31 March 2022

ALLY AT ALTY

Sky Sports News cameras and BBC Radio Five Live were among a sizeable media presence at The J.Davidson Stadium last Friday after Alty were chosen by the National Lottery as the ideal launchpad for their Football Weekends scheme, due to the Robins’ extensive involvement with the local community.

McCoist was recruited to promote a scheme offering a free match ticket against Aldershot on Saturday... and he was at the ground at 7.30am, ready to take part in a range of activities and speak to each media outlet in turn.

After joining in with walking football in the Community Sports Hall, he gave a name check to one of the club’s many volunteers, Colin Mitchell, during a live interview with Sky Sports News.

'There is something real and honest about non-league football, and I have loved being here this morning with so many people at Altrincham Football Club,' he said. 'You are on top of the game, for one thing, and you get people like Colin, who I’ve just been playing walking football with. He works on the turnstiles, and he comes here two hours before kick off to make sure he’s ready to take the admission money.

'It means missing the first half of the game, and he does it for nothing as a volunteer, but he loves the club, and that’s what you get here'.

The following day was Non-League Day, and Mooney’s 87th-minute strike finally pierced Aldershot’s resistance to make it five straight wins at home, with 14 goals scored and none conceded.

'Aldershot sat back for most of the game, so we had to be patient,' said Alty’s on-loan right-back Harry Perritt. 'We stuck at it and deserved the goal when it came, no one more so than Dan.'”

NEXT OPPONENTS: FC HALIFAX TOWN

Meanwhile the Haliax Courier tells us that "The last two seasons could hardly have been more different for Town's new signing Pierce Bird.

The defender, who joined Halifax on loan from King's Lynn last week, played 30 games for Eastleigh as they just missed out on a play-off place in the 2020-21 campaign.

But a move to King's Lynn last summer hasn't been as successful. Bird was a regular for previous boss Ian Culverhouse over the first three or four months of the season in a struggling side, but slipped down the pecking order under Tommy Widdrington, playing just twice in the league in 2022.

'It's just the luck of the draw,' said the 22-year-old, who is with Town for the rest of the season... 'I enjoyed my time at Eastleigh, it was great, I loved playing every game there. But coming to King's Lynn, it didn't really happen for me, but that's football...

'I'm coming here to prove a point as well, to say that I am capable of playing'...

Nottingham born Bird started his career at local side Dunkirk before impressing Notts County, who were then in League Two, on trial in 2017 joining the Magpies on a permanent basis...

'I went in and trained hard, and earned myself a deal. There were some good managers, like Kevin Nolan, who signed me and played at the top level, so learning off him was good for me'...

Bird made 26 appearances for County, and had loan spells at Leek Town, Alfreton Town, Grantham Town and Boston United before joining Eastleigh in 2020.

'I was 18 when I signed there so I needed to go out and get some games'...

Bird is now focused on getting some game time with Halifax. 'I'm buzzing, they're a great club... I've just got work as hard as I can and just show the ability I can produce.'"

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Midfielder Davies, who scored twice in injury time as Wrexham won 6-5 to cap a stunning comeback against Dover last weekend, is doubtful... due to a lingering calf injury.

Said Parkinson, 'Nothing serious but he is still not 100 per cent happy with his calf. It is not a long-term one but we need to assess him closer to the weekend.'

January transfer window signing O'Connor made four appearances before picking up a hamstring problem and having suffered a set-back, the midfielder has missed the last seven games.

Full-back Hosannah limped off with a knee injury... on March 11 but Parkinson hopes he and O'Connor are closing in on a return...

Said Parkinson, 'We need to get them back in contention quickly, we have got a lot of games coming up'...

Goalkeeper Rob Lainton and centre-back Harry Lennon have both been ruled out for the season. Reds' number one Lainton was forced off with a wrist injury... on March 19 and last week had an operation after suffering a fracture and dislocation... Lennon last featured... on January 22 and he too has had to go under the knife because of a back injury".

ANDY WHITE

Following his impressive game last weekend against Aldershot Town, Andy spoke to Brian Flynn and the interview is available on Alty TV.

CONGRATULATIONS, RON AND JACKIE!

The couple have been volunteers at Alty for more years than they care to remember and have adapted to the growing demands of a busier-than-ever Sponsors' Lounge with an ease and willingness that has not gone unnoticed by the club or those availing themselves of matchday hospitality...

They are the latest worthy winners of our volunteer-of-the-month award, a £30 voucher kindly donated by one of the club's highly-valued backers, Blanchflower, to be spent on the delicious range of food and drink items at their town centre bakery-restaurant...

Said director Sam Mackenzie... 'The way they have reacted to last-minute changes has been fantastic. The can-do and calm attitude on some of our busiest days in The RedSoda Sponsors' Lounge has been above and beyond.'"

NEXT: ALTRINCHAM v FC HALIFAX TOWN

Currently, the Halifax Courier reports that "Town boss Pete Wild has issued a mixed injury update ahead of this Saturday's home game against Wealdstone.

Striker Aaron Martin and midfielder Kieran Green are expected to be available for selection having rejoined full training, while midfielder Luke Summerfield is rated 50-50 for the weekend.

But defender Jack Senior is a doubt having picked up an injury.

'Jack's got a sore back, a nerve problem in his back, so we'll see how that goes this week,' Wild said. 'We'll see how he responds this week, but it'll all depend whether he can join in full training on Thursday,' said the Town boss.

Wild said striker Aaron Martin is ready for selection, as is defender Pierce Bird...

Top-scorer Billy Waters is currently away with the England C team. 'Billy's away with England C, he'll be back on Friday,' said Wild".

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Many Town fans and opposition managers have commented on the pitch’s low quality, with Notts County boss Ian Burchnall saying it was the ‘worst’ they have played on all season...

One supporter asked the question why it was so bad at last week’s AGM.

In response, Goodwin said 'I think to start with it is because of the number of games that have been played on there. We inherited from the previous regime a contract that they signed for three years with Sheffield United for their ladies’ team and under-23s to play on it and I think this year there has been something like a hundred games played on the surface.

'It is the worse I have ever seen it, we will rectify it this summer, and we won’t have those contracts in future. The trust never signed those'...

He added 'And to make matters worse our previous manager would not use the training ground and would train on the pitch here at least twice a week, if not three times, despite us saying that it can’t stand it.'”

According to the Grimsby Telegraph "Grimsby Town have difficult decisions to make as a raft of first-team players approach the final months of their contracts. The Mariners have no fewer than 17 first-team players that could leave for free....

The club are in talks to extend the deals of their most popular players. Harry Clifton, Luke Waterfall and Michee Efete are amongst those believed to be in dialogue with the club.

Some of the Grimsby Town players have clauses in their contracts based on appearances which could also see an extra year added. Otherwise, some difficult decisions lie ahead for Hurst and the recruitment team...

The club want to avoid the mass overhaul of last summer where 17 new players arrived between the summer and Christmas... Grimsby Live casts a verdict...

James McKeown. Sadly, it looks inevitable that McKeown's time at Blundell Park will come to an end...

Michee Efete... Efete has been a huge plus down the right-hand side... Verdict: Keep.

Jordan Cropper. It would be unfair to cast judgement after only one match...

Luke Waterfall... He's been terrific, reliable and very consistent. He very rarely gets injured... He is worthy of a new contract.

Danny Amos... he's worth an extended contract...

Adam Crookes... Verdict: Release.

Ben Fox... Verdict: Keep.

Giles Coke. The Grimsby Town captain has never let the side down and is a reliable and experienced member of the squad... However, he will be 36 in the summer... Verdict: Release.

Scott Burgess... Verdict: Keep.

Harry Clifton... Verdict: Keep.

Erico Sousa... Verdict: Keep as an impact player.

Max Wright... Verdict: Release.

Sean Scannell... I don't think Scannell will be offered new terms.

Joel Grant. It just hasn't worked out... He hasn't started a match all season. Verdict: Release.

Lenell John-Lewis John-Lewis is current on loan at York City, where he's enjoying his football... Verdict: Release.

Ryan Taylor... Given his popularity with Hurst, another year would make sense".

29 March 2022

KOLE JOINS DABBERS ON DUAL REGISTRATION

The official Altrincham FC website reports that "Kole Hall has joined Nantwich Town on a dual registration to gain valuable match time during Altrincham's break from Vanarama National League action...

Alty are now without a game until the visit of FC Halifax Town on Friday, April 15th, other than Shaun Densmore's testimonial match on Sunday, April 10th, of course, so it made perfect sense for the Robins' frontrunner to get some minutes under his belt by going out on a dual registration".

ALTY TV MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

ALTY OLD BOYS AND LOANEES

For Bradford (Park Avenue), Luca Havern and Simon Richman played the whole match against Gateshead and Nicky Clee was a used substitute.

