losses carried forward now stand at over £4-million ...

Speaking to the Telegraph, Mr Fenty and fellow director Stephen Marley stressed that the club has 'first-class' financial controls... 'We also had further cash injection from Lee and Sue Mullen of £10,000, which went towards our preparations for Wembley, and also an additional £50,000 in shares' he said. 'It is an expensive business keeping football clubs going and these figures absolutely reinforce the fact that we need to relocate... We don't have a sustainable business because of where we are located...

'The actual cash requirements of the club doesn't change from year-to-year; it's about £250,000 a year to keep it going, as it stands'. The club say, when it comes to their hopes of building a new stadium on Peaks Parkway, the ball is very in North East Lincolnshire Council's court".

ALTRINCHAM 1 TORQUAY UNITED 1

Right: Damian Reeves brings a Torquay opponent to his knees! This and other photos by Mike Ripley, from the Torquay game, are here.

Match report here

YOUTHS DRAW

RESERVES' WIN

WONDER-FUL

SATURDAY GATES

• Att: 1060 Altrincham v Torquay United
• Att: 344 Boreham Wood v Gateshead
• Att: 687 Braintree Town v Macclesfield Town
• Att: 1890 Eastleigh v FC Halifax Town
• Att: 1561 Forest Green Rovers v Chester FC
• Att: 653 Guiseley v Welling United
• Att: 1449 Kidderminster Harriers v Woking
• Att: 2550 Lincoln City v Bromley
• Att: 845 Southport v Aldershot Town
• Att: 4486 Tranmere Rovers v Dover Athletic
• Att: 3892 Wrexham v Barrow

SATURDAY NATIONAL LEAGUE GAMES

• Gateshead v Southport
• Torquay United v Wrexham

ALTRINCHAM 1 TORQUAY UNITED 1

Right: Jake Moult celebrates his goal. Image courtesy of Gavin Rathbone.

After the game, manager Lee Sinnott told the NL Paper, "You can't win every game or play brilliantly every game. But if you showed some of the passing and the delivery of balls that we put in, then that'll do me".

JAKE'S GOAL

"NEW RECRUITS "EVENING

The evening was initially hosted by Brian Flynn but, due to a double booking of the Club's media maestro, he was substituted at half-time by Alty assistant manager Neil Tolson.

To start the evening, Brian asked Kenny's opinion of Saturday's match against Torquay. "Rubbish" came the Alty super fan's immediate response. Asked about their impressions of the Club, Tim described it as "a properly run Club".

Discussing the bizarre sending off of a Torquay player for striking his own team-mate, the four guest players confessed to their own red cards. Tim even admitted to being sent off for punching a Northwich Vics' player which helped to redress the fact that he had subsequently spent two years playing for Alty's mortal enemies!

Above: The guests enjoy Kenny Palin's rendition of "There was an old woman, who swallowed a fly"!

Referring to next week's FA Cup tie against Barnsley, Michael would have preferred to meet his home town club, Doncaster Rovers, whilst George favoured a tie against his native Walsall. Michael's biggest FA Cup game to date had been at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea (for Scunthorpe), and against Stoke City, when playing for York City. As for Josh,he had reached the third round on one occasion as had Tim, both at Middlesbrough and Sunderland, whilst playing for Barrow.

George recalled his best FA Cup memory being his first goal at professional level which arrived in the FA Cup, against Exeter City.

After detailing their previous clubs - Michael's list of ex-employers being comfortably the longest, the players revealed which Alty players they had known before arriving at the J. Davidson Stadium. Tim had known Luca Havern and Adam Griffin during his time with Stockport County, whilst Josh had known fellow new recruit George Bowerman at Walsall. Michael had known Josh from Hereford and also Damian Reeves who was a fellow Doncastrian.

Asked why Alty repeatedly failed to perform against lower clubs yet excelled when faced with higher opposition, Michael explained that lower clubs don't give you as much time on the ball.