Osebi Abadaki and Mark Lees played for Matlock Town in their goalless draw with Scarborough Athletic, whilst Ritchie Sutton played the whole game for Alfreton Town as they drew 2-2 at home to Southport.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Sarll, 39, took charge of the club in 2019, after starting his management career at Stevenage three years earlier.

Sarll's contract was up at the end of season but in a statement Yeovil Town FC said he will leave with 'immediate effect'.

Assistant manager Charlie Lee will be stepping up as interim manager charge for the foreseeable future".

And Somerset Live quotes BBC Radio Somerset commentator Sheridan Robins as saying "I think it is safe to say that I did not expect to be writing this column yet. But, as was announced this morning, Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll has left the club to join fellow National League side Woking and so his three-year stay at Huish Park is now at an end.

It comes after Sarll oversaw three wins in a row... It is going to be a tough end to the season for Yeovil, as they face the prospect of another summer of change due to just one player being contracted for next season.

Sarll has brought together this tenacious group of young players, and it feels as if Yeovil will struggle to hold on to them if contracts are not discussed soon, as they have found with their manager.

That aside, it is important to mention just what a brilliant job Sarll has done in the most trying of circumstances. He joined the club in 2019 at a time when fans had lost faith in their team after they whimpered out of the Football League and propelled them into fourth position in the National League, only to have the season cut short due to the pandemic...

He told me that the group he managed last season will always be the strongest he has worked with due to their strength to continue to play football despite their incomprehensible loss [of their captain in tragic circumstances]. I know he will never forget Lee [Collins]...

What impressed me most was his ability to manage so many different players. In that first season, experienced pros like Jimmy Smith, Lee Collins and Charlie Lee all respected him immensely, but the stark contrast to the current side is the youth and exuberance. These footballers feel like they have been given a chance under Sarll, and he nurtured them through some tough spots of form, only to come out the other side...

Questions must be asked of the top of the club, as to how this was able to happen; losing a manager to a rival club in the same league is disappointing for any club and the lack of clarity about Sarll’s contract at the end of the season has been punished in the most severe way. The same will now be said for the players, with only Morgan Williams contracted for next season. The hierarchy at Yeovil need to escalate a takeover... or clarify what this means for the football club."

In the Derbyshire Times "Chesterfield director comments on departure of former manager James Rowe... Rowe was suspended in January amid allegations of misconduct and then departed the club by ‘mutual consent’ in February...

He took Town from the relegation zone to the play-offs in his first season and they were top of the National League when he left earlier this year.

The club has remained silent on the nature of the allegations... Director and vice-chair, Martin Thacker, revealed they had suffered ‘personal abuse’ for making the decision...

'I think everyone knows that James Rowe was a fantastic manager,' Thacker said.... 'You can imagine it would not be easy for us to have a difficult situation presented to us when we were top of the league... There was good reason to have to part company.

'The difficulty for us is that it is not appropriate for us to disclose the elements of what happened, the allegations, the insinuations, and all the things that were put to us'".

According to the Hull Daily Mail, "Andy Cannon is in line to get a first start for Stockport County this week following his shock move from Championship side Hull City last week. The dynamic midfielder came off the bench in the closing stages of Saturday’s 2-0 away win at Eastleigh to get his first outing for the Hatters.

County chief Dave Challinor says Cannon will likely start against Crewe Alexandra at Edgeley Park in a Cheshire County Cup game on Tuesday evening ahead of Saturday’s FA Trophy trip to promotion rivals Wrexham at the Racecourse Ground. Cannon... has struggled to make an impact at the MKM Stadium since his free transfer move from Portsmouth last summer...

Cannon explained his reasoning for opting to drop down to the fifth-tier of English football was to get regular football, but with Stockport flying at the top of the league, that would appear to be no easy task and he'll be keen to impress on Tuesday evening".

NEXT OPPONENTS: FC HALIFAX TOWN

FC Halifax Town report that last Saturday "Town suffered back-to-back defeats after a 2-0 loss at King’s Lynn Town. After the match, a deflated Pete Wild spoke to Shaymen TV...

'I’m not going to beat around the bush when I say that wasn’t good enough,' he admitted. 'I’ll always back my players if they give me their all, but I can’t protect them after that today. We were beaten by a team who wanted it more than us, but with that being said, Lynn’s first goal was offside and their second was a foul.'

Halifax looked promising in the first half of the game as Gerry McDonagh won Town a penalty that was unfortunately fired wide by Matt Warburton. Then, later in the half, a Martin Woods free-kick into the box was headed past goalkeeper Paul Jones by Niall Maher, but an offside Billy Waters interferred with play causing the goal to be chalked off.

So, after a good first half and the score at 0-0, Wild spoke... 'I said that our goal would come after we had a penalty and an offside goal,' he explained... 'However, what was said at half time didn’t happen because we never got going in the second half. We were just not good enough with and without the ball... Letting the fans down is what has disappointed me the most... Please, do stick with us through the bumps on the road.'

The Town boss also confirmed that new signing Pierce Bird will be in contention for Halifax’s upcoming games after missing the match with parent club King’s Lynn".

DENSMORE TESTIMONIAL

ALTY OLD BOYS

There were hat-tricks on Saturday for Ryan Brooke as Runcorn Linnets won 4-1 at home to Market Drayton Town and for Sefton Gonzalez, who also hit three, as Clitheroe walloped Trafford 5-0 at Shawe View.

In the NW Counties League, Darius Palma (right) scored for Wythenshawe Town in their 4-1 win at Charnock Richard and James Berry-McNally netted for Macclesfield FC in a 3-1 win at Congleton Town.

After last week's 18-0 romp, West Didsbury & Chorlton's championship challenge under manager Chris Rowley could only draw 0-0 at home to Alsager Town but they clinched the title in midweek against Barnton

Less happily, new Barrow manager Phil Brown driopped James Jones to the bench where he was an unused substitute on Saturday.

And, not an ex-Alty man but a pantomime villain for many of the club's supporters, Steve Evans has been appointed manager of Stevenage following his sacking at Gillingham.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Kensdale was replaced by Joe Gubbins at the break and, when asked if it was a tactical change or an enforced alteration, Blues boss Kevin Maher said 'It was a bit of both. He had a tight thigh but Joe gave us that balance on the left.'

Dennis then also had to be substituted 20 minutes from time after a spell of treatment... 'I’m not sure on Matty yet,' said Maher...'I’m not sure if it was his knee or his ankle.'”

Devon Live believes that "Torquay United took another step closer to the National League play-off zone with a comfortable 3-0 against visitors Weymouth on Saturday. The Gulls now sit just six points... off seventh place where Notts County currently hang out. And it is County who Torquay take on next after a Saturday off.

With nine games to go, the Gulls should have been at Stockport County next Saturday but the league leaders have an FA Trophy semi-final to play, so that game has been moved to a Tuesday night, and Torquay now have to wait until Saturday, April 9, for their next game, when they host County at Plainmoor...

After two wins on the spin after last Tuesday night's 4-0 home win against Aldershot Town, and seven goals and two clean sheets in five days, manager Gary Johnson comes across as a relaxed man right now...

He said 'Both the teams that we have played are teams that are trying to stay in the league... To be fair to Weymouth today, we had a 20-minute cosmic spell but they kept themselves in it. They didn't lay down and die for sure'...

Johnson said...'Obviously the third goal was vital, just after half time'...

'The next game is like last year's play-off game against Notts County,' he said. 'This stadium should be full because that is a six-pointer for sure. It's a big game for our club'".

According to the Leader Live "Wrexham came out on top in an 11-goal thriller as Phil Parkinson's side won 6-5 against relegated Dover at The Racecourse.

The Reds led 2-0 but after the Whites levelled by the break, found themselves 5-2 down early in the second half. However, Wrexham managed to get three points after scoring the next four goals with the winner coming deep into added time through Jordan Davies.

Victory extends the unbeaten run to 10 games and takes Wrexham up to third in the National League in the race for promotion.

It was no surprise to see Parkinson name an unchanged side on the back of Wrexham's superb performance when they beat title rivals Halifax Town 3-1 in midweek...

Wrexham managed to level at 5-5 as the game entered nine minutes of injury time. The Reds won a free-kick and Davies found the net to revive hopes of victory... but Wrexham got the winner deep into added time".

The relegation issues are not finally settled yet as the Eastern Daily Press informs us that "King's Lynn Town kept their slim hopes of National League survival alive with an impressive 2-0 home win over high-flying Halifax at The Walks.

Josh Barrett gave the Linnets the surprise lead in the 53rd minute and Gold Omotayo sealed the success in the first minute on injury time to secure a second victory in three games for Tommy Widdrington's team.

With Weymouth losing at Torquay, Lynn move up a place to 21st in the table and cut the gap to safety to seven points thanks to Aldershot losing 1-0 at Altrincham, although with the Shots still having a game in hand.

The visitors had seen a five-game winning streak end in midweek as they lost 3-1 away to promotion rivals Wrexham and they stuttered again, but only after having a goal disallowed for offside and missing a penalty in the first half...

Next Saturday provides a huge opportunity to keep applying the pressure on those above with a trip to Dover Athletic".

ALTRINCHAM 1-0 ALDERSHOT TOWN

Having recorded just two clean sheets in the first 27 league fixtures, they have now clocked up five shut-outs in their last six outings in the National League. And, quite remarkably, that run has been achieved with a back-five which, in most of those games, has included three young loanee defenders, all new to the club, and (for three of the matches) a veteran goalkeeper who had been called out of semi-retirement.

As a game, this win over Aldershot Town will not live long in the memory with neither goalkeeper particularly occupied and the late, deflected goal by Mooney which won the match by no means would be shortlisted as a contender for goal of the season.

A very unambitious Aldershot set the tone for much of the afternoon, only coming to a slighlty more animated life for a spell in the second half.

Match report here

SHOTS' VIEW

An early opportunity came for Altrincham as a wide cross fell to the feet of full-back Harry Perritt, but thankfully for The Shots, his effort whistled over the bar inside the penalty area after just a few minutes of action.

Aldershot Town responded by creating chances to score from both a corner and a free-kick inside the Altrincham half but the home side dealt with the threat well in both the 7th and 11th minute.

Following this, it would be Alty who typically would see more of the ball with The Shots looking to threaten on the break...

Altrincham continued to threaten in the second-half, but Aldershot Town stood tall to defend their attacks with manager Mark Molesley looking to freshen things up and offer a different threat with Jayden Harris replacing Harrison Panayiotou at the hour mark of the game...

Altrincham would find the opening goal late on and it was that man Mooney again finding the back of the net, courtesy of a deflection in the 87th minute".

TONY'S DOUBLE CENTURY

Liverpudlian Tony Thompson made his first appearance for Alty in a pre-season game on 8 July 2017. He had started out with Rotherham United (2012), from where he had loan spells with Chelmsford City and Southport in 2014-15 before he joined Morecambe, where he played one League Two game. Later in 2015-16, he moved to Chester FC before joining AFC Fylde in 2016.

He made his Alty league debut on 15 August 2017... as the early part of 2017/18 saw him sharing first-team duties with Tim Deasy. However, he soon established himself as the regular first choice for the remainder of the season.

However, he lost his starting place to Elliot Wynne before the end of August 2018, only to win it back, and lose it again in February 2019 when the experienced Steven Drench was signed. Having started the 2019-20 season as no.2 he regained his place in game seven after Drench suffered a serious Achilles injury and Tony deservedly retained the no.1 role for the remainder of the season.

In the absence of Jake Moult, Tony has also often captained the side.

2005 REUNION

On 15 May 2005, Altrincham regained their Football Conference status for the second time following their second relegation in 2000. They did so by beating Eastbourne Borough at Stoke City's Britannia Stadium on 15 May of that year.

To mark the anniversary of that occasion, Altrincham FC is organising the above reunion event, further details of which are to follow.

ALTY OLD BOYS AND LOANEES

ALTY RESERVES

NATIONAL LEAGUE SCORES

• Altrincham 1-0 Aldershot Town
• Eastleigh 0-2 Stockport County
• Grimsby Town 2-1 Dagenham & Redbridge
• King's Lynn Town 2-0 FC Halifax Town
• Maidenhead United 1-2 Barnet
• Notts County 1-1 Chesterfield
• Torquay United 3-0 Weymouth
• Wealdstone 1-1 Bromley
• Woking 2-3 Solihull Moors
• Wrexham 6-5 Dover Athletic
• Yeovil Town 2-0 Southend United

26 March 2022

ALTRINCHAM 1-0 ALDERSHOT TOWN

Having recorded just two clean sheets in the first 27 fixtures they have now clocked up five shut-outs in their last six outings in the National League. And quite remarkably that run has been achieved with a back five which, in most of those games, has included three young loanee defenders, all new to the club, and (for three of the matches) a veteran goalkeeper who had been called out of semi-retirement.

As a game, the win over Aldershot Town will not live long in the memory with neither goalkeeper particularly occupied and the late, deflected goal by Mooney which won the match by no means would be shortlisted as a contender for goal of the season.

A very unambitious Aldershot set the tone for much of the afternoon, only coming to a slightly more animated life for a spell in the second half.

In terms of entertainment, the game had started promisingly as Alty missed an early chance when Perritt cleared the bar from barely six yards out, following a Mooney freekick from the left (2 mins).

But the remainder of the first half was devoid of any real excitement, with no chances at either end. So the match was goalless at the interval.

Alty started the second half a bit more brightly but when Mooney and then Colclough both went down and neither won a freekick, the referee started to become yellow-card happy and by full-time had booked five Altrincham players for reasons which in some cases were baffling.

Having shown little ambition throughout, Aldershot began to get forward a little more in the last quarter of the game but neither side had the guile to break the deadlock until a deflected shot by Mooney, off Kinsella, found the net (87 mins).

Unsurprisingly given their good recent form, Altrincham were unchanged both in terms of the starting eleven and also as regards the substitutes' bench. So Tom Hannigan and Jordan Hulme remained amongst those sidelined by injury.

ALTRINCHAM (Red & white striped shirts , black shorts and white socks): 1. Tony Thompson (c), 23. Harry Perritt, 25. Toby Mullarkey, 24. Kyle Ferguson, 20. Andy White, 8. Elliot Osborne, 32. Isaac Marriott, 7. Dan Mooney, 10. Josh Hancock, 15. Matty Kosylo, 11. Ryan Colclough. Subs: 6. Jake Moult, 17. Ben Pringle, 26. Kole Hall, 27. A-Jay Leitch-Smith, 14. Jake Cooper.

The Shots made three changes as Kinsella, Lokko and Glover replaced Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jordan and Webb.

ALDERSHOT TOWN (All yellow): 24 Ethan Ross, 3. Lewis Kinsella (c), 5. Kevin Lokko, 6. Kodi Lyons-Foster, 7 Alfy Whittingham, 11 Harry Panayiotou, 14. Ryan Glover, 18 Mo Sylla, 22 Giles Phillips, 26 Alfie Saunders, 27 Tommy Willard. Subs: 1 Mitch Walker, 9. Mo Bettamer, 12. Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain, 16 Corey Jordan, 23. Jayden Harris.

ANOTHER LOANEE SIGNED

Nevertheless, on Friday, Altrincham FC announced that "Salford City midfielder, Hayden Campbell, has signed on loan until the end of the 2021/22 season and is available for the game against Aldershot Town.

The 19 year-old attack-minded midfielder, with an eye for the spectacular, can also play just behind the striker as a number 10, Hayden made his debut for the Ammies as a substitute in the 2-1 win at Rochdale in the EFL Trophy in November 2020.

Previously he had been with Port Vale, where he came through the ranks from a young age.

In September 2021, Hayden joined FC United of Manchester on a month-long loan and he has subsequently been on loan at Stalybridge Celtic, where he scored his first senior goal.

Hayden's squad number will be 34".

BEFORE THE GAME: ALDERSHOT TOWN

The Shots won both games 2-1 last season, with Chike Kandi scoring the winning goal in both games. Joel Nouble and Toby Eder also found the net to score the opening Aldershot goals in each match respectively. Earlier this season, the two sides met in December 2021, with the Robins twice coming from behind to secure a point in a 2-2 draw. Alfy Whittingham and Mo Sylla scored for Shots, with Toby Mullarkey and Ryan Colclough on the scoresheet for Alty...

Players remaining at the club from last season, include; keeper Tony Thompson, full-backs Sean Densmore and Connor Hampson, centre-backs Ritchie Sutton [out on loan] & Tom Hannigan, midfielders Jake Moult and Dan Mooney, wingers Ryan Colclough and Matty Kosylo and forwards Josh Hancock and Tom Peers [now departed]. Parkinson brought in 12 new faces at the start of the season and also re-jigged his playing squad around the turn of the year. Coming in more recently are; right-back Harry Perritt (on loan from Accrington Stanley), centre-back Kyle Ferguson and prolific striker Jordan Hulme, who has returned to Alty on loan from AFC Fylde.

Saturday’s referee is Andrew Miller. This season, to date, he has taken charge of 10 National League matches, showing 54 Yellow Cards and 1 Red Card...