Outside Altrincham FC we learned that Josh is doing a physiotherapy degree at Salford University, whilst George has recently set up a coaching company. Tim works for his cousin on a building site and will arrive for Tuesday night matches after a hard day's graft on site. Michael has no job outside Alty and is keen to make up for years of moving round the country by spending more time with his eight year-old son.

Explaining how they arrived at Moss Lane, Tim explained that injury had sidelined him and he had joined Northwich to get back to fitness. Being captain there, he had stayed for two years before Neil Tolson contacted him to join Alty. Referring to his goalkeeping rival Stuart Coburn he described the injured custodian as "a top guy".

George revealed that, over the summer, he had had to choose between Alty and Saturday's opponents, Torquay! He had done no research on Alty beforehand; indeed none of the four were well informed on Altrincham's magnificent FA Cup record! One of the features that had impressed Josh when he signed for Alty was that the chairman had made him a cup of tea! Michael had made some enquiries about Lee Sinnott and Neil Tolson and, based on the favourable outcomes, he had joined us!

Neil now took over as compere.

Michael said that one of the reasons he was enjoying himself at Alty was that "You can express yourself here". In other words, he was not forced to play a role which was not his forte. He was now enjoying his football and felt "A weight had been lifted off his shoulders" at Alty after a couple of years of not enjoying the game. Tim revealed that the management duo "don't rant and rave... except after the Braintree game!" [Alty lost 0-4 that day].

The players were then asked about their rituals and superstitions. Tim always has a warm towel and a rub down from physio Alan Ainsley before games, always enters the pitch at 2pm exactly and always has four drinks, not three or five!

For his part, George always eats spaghetti bolognese on the eve of a match whilst Josh will always drive the same way to the ground if he has played well in the previous game. Michael revealed that, after the team handshakes on the pitch he always does a big jump and, before the game, he likes to be the last out of the toilet!

The players were reticent about who they thought would win the National League, but three of them agreed that Wrexham had been the best team we had played so far.

The players' football heroes included Alan Shearer (Josh), Robbie Keane (George) and Schmeichel (Tim), whilst Michael selected his uncle.

As for the most famous opponents they had played with or against, Tim nominated Wayne Rooney in a Bury v Everton reserves game, whilst George went for John Macken the ex-Preston striker. Josh had been on the field with Robbie Fowler and Tugay, as well as Mascherano and Pique. Michael had played against Michael Owen, Berbatov and Vidic.

Asked about why he used to hitch up his shorts, George Bowerman admitted that Lee Sinnott had asked him to stop doing so!

Neil then paid tribute to Lee Sinnott for not moaning about the dreadful injury list we have had this season. The "biggest moaner in the squad" nominations included Michael Rankine, Shaun Densmore and George Bowerman.

Tribute was played to physio Alan Ainsley, who spontaneously nominated Michael as the top moaner at the club. Michael explained that he did not moan, he just had high standards.

The evening ended with Kenny Palin's inimitable rendition of "There was an old woman who swallowed a fly"!

GULLS' VIEWS

It wasn’t long before United broke the deadlock when Hurst did well in the build-up to feed the lively Marsh who cut inside before getting in a strike that found its way beyond the ‘keeper and into the back of the net with 24 minutes on the clock.

It was a deserved lead for United and soon afterwards, Marsh caused more problems for the home side as he went close to doubling our advantage.

With United well on top, a loose ball from the home side was picked up by Fisher whose shot was pushed around the post by the ‘keeper with just over ten minutes to go until the interval...

A corner was only half-cleared into the path of Moult whose powerful drive from distance found the back of the net to make it 1-1...

There was a bizarre red card for Marsh with around ten minutes to go after he and team-mate Butler had a disagreement. The referee deemed it violent conduct and sent the goalscorer off... The closing stages petered out with the ten men of United playing out the game to take home a point as the 101 travelling supporters showed their appreciation for the effort displayed by their side".

Player-manager, Kevin Nicholson said, “We showed a bit of everything out there. The first half we were very, very good and the next step now is for us to be able to kill teams off in this situation. Altrincham didn’t know what had hit them early on, to be fair; we were defensively solid and played some good stuff, but we weren’t clinical enough.