There will be ‘Live’ BBC Radio Surrey Sport Online commentary of the match" as well, of course, on Radio Robins (link above).

INTERNATIONAL WATCH

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

The Stockport County centre half was due to conclude his second month’s stay after [today's] home match with Southend United...

Yeovil boss Darren Sarll... added 'Ben should be staying until the end of the season. The class of Stockport has been unrivalled, their sporting director, Simon Wilson, has been unbelievable for us'...

The boss also confirmed that Max Hunt, whose absence through injury coincided with the arrival of Barclay, was back in training with the first-team coach but said he does not expect him back until the middle of April.

But, of loanees forward Sonny Blu Lo-Everton and defender Jack Robinson, Sarll said the pair would have to fight for their places in the squad... Middlesbrough loanee Robinson has not been seen since the loss at Wealdstone at the start of February.

The manager said 'Sonny has to compete and get himself back in. There’s no divine right to play, I’ve probably shown in three years I have left out a lot of bigger players. Reuben (Reid) had to fight, Adi (Yussuf) has had to fight, it’s a meritocracy. My duty is to the club and the changing room and I have to give them the best chance to win matches.

'It won’t be the first or last time in Sonny’s career he’s had to fight. I’m not sure there’s another teenager which has made 16 starts in the National League. The contribution he’s had will stand him in stead. Jack is in and out with injury with a reoccurrence of a couple of injuries. He should be back on the training pitch next week, but when he’s fit he will have to fight Morgan Williams for that shirt.'

Sarll has also defended his decision to bring in loan goalkeeper Ted Cann instead of throwing number two Max Evans in to National League action... He said 'My duty is to the club and the dressing room to get the best available, if I didn’t think there was anything out there that was better and immediately available, I would have played Max. He knows his development plan, we’ve outlined that very clearly. He’s learning every week. Goalkeeping is a pressurised position and if you get it wrong at an early stage with a goalkeeper it’s curtains and I didn’t think it was the right time.

'Max has a big future, I would love him to be here next year... To ask him to play away at Dover and at home to Bromley, who we assumed would have been a physical team, that would have been hard for Max'".

According to the Derbyshire Times, "Chesterfield will be without the suspended Jim Kellermann for Saturday’s trip to Notts County.

The midfielder collected his tenth yellow card of the season against Altrincham in midweek, triggering a two-match ban... He will also miss next Saturday’s home game against Grimsby Town.

The Spireites did not bring in any new additions before Thursday’s transfer deadline which means they head to Nottingham with a stretched squad...

With Kellermann suspended, it will probably mean that Curtis Weston comes into midfield to replace him. Fraser Kerr is likely to come back onto the bench after being the only fit outfield player left out of the matchday 16 against Alty.

Tom Denton and Jak McCourt are thought to be the closest out of all the injured players to returning but they are still a couple of weeks away. George Carline, Luke Croll, Haydn Hollis, Manny Oyeleke, Jack Clarke, Kabongo Tshimanga, Danny Rowe and Nathan Tyson all remain out.

Notts County have injuries to defenders Richard Brindley and Kyle Cameron and so they brought in Sam Graham on loan from Rochdale for a third spell at the club. They also added experienced former Premier League midfielder, Harry Arter, 32, to their ranks last week. He joins on loan from rivals Nottingham Forest until May".

FC Halifax Town confirm that "Pierce Bird joins the club on loan from fellow Vanarama National League side King’s Lynn Town. The centre back has so far made 13 league appearances this season including our 2-0 win over The Linnets back in December.

Bird played for Dunkirk in the East Midlands Counties League, making his senior debut in August 2016 before having a successful trial at Notts County where he scored against York City in a pre-season friendly. The centre-back had various loan spells whilst with Notts County, including Leek Town, Alfreton Town, and Boston United. However, the defender failed to cement a first team spot and was released in June 2020.

Less than two months later Bird signed with Eastleigh... Having made 29 league appearances for the Spitfires, Bird left Eastleigh in June 2021 before signing for King’s Lynn Town.

Bird also has been called up to the Northern Ireland Under-21 squad and... made his competitive debut for the Northern Ireland Under-21s... during the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualifying Competition".

ALTY TV HIGHLIGHTS v CHESTERFIELD

MATT'S INTERNATIONAL ODYSSEY

The BBC reports that "Goalkeeper Matt Gould's pathway to international football has been far from conventional... His father Jonathan kept goal most notably for Coventry City, Celtic... and Preston North End before heading off to play in New Zealand.

His uncle Richard was chief executive both with Somerset and Surrey before taking on the same role at Bristol City.

And his grandfather is Bobby Gould, who aside from scoring prolifically for eight different clubs and managing Wales, orchestrated arguably Wembley's greatest FA Cup final upset when his Wimbledon 'Crazy Gang' beat Liverpool in 1988.

But Matt now has a tale of his own... For the last two games, and possibly a little longer yet, the part-time on-loan Nantwich Town goalkeeper and Wigan Athletic academy goalkeeping coach has been in Qatar with the New Zealand squad for their World Cup play-off qualifiers.

Called up as a replacement when one of the original squad had to pull out after testing positive for Covid-19, Gould got the surprise nod from the All Whites at the age of 28, as a result of the time he spent in the country as a youngster when his dad was player-manager of Napier-based Hawke's Bay United.

'I grew up in New Zealand from the age of 12. It's still a place I call home,' said Gould. 'For me to able to represent the nation is a very proud moment. I actually first got called up by New Zealand for an under-17s tournament, which was also in Qatar, and just missed out. I got injured and had to pull out'...

Gould's career began at Cheltenham Town and has so far taken in two Scottish clubs, Livingston and Stenhousemuir, FA Cup giantkilling success with Stourbridge Town along with Spennymoor United and Altrincham.

But, for the last four months, Gould has also been doubling up with Wigan, working under Gregor Rioch, son of former Scotland captain Bruce Rioch, as an academy coach...

Gould, loaned out by Altrincham to seventh-tier side Nantwich in October, was basking in the glory of keeping successive clean sheets for the Dabbers when he got his latest international call... Gould then headed to Qatar with his father... Gould has so far been on the bench for the 1-0 win over Papua New Guinea, a 4-0 victory over Fiji... then Thursday's 7-1 win over New Caledonia...

'It was a privilege just being involved,' Gould said... Gould's immediate ambition is to successfully see out next week's semi-final against Group A runners-up Tahiti and a possible final against the winners of the other semi between the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Then it would be on to an intercontinental play-off against the fourth-placed Concacaf side in June.

If New Zealand got through that, it would mean a return to Qatar for the World Cup this winter".

Footnote: Matt Gould has had a curious Altrincham career; he signed in August 2020 after being Spennymoor Town's regular goalkeepeer the previous season; he had spent two years in County Durham. Yet, he did not make his Alty debut until he played at Barnton in the Cheshire Senior Cup on 4 November 2020 and only made his Alty league debut on 3 May 2021. Over the whole season he was only named on the bench for four other league games.

Injury in a pre-season match in summer 2021 was a factor in his exclusion from the first four matchday squads of 2021-22 before, on 24 September 2021, it was announced that he was going to Nantwich Town, on dual registration, to regain match fitness. Owing to injury to Tony Thompson, Matt was recalled from Nantwich on 13 October 2021.

But Matt then returned to Nantwich Town and whilst there, in January 2022, he was called up to the New Zealand international squad for matches in the Middle East. It was announced, in early February 2022, that Matt would remain on loan at Nantwich till the end of the season.

So, to date, he has made just eight first-team appearances for the Robins over two seasons.

NEXT OPPONENTS: ALDERSHOT TOWN

Aldershot have recalled Mo Bettamer four days before his loan was due to expire. The striker was straight back in the Shots squad, coming off the bench in the 71st minute as they went down to a 4-0 defeat away to Torquay" last Tuesday.

NON-LEAGUE DAY AT ALTRNCHAM

John Edwards explains that "The game marks Non-League Day, for one thing, and plans are already in place for a full day of children’s entertainment, and much more besides, prior to kick-off and live screening of England v Switzerland in the Community Sports Hall after the final whistle.

It also happens to be our opponents’ Tour of Duty game, with in excess of 500 ‘Shots fans likely to make the trip north, and, on top of all that, we are delighted to announce that the National Lottery are once again demonstrating their support for football by offering free tickets... They are launching the National Lottery Football Weekends scheme, a buy-one-get-one-free initiative offering free tickets for games across the UK...

The relevant game for Alty is against Aldershot a week on Saturday, and the way it works for Robins fans is as follows:

You need to buy a National Lottery ticket... It can’t be an old ticket. It must be one that is valid and current at the time of the Aldershot game.. The offer is only open to supporters buying either adult or concessionary match tickets, though you can opt for a junior or child ticket as the free one, if you so wish. The limit per person is two tickets".

For full details, follow the above link.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE LEAGUE GAMES

Cannon has not featured under new head coach Shota Arveladze and since his free transfer move from Portsmouth last summer, the midfielder has managed just five starts in 11 appearances this season...

The 26 year-old, who originates from Ashton-under-Lyme has a year left on his MKM Stadium contract having penned a two-year deal in June, though the Tigers do hold an option to extend it by a further 12 months".

And League One Morecambe report that "Forward Courtney Duffus has joined Vanarama National League side Stockport County on a loan deal until the end of the seasons.

Duffus who joined the Shrimps in the summer from Bromley heads to Edgeley Park, to try and help the Hatters secure the National League title".

Meanwhile, the Birmingham Mail reports that "Former Birmingham City goalkeeper Lee Camp has signed a short-term deal with National League side Wrexham AFC.

Camp joins Phil Parkinson's squad for the remainder of the season following a brief spell at Northern Premier League side Clitheroe. He will provide cover to first-choice keeper Rob Lainton after his injury has ruled him out for the rest of the campaign...

The 37-year-old, who played for Blues between 2018 and 2020, will wear number 23 during his time in North Wales.

'It’s exciting,' Camp told Wrexham club media. 'Since finishing at the end of last season, there have been opportunities to get back in but nothing that has taken my fancy. You can get to a stage in your career where you just sort of plod along but I’ve never been that person. I’ve always wanted to be involved in stuff, add value and contribute, and be a part of something.

'Rob’s misfortune is why I’m here but to come to a Football Club with aspirations to get back into the EFL, and the excitement and the opportunity to be part of a promotion challenge and a semi-final in the FA Trophy next week. It’s exciting, it’s something you can get your teeth into and it gives you a buzz to get out of bed...

'I’ve kept myself in shape and I feel within a couple of days I’ll be sharp and ready to contribute'...

Meanwhile Parkinson added... 'He’s a keeper Lee Butler and I have known well over the years and he’ll be a strong addition to the squad'".

Loans between rival clubs in the same division used to be exceptional but they have now become a regular occurrence. A recent instance is confirmed by the Southend Echo which tells us that "Southend United have completed the loan signing of Dagenham & Redbridge defender Kenny Clark.

The 33 year-old centre-back has been back with Dagenham since 2018, making 100 appearances.

The experienced Clark has also played for Chelmsford, Dartford and Ebbsfleet having previously started his career with Dagenham.

The defender will be with the Shrimpers for the rest of the season".

And the Southend Echo also informs us that "United striker Harry Cardwell is expected to return to full training today.

Cardwell has been out since the end of February with a hamstring problem... 'That will be a big boost for us,' said Maher. 'He gives us a presence and leads the line ever so well. He takes a lot of the workload off other people too'...

Cardwell has scored twice in six games since joining Blues from Chorley back in January. The 25-year-old has missed the last six matches for the Shrimpers".

From another seaside resort, the Dorset Echo tells us that "Weymouth manager David Oldfield admitted the 2-0 defeat at Woking was 'a difficult loss to take'.

Oldfield’s men have now lost five consecutive Vanarama National League games, scoring only two goals in the process.

Woking sensed blood from the off with a fast start, Tyreke Johnson scoring after a succession of chances in the opening 17 minutes.

Weymouth improved as the first half wore on... In an action-packed game, Weymouth’s Tom Blair and Woking’s David Longe-King saw red in separate incidents.

The returning Ben Morgan then conceded a penalty which allowed Max Kretzschmar to wrap up a hectic victory for the Cards... Oldfield said 'The lads worked hard, they tried and deserved something from the game... It was a difficult loss to take. We created some chances and I was pleased with the level from the boys...

'We didn’t quite have enough to get over the line... We didn’t manage to score and obviously that hurts you... But there were some positives to be taken. We need to keep going.'"

POST-MATCH INTERVIEW: MATTY KOSYLO

POST-MATCH INTERVIEW: PHIL PARKINSON

RESERVES' CUP FINAL DELAYED

Admission is just £2, payable at the gate on the night".

NEXT OPPONENTS: ALDERSHOT TOWN

On Tuesday they crashed 4-0 at Torquay, with Aldershot Tonw reporting that they "made five changes to the side that suffered defeat against King’s Lynn Town last Saturday.

Giles Phillips, Alfie Saunders, Tommy Willard, Alfy Whittingham and Brad Webb all returned to the starting line-up with Kevin Lokko, Ryan Glover, Jayden Harris, Colin Daniel and Jacob Berkeley-Agyepong all dropping out.

Both Lokko and Glover took their places on the bench alongside the returning Mo Bettamer following his loan spell away, with Berkeley-Agyepong away on international duty with Grenada as Harris missed out on this particular match-day.

A small positional change was also brought in by manager Mark Molesley with Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain pushed further forward with defender Saunders brought in to play right wing-back instead...

The experienced Dean Moxey opened the scoring from [a] corner in the 13th minute... The Gulls would soon find their second of the game just three minutes later...

It would soon be three for Torquay as a run down the left-hand side by Lemonheigh-Evans caused problems before a mis-hit clearance by Webb found the back of his own net as Torquay made it 3-0 with 25 minutes played... They looked to overcome a three-goal deficit going into break.

However, it would be Torquay who would open the scoring next and find their fourth goal of the night... in the 47th minute.

Shots’ manager Mark Molesley [brought] on two fresh faces at half-time with Sam Matthews and Ryan Glover introduced in place of both full-backs Alfie Saunders and Brad Webb, both of whom were on yellow cards alread...

Aldershot Town look... ahead to their next game for a much-needed response... when they travel to Altrincham...

Aldershot Town FC: 24 E Ross (G/K), 6 K Lyons-Foster (C), 7 A Whittingham, 11 H Panayiotou (Bettamer 70′), 12 C Oxlade-Chamberlain, 16 C Jordan, 18 M Sylla, 22 G Phillips, 26 A Saunders (Glover 45′), 27 T Willard 32 B Webb (Matthews 45′) Unused Subs: 1 M Walker (G/K), 5 K Lokko".

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Johnson’s men had the game sewn up by half-time, having struck three times in the opening 45 minutes, and if Aldershot did have any aspirations of a dramatic fightback, they were dispelled within two minutes of the restart, when Connor Lemonheigh-Evans completed the scoring...

'It was nice to be 3-0 up and we wanted to get that early goal (in the second half), we didn’t want another Halifax and give them oxygen by making it 3-1 and giving them a chance and I think they only had one shot in the second half. The lads took their foot off the gas a little bit...

'It just shows you, we were ten points away from seventh spot and now we are eight. I said we need to be single figures with ten games to go and here we are. We just have to keep going'...

There were just 1,832 inside Plainmoor to witness the win, which keeps alive the play-off dream".

In the Grimsby Telegraph "Paul Hurst has revealed a Solihull Moors player turned down a move to Grimsby Town in a wider point about the finances of the National League. The Mariners fell to a 2-1 defeat against their play-off rivals on Tuesday night.

The victory leaves Solihull fifth in the table. They are one of several perceived smaller clubs that have excelled in the National League this season.... Hurst explained how one player opted to join Solihull over a move to Blundell Park due to wages...

'The results are always influencing how we leave the stadiums,' Hurst told Grimsby Live. 'The majority of fans were clapping players, they saw effort and a decent performance... We have to understand where Solihull are. They're 11 games unbeaten. Sometimes, we don't give the opponents enough credit. I spoke about this when we got relegated and came back to the club...

'Just because they haven't got the history this club have, they are a good team and want to progress... I think they were a bit fortunate to get the result but they did because we didn't punish them. They were clinical on the night'".

ALTRINCHAM 1-0 CHESTERFIELD

The opening stages were largely uneventful with the visitors having the better of things without doing much to threaten the hosts. The Spireites then failed to capitalise on five corners in as many minutes just before the half-hour mark.

Chesterfield had the better of the half but fell behind early in the second half when the hosts' first real attempt on goal, a 25 yarder from Kosylo, took an unpredictable bounce to beat Loach (48 mins).

The second half was a bit better as a spectacle but neither keeper was seriously troubled.

Match report here

The Spireites slipped to a one-nil defeat at Altrincham on Tuesday night with Ryan Colclough [i.e. Matty Kosylo] scoring the only goal of the game three minutes into the second-half when his shot from distance took a freakish bounce off the turf before bouncing up and over the diving Scott Loach.

Defeat leaves Town still second in the table but they are now 10 points behind leaders Stockport County, who have a game in hand...

Cook said 'What we had on the bench, that is us flat out. We didn’t have any other options. Over the last few weeks we have not had the numbers to help the players on the pitch...