“Our hosts came at us a bit more after the break, as we expected them to, but even then they didn’t really create anything and it took a worldly strike to bring them level. There was a bit of indiscipline; for me it was two team-mates showing that they care by having a go at each other. It was harsh, but the referee has followed the letter of the Law".

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

The equaliser arrived just past the half-hour mark... And just 2 minutes later Chester gifted their hosts a second goal when Ryan Higgins’ back-pass went straight to Keanu Marsh-Brown, who curled the ball beyond Jon Worsnop...

Dover Athletic moved to within two points of the top of the table in third after a fine 1-0 win at Prenton Park against a Tranmere Rovers side... A long ball forward found Ricky Miller who appeared the handle the ball to control before firing his shot past Iain Turner...

Lincoln City also missed out on the chance to break into the play-off places when they fell to a 1-0 defeat to fourth-placed Bromley at Sincil Bank. The Imps dominated the first half, but couldn`t convert their chances...

Braintree Town occupy the final play-off slot after also winning by the only goal of the game at the Amlin Stadium against Macclesfield Town. But the Silkmen will be wondering how they went back to Cheshire point-less after dominating the majority of the game and finishing with possession stats of 61% to 39% in their favour!...

Wrexham made it two league wins in a row as they beat Barrow AFC 4-1 at The Racecourse Ground... Struggling FC Halifax Town were condemned to a fourth consecutive league defeat at the hands of Eastleigh, who came from a goal behind to claim a narrow 2-1 victory...

The defeat means that FC Halifax now drop to the bottom of the league, with results elsewhere going against the Shaymen. And the biggest of those results was Kidderminster Harriers finally managing to break their win-duck at the nineteenth attempt!

Jordan Murphy's dramatic late header saw Harriers record their first win in twenty-two league games and first clean sheet in twenty-eight in a 1-0 victory over Woking at Aggborough...

Gateshead remain level on points with Wrexham and Braintree after a 3-2 win at Meadow Park against a Boreham Wood side who are just sitting above the drop zone...

Guiseley AFC leap-frogged Welling United into seventeenth spot in the table after a 2-0 win at Nethermoor... Third-bottom Southport picked up a point at home against Aldershot Town".

BARNSLEY WOE

And the Iron doubled their lead after Gary McSheffrey drilled home Scott Wiseman's pinpoint cross.

Barnsley's day went from bad to worse as former Scunthorpe striker Sam Winnall had his penalty saved by Luke Daniels after a foul by Murray Wallace".

The Barnsley team was 13 Townsend, 32 Wabara, 4 Roberts, 26 Mawson, 5 Nyatanga, 3 Smith, 7 Scowen, 19 Pearson, 34 Isgrove, 12 Smith, 9. Winnall. Substitutes: 1 Davies, 2 Bree, 11 Jackson, 16 Maris, 17 Abbott, 18 Wilkinson, 29 Templeton

After the game, Barnsley's "Head Coach gave his thoughts...

'I thought, first half, we were very good', said Johnson. 'We asked the players to show that spirit of attack. Straight away we got a shot off after Ben Pearson made that driving run. People were bright and positive in our intent. Then we can't legislate for that, it was a poor goal to concede.

'We kept going. I thought we were the better side in the first half. But we conceded another goal as we failed to stop the cross... Then we get the penalty and miss that as well! Sometimes you think if the footballing gods are with you or not'...

Looking ahead to Tuesday's match at Coventry City, he continued, 'Kadeem Harris is out with the start of a fracture to the shin. Conor's (Hourihane) out, Marley's (Watkins) out, Ryan Williams is out. Adam Davies was on the bench but he can't kick the ball. If he played he would need someone to kick the ball for him.

'We have to bat on. I genuinely thought we could get something today. We can turn it around. With our best 11, we are competitive in the top half of the division. We have players to come back and we have the chance to add some players'"