'There is money available to bring players in, but it is no use signing players for the sake of it. We have got to sign players that will make us better and if we can’t do that I am not going to be rushing into signing players just to say "we have signed a player"...

"These lads, apart from Fraser Kerr out of the team, that was us. I had nothing else to select from. These lads are getting picked every week because they are the ones available, not because we think they are world-beaters and they are doing great. But we have been trying to recruit for a good few weeks but if the right players don’t come round then there is nothing you can do...

'I don’t think at any stage we ever deserved to lose the game, that is for sure,' Cook said. 'But the disappointing thing is we have not really looked like scoring. We did not look like we had cutting edge in the final third... While the first-half saw us probably dominate territory, similar to the second-half, we probably just lacked that cutting edge.

'We never really had any clear-cut chances and that is probably the most disappointing thing'...

Cook added 'It is not a good goal we have conceded, we can’t give someone that time to turn in those areas and get shots off, we have got to be more aggressive. Scott can’t do anything about that – it has taken a big bounce and gone over him. That is football sometimes.

'But did we do enough to win the game tonight? I’m not so sure we did. But did we deserve to lose? Definitely not.”'"

NEW SIGNING: KOLE HALL

Tonight he has become the 27th player who was not at the club least season to be named in a matchday squad for Altrincham in the National League in the 2021-22 campaign

On 18 March it was announced by Radcliffe FC that he had left the club "upon the termination of his contact by mutual consent".

For Radcliffe he had made 31 appearances in the NPL since 2019-20 season and scored five goals. Two more appearances were made for Telford in 2020-21, without a goal being scored,

Following his short time with AFC Telford United, Hall re-joined Radcliffe in 2021 from City of Liverpool

MIDWEEK GAMES

• Altrincham 1-0 Chesterfield
• Eastleigh 0-1 Dagenham & Redbridge
• Grimsby Town 1-2 Solihull Moors
• King's Lynn Town 0-3 Stockport County
• Maidenhead United 2-1 Southend United
• Notts County 1-0 Boreham Wood
• Torquay United 4-0 Aldershot Town
• Woking 2-0 Weymouth
• Wrexham 3-1 FC Halifax Town
• Yeovil Town 2-1 Bromley

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Final negotiations are ongoing surrounding Stock's deal, the length of which will be addressed in the summer. Former Weymouth boss Stock, 40, has been without a job since exiting the Bob Lucas Stadium in mid-January, following a run of seven straight league losses.

Stock embarks on his first assistant's job having won 17 of his 69 matches at Weymouth...

In joining Eastleigh, the three-time Wales international midfielder is set to link up with Lee Bradbury, his former boss of five seasons during a 150-game stint at Havant...

Stock also has strong connections to Bournemouth, spending six years at the Cherries as a player between 2000 and 2006 before returning to the club to become a coach in 2019 when his Havant spell ended".

The Echo News reports that "Southend United boss Kevin Maher has heaped praise on Will Atkinson ahead of the midfielder’s 200th appearance for the club.

Atkinson will reach the double century when Blues take on Maidenhead United tonight (Tuesday). And Maher is enjoying working with the 33-year-old.

'All good teams have players who churn out the games every week,' said Maher. 'They do their job properly Monday to Friday and turn up Saturday as well. They can be low maintenance but have a high output and I think Will is one of the..m.

'I’ll be delighted for him to get to 200 games.'”

22 March 2022

ALTRINCHAM 1-0 CHESTERFIELD

ALTRINCHAM (Yellow shirts and socks, blue shorts): 1. Tony Thompson (c), 23. Harry Perritt, 25. Toby Mullarkey, 24. Kyle Ferguson, 20. Andy White, 8. Elliot Osborne, 32. Isaac Marriott, 7. Dan Mooney, 10. Josh Hancock, 15. Matty Kosylo, 11. Ryan Colclough. Subs: 6. Jake Moult, 17. Ben Pringle, 26. Kole Hall, 27. A-Jay Leitch-Smith, 14. Jake Cooper.

CHESTERFIELD (Blue shirts and socks, white shorts): 1. Scott Loach, 20. Jeff King, 22. Jamie Grimes (c), 6. Laurence Maguire, 29. Alex Whittle, 16. James Kellermann, 10. Liam Mandeville, 28. Saidou Khan, 27. Joe Quigley, 9. Akwasi Asante, 39. Joe Rowley. Subs: 3. Calvin Miller, 5. Gavin Gunning, 12. Tyrone Williams, 8. Curtis Weston, 30. Tom Whelan.

This was Altrincham's third home game in a sequence of four matches at the JDS out of a run of five fixtures. Altrincham had elected to wear their yellow and blue away kit in homage to the bravery of the Ukrainian people resisting Russia's invasion of their nation.

Two late goals had secured Altrincham a point from the reverse fixture, which had ended 2-2.

NEXT OPPONENTS: CHESTERFIELD

The Derbyshire Times reports that "The Spireites made a loss of £400,000 in the community trust’s first year in charge of the club because of the Coronavirus pandemic, latest accounts show.

The newly-released figures are for the first year of the trust’s ownership of the club, up until June 30, 2021, following the purchase from Dave Allen in August 2020.

The loss of £400,177 is mainly down to the global pandemic which caused ‘financial problems’ because fans were not allowed to attend games.

'That, together with no conference and banqueting income, made the year very challenging,' chairman Mike Goodwin said in his statement... Thanks to government grants and loans from Sport England we were able to see the season out.'

A ‘large number’ of employees, including later some players, were put on furlough because of the lack of income. However, the loss of income was ‘mitigated by insurance cover that applies to such a global pandemic’...

Turnover was down from £2,943,491 in 2020 to £1,998,962: Gate and season tickets: £176,793 (down from £700,520) TV and football awards: £276,832 (down from £463,352) Transfer fees: £105,000 (up from £10,098) Commercial income: £521,139 (down from £1,091,461) Other income: £919,197 (up from 678,060)

Insurance claims receivable: £862,000

Wages and salaries: £1,895,400 (down from £2,489,876)

In terms of the future, the club faces concerns such as potential future disruptions to finances caused by the pandemic, what league the club will be playing in next season and what affect that will have on income and gate receipts, and how strongly the conference and banqueting and commericial levels will recover as well as how the club will generate sufficient income to pay its debts...

Croot said 'While reducing costs is vital where possible, the real opportunities exist in increasing income'...

Overall, chairman Goodwin added... 'We have established a platform to go even further next season.... We now truly have a community football club working in tandem with its supporters. I hope we can look to a bright future'...

National League clubs have until this Thursday (March 24) to register players for the remainder of this season. Once the deadline has passed, clubs will have to go with the squads they have got for the rest of the campaign... 'I’m not saying that no one will come in but, as it stands, I think he is looking at those injured players and when we can get them back to make us even stronger.'

There is still a ‘very slim’ chance that top goalscorer Kabongo Tshimanga could play again this season, while Jak McCourt, Luke Croll, Manny Oyeleke and Tom Denton are all making good progress... 'At the minute he [manager] has decided to stick with the squad we have got and, like I say, if we have got a few more injured players coming back sooner than later we will finish the season very strong.'”

ALTY SUPPORTING UKRAINE

The club have already launched an appeal to help the people of Ukraine and set up a dedicated crowdfunding page to raise funds and take delivery of items that will be transported to where they are needed most.

For their latest Vanarama National League fixture against promotion-chasing Chesterfield, the Robins will not wear the traditional red and white stripes but, instead, will step out in their yellow and blue away kit, the national colours of Ukraine.

The club have also bought seven Ukrainian flags to make the statement even more visible.

When the teams emerge from the tunnel before kick-off, the two lines of youngsters waiting to greet them, as has been the custom at recent home games, will be waving yellow and blue flags.

In addition, the one large flag of those purchased will adorn a section of the Community Sports Hall where a collection for Ukraine will take place and where donations of gloves, scarves, hats, first-aid kits and first-aid supplies can be left.

As ever with any Alty initiative, supporters are cordially invited to join in and play their part, and, on this occasion, that means turning out in away colours, if you have them...

There will also be a collection at Tuesday evening's game to mark World Down Syndrome Day, with Down Syndrome Cheshire in evidence inside the stadium and looking to raise funds for their vital work.

The locally-based charity helps people with the condition to live the life they choose by providing support, in terms of advice and resources, to individuals and families.

More about their work can be found here."

RESERVES ON A ROLL

The sight of a fit-again Hampson (right)... was a welcome one for all Alty fans.

A young Robins side controlled the game from the first minute... Debutant Hall proved to be a thorn in Crewe’s back line with some excellent hold-up play... It took the Robins over 40 minutes to find a breakthrough, when one goal came, another soon followed.

The opener was a smart finish by Jebbison from inside the box... while his second came when he dispossessed the keeper and scored...

In the second half, Crewe came out with a sense of purpose, and Ryan Forde had to pull off two outstanding saves... But the Alty lead was extended when Hall scored a wonderful goal with a quick turn and low finish into the far corner from the edge of the box.

Altrincham... made it 4-0 when a penalty was despatched confidently by Ly with just under 20 minutes remaining... but it was Crewe who got on the scoresheet next with a consolation effort in the final minutes...

Said Reserves manager Ross Speight 'We have worked hard this week in training on a few minor things that have been missing in recent weeks, and today I thought we created a lot more chances, which is very pleasing. It was great to get more Academy players on the pitch, and we hope to bring more in before the end of the season and start building for next season.'

Altrincham are now unbeaten in six games and have only lost once since December. Our next game is away to Knutsford on Saturday, kick-off 2pm".

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

The former Rotherham defender picked up the injury in Saturday's 2-1 win at Dagenham... and he will require an operation... having only just returned to action from an Achilles problem.

It is a huge disappointment for both the club and the player who has been one of the most consistent performers in the heart of the defence this season...

Head coach Burchnall said... 'I think he has been one of our most consistent players throughout the season no matter what the system or the shape that we've played. He kind of slots in different roles. He's been key in how we build-up play and bring the ball out of defence. It's a disappointing one...

'We're just working now to keep the others fit, working to try and get Kyle Cameron back and we'll just have to manage with it'".

The Eastrn Dily Press claims tat "Tommy Widdrington faces probably the stiffest test of his reign on Tuesday night when King’s Lynn Town face National League leaders Stockport County at The Walks.

He will go into the game with a higher degree of confidence, probably because in the weekend win at Aldershot his players showed him two vital attributes: the strikers can score and the defenders can defend.

Both ends of the pitch... have come under fire in this difficult campaign. But Widdrington was happy to see bodies being put on the line to keep the ball out of Paul Jones’s net... Malachi Linton scored the first two goals and teed up Gold Omotayo for the third in time added on. Neither player has been showered with praise this season. Linton’s league tally is now eight but, importantly, four in the last four games, while, Omotayo’s is three, although it’s at a time when he is arguably in his best form in Lynn colours...

'He’s a frustrating character is Mal,' said the Lynn boss. “He is very, very laid back, knows how to give you the deaf one now and again, which is very frustrating as a manager; what I mean by that is the ear closest to me doesn’t hear sometimes what I am telling him on the pitch, but he is a likeable lad and he has got really good attributes.

'He is very quick, he gets in the right areas to score goals. Like I said, it is one of those things where he wasn’t scoring goals and now he is. Something’s changed there and it’s because we’re putting him in the right positions on the pitch to get there. From that point of view, a pat on the back to the coaching staff and also a pat on the back for Mal because we are asking him to do something slightly different from what he was doing before'...

Widdrington had originally decided to leave Omotayo out of his starting line-up at Aldershot but had a change of heart... He said 'A couple of people didn’t train particularly well yesterday (Friday) so I changed my mind because he did, and he did that (header) about four times in training. So I thought, right he has an ideal opportunity because with all due respect to Aldershot I don’t think it is a strength of theirs, so I changed my mind overnight so unfortunately that meant one younger lad who was going to start, didn’t get a start'".

NEXT OPPONENTS: CHESTERFIELD

Asante fired low past goalkeeper Nathan Ashmore with 14 minutes remaining to secure a vital three points for the Spireites.

For the sixth time this season Chesterfield dug out a scrappy one-nil win. There was not much between the two sides in the first-half but the Blues deserved the victory in the end... After a first-half in which the hosts failed to build-up any momentum, they definitely had more control in the second 45 and were worthy winners...

It was hardly inspiring but the win was definitely much-needed because Paul Cook’s men would have fallen out of the top three with anything but three points... It doesn’t feel like it at the moment, but Chesterfield are actually the second joint top scorers in the league. Asante now has seven, which is credit to him after his injury... But the next best are Saidou Khan, who has not scored since November, and Danny Rowe who has not played since October. This needs to be addressed..

On the subject of goals, this made it none in 10 appearances for Joe Quigley...

This was Scott Loach’s 15th clean sheet of the season, the joint best in the division along with Stockport’s Ben Hinchliffe...

Team: Loach; King, Grimes (C), Maguire, Whittle; Kellermann, Whelan (Rowley, 63); Mandeville, Khan (Weston, 85), Miller (Asante, 63); Quigley. Unused subs: Gunning, Williams".

ALTY OLD BOYS

We have today announced the permanent signing of John Johnston until the end of next season and we will continue to back the management and players... We as directors continue to investigate avenues to strengthen our long term position and to hopefully give our managers the resources to compete higher up the league table in future".

Guiseley currently lie second-bottom in National League North, albeit with games in hand on most clubs above them.

Elsewhere Ryan Brooke scored the only goal of the game as his Runcorn Linnets side won at Kidsgrove Athletic on Saturday.

Striker Sefton Gonzales (left) was one of Phil Parkinson's initial recruits to Altrincham in summer 2017 but he departed before the start of that season and never played for Alty. Since then he has been a regular scorer at lower levels and this weekend he scored the opener as Clitheroe walloped AFC Liverpool, 6-0.

Trailing 0-2 at Seel Park to Newcastle Town, as ninety minutes were notched up, Mossley forced a 2-2 draw, with Mason Fawns netting the equaliser.

James Berry-McNally, as he now styles himself, celebrated his permanent move to the Moss Rose by scoring four goals as Macclesfield thrashed Avro 6-0.

West Didsbury & Chorlton won their local derby at Maine Road 0-3 with Ben Elliott scoring the first and Sam Heathcote adding the other two goals.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

A 2-0 home loss to Yeovil brought Whites’ eight-year stay in the league to an end, with a quarter of the season, 11 matches, to play this season...

'It’s a sad day, obviously, going out of the division,' he admitted. 'But it would have been a sadder day if there wasn’t going to be a football club here next season. The one thing there will be is a football club next season, competing in National League South at a level they will be able to compete at.'

Centre-back Ben Barclay scored for the Glovers in the first period before midfielder Dale Gorman added a second with a free-kick to seal basement boys Dover’s fate.

Hessenthaler reflected '(It was a) poor performance, to be fair. We can’t hide from that. A lot of players didn’t get going. There were too many off their game for me'...

Hessenthaler, who was without nine first-team squad players in total, said... 'We have got too many injuries, which I’m disappointed with'".

And Kent Online adds that "Chairman Jim Parmenter says Andy Hessenthaler is to stay on as Dover manager next season....

'He has confirmed that for next season', said Parmenter...

He commented 'We have been planning for the potential of a relegation for some time. We will be changing things around... We will be there to compete in the National League South next season...

[Hessenhaler stated] 'I was speaking to their manager before the game (Darren Sarll). Yeovil can’t compete at this level. They were in the Championship a few years ago! Look at where they are in the league (mid-table in 13th)... According to Lynn News, "King's Lynn Town manager Tommy Widdrington was full of praise for his players after seeing them pick up their first win on the road since he was appointed manager in December

Two goals from Malachi Linton and a late header from fellow striker Gold Omotayo earned Lynn a big three points going into back-to-back home games against Stockport County and Halifax this week.

'I'm delighted,' admitted Widdrington after the match... 'Im not knocking anyone from our end but the quality of pitch was good and it allowed us to pass it. I thought we scored three goals and defended manfully in terms of putting our bodies on the line when balls came into our box'...

Aldershot twice hit the woodwork in the opening exchanges before Linton put them ahead on 20 minutes".

From the Nottingham Post we learn that "Notts County head coach Ian Burchnall praised his side’s powers of recovery as they put Tuesday night’s nightmare at Stockport behind them by winning 2-1 at Dagenham & Redbridge, recovering from going behind after five minutes to win through an Alex Lacey header and an own goal by Daggers’ skipper Will Wright.

Illness and injury contributed to a lacklustre performance in the 3-0 defeat at the National League leaders in midweek and Notts’ problems continued here, as they were without Cal Roberts, Ruben Rodrigues and Joel Taylor, with other players still under the weather and Harry Arter making his debut after only joining the club from Nottingham Forest on Thursday. Despite that they produced a battling performance...

Burchnall said... 'Today was an example of real team spirit and we showed unbelievable resilience in the last 30 minutes when Dagenham threw everything at us'...

Brindley, in his first match back after injury, will be checked after suffering a suspected broken arm".

We learn from Devon Live that "Gary Johnson said he was proud of his Torquay United players for their first half performance at FC Halifax Town on Saturday but that his team capitulated in the second.

Torquay were beaten 2-0 at the New Shay after completely dominating Halifax for the first 45 minutes but not scoring a goal. In the second half the tables were turned and former Gulls striker Billy Waters made it 1-0 before a second goal followed soon after by Gerry McDonagh...

'I am of course always disappointed with a defeat,' said Johnson...'I thought that was the best we have played in a long time in that first half. We looked strong, we were setting about them and nicking it off them in their half. We didn't get the goal that we sort of deserved... And then the second half, they were in the dressing room and all ready to go out, but the momentum changed, and it changed on a couple of things...

'And Halifax proved that they weren't as bad as they looked in the first half. And we weren't as good as we looked in the first half'...

But in truth, the players looked shadows of themselves in the second 45".

The Leader Live tells us that "Rob Lainton is set for a spell on the sidelines after suffering a suspected broken wrist during Saturday's goalless draw against Bromley.

Wrexham's first choice goalkeeper was carried off in the second half at Hayes Lane after making a brave follow-up save to thwart Ali Al-Hamadi having already kept out Luke Coulson's effort.

Stretchered off in the corresponding fixture last season after he was knocked unconscious, Lainton is now facing a spell out of action...

'I think Rob has broken his wrist so that is a real blow for him and for us,' said manager Phil Parkinson... 'He has come out really bravely and unfortunately he has picked up what looks like a serious injury. Dibbs (Christian Dibble) came on and did terrifically well for us but it's a real blow.'

Centre-back Aaron Hayden was also forced at half-time due to illness and replaced by Tyler French. 'Aaron was ill before the game,' said Parkinson...

With Lainton and Hayden having to go off, and Jordan Davies making his comeback from a calf injury as a second half replacement for Liam McAlinden, Parkinson used all his substitutes by the 62nd minute.

Wrexham finished the game with 11 men but the draw, which ended a run of seven successive wins in all competitions, meant the fourth placed Reds lost ground on National League leaders Stockport County".

"IT JUST GOT WORSE AND WORSE"

"But it didn't go in, we started to make mistakes and it just got worse and worse".

SOUTHEND UNITED 2-0 ALTRINCHAM

Match report here.

Southend United reported that they "responded to Tuesday night’s disappointment by picking up a comfortable 2-0 win against Altrincham thanks to goals from Nathan Ralph and Matt Dennis at Roots Hall.

After a quiet opening half an hour where the Robins went close through Matty Kosylo’s effort that struck both posts, Blues opened the scoring 10 minutes before the break when Ralph bundled the ball over the line after Tony Thompson failed to claim a Tom Clifford corner.

And before the interval, Southend’s lead was doubled when Jack Bridge got in down the left side and played the ball across to Dennis to prod home the second of the game to end Altrincham’s four-game unbeaten run and secure Blues a league double against the Manchester club....

Altrincham couldn’t have gone closer to going in front in the 10th minute when Matty Kosylo’s long-range effort hit both posts before bouncing out. That was the only real action in a quiet start in the Essex sunshine, though Altrincham did have a couple of half-chances come and go ... Southend had lived off scraps in the opening half an hour as they struggled to carve out clear chances but when an opportunity presented itself, Blues were clinical enough to take it, and they broke the deadlock 10 minutes before the interval through Nathan Ralph...

Goalkeeper Tony Thompson, under pressure, fumbled the ball onto the knee of Ralph who diverted it across the goal line... Blues were now in the ascendency and went on to double their advantage before the half time interval as Bridge was freed down the left side before playing a low ball across the face of goal for Dennis to prod in from close range...

Altrincham weren’t causing any issues up the other end".

PETER EALES R.I.P.

Above: Courtesy of Campbell McLay comes the above nostalgic photo of Altrincham FC stepping out at Wembley for the FA Trophy Final against Leatherhead in 1978. From front to back the line-up is Tony Sanders (manager), John King (captain), Stan Allan, Peter Eales, John Owens, Jeff Johnson, John Davison, Graham Heathcote, Ian Morris, Ivan Crossley, Malcolm Bailey, Joe Flaherty and John Rogers.

Peter, one of the best and certainly most charismatic goalkeepers in the club's history, launched his senior career with Wigan Athletic and joined Alty as part of Roy Rees' rebuilding programme near the end of the 1972-73 campaign...

He had an innate talent for blending goalkeeping of the highest order with a flair for entertaining, a combination that made him a real one-off... In his first two full seasons at Moss Lane, he amassed an incredible 49 clean sheets, including a record nine in a row at one stage...

After a brief spell at Bangor City, he was lured back to Moss Lane by the incomparable Tony Sanders, Rees's former assistant and now manager, and more success ensued, with victory over Leatherhead in the 1978 FA Trophy final at Wembley.

That looked like being his Alty swansong, but he was talked into carrying on for the 1978-79 season - and, in true Peter Eales style, he responded by helping the Robins reach the FA Cup third round yet again, where they once more made national headlines by taking the mighty Tottenham Hotspur to a replay before bowing out.

In all, Peter made 192 appearances for the club".

: As Andy Mitten recalled, on the day before the 1978 FA Trophy Final game, "Eales had broken a finger and went to see the Arsenal physio Fred Street. Desperate to play, he offered his unaffected hand for an x-ray. It was no surprise when he was given the all clear". Earlier, "In 1973-74 they drew Blackburn Rovers away in the FA Cup second round. To calm his nerves before the game, goalkeeper Peter Eales consumed three pints of bitter. He was outstanding as Altrincham drew 0-0".

And Barry Pikesley reminds us of "Peter Eales, a man who patented such bizarre antics as leg-wobbling and belching loudly to distract opposition strikers long before Bruce Grobbelaar ever emerged onto the sporting scene".

Terry Rowley's apprecaiation of Eales, in this Alty legends series is here. It starts, "Peter Eales was the 'Joker' in a team full of characters and his antics amused spectators wherever he played but his antics could not disguise the fact that he was probably the best goalkeeper Altrincham have had since the second-world war, (statistics support this view with 40% of his matches being clean sheets).

He had two spells at Moss Lane and was in many ways the Bruce Grobbelaar of his day. A big match player, nicknamed by the fans as ‘Peter the Great', he loved an audience. Peter could be seen swinging from the cross bar, wobbling his knees, chatting to the fans behind the goal or sitting on the penalty spot, whilst Altrincham were attacking, producing some of the loudest belches and burps ever heard by the writer!"

ALTY OLD BOYS AND LOANEES

Simon Richman equalised for Bradford (Park Aveue) but they went down 1-2 at home to Gloucester City.

Tom Peers was another to net a consolation goal as Curzon Ashton fell to a 1-2 defat against Farsley Celtic, for whom Kennedy Digie played the full game.

ALTY RESERVES DRAW

Eagle Sports took the lead against the run of play... In the second half, the hosts continued to dominate on the ball and also started to create opportunities, with Micah Jebbison impressing out wide and Raheem Mercurius and Dion Bohe both forcing good saves from the Eagle Sports keeper.

The veteran of the side Max Pouncey (pictured) was introduced to the fray with 10 minutes remaining, and he wasted no time in making his mark with a stunning goal.

Pouncey dropped his shoulder to evade his marker, attacked the space that he created to control the ball out of the sky before unleashing an unstoppable strike past the Eagle custodian, a goal-of-the-season contender, if ever there was one, from the experienced striker...

Said Reserves' manager Ross Speight 'It's a good job the magic man Max Pouncey was there to save the day!'".

NATIONAL LEAGUE RESULTS

• Aldershot Town 0-3 King's Lynn Town
• Barnet 0-2 Woking
• Boreham Wood 0-0 Grimsby Town
• Bromley 0-0 Wrexham
• Chesterfield 1-0 Maidenhead United
• Dagenham & Redbridge 1-2 Notts County
• Dover Athletic 0-2 Yeovil Town (Dover relegated)
• FC Halifax Town 2-0 Torquay United
• Solihull Moors 5-3 Eastleigh
• Southend United 2-0 Altrincham
• Stockport County 4-2 Wealdstone

19 March 2022

SOUTHEND UNITED 2-0 ALTRINCHAM

Then Cooper glanced a header off target from a Mooney corner (29 mins) as the visitors looked the better side at this stage.

But Altrincham fell apart in the last ten minutes of the half. Firstly, after a Cooper error, Southend gained a corner from which they scored through Dalby off the underside of the bar as Thompson was unable to collect the ball (35 mins).

It got worse a few minutes later after a Kosylo pass had been intercepted and, from the Southend left, Bridge's ball presented Dennis with an easy goal to make it 2-0 (41 mins).

For the second half Hulme, who had taken a first-half knock, was replaced by Leitch-Smith. A good first half-hour of the match from Altrincham had descended into a lacklustre final hour of the game and they never looked likely to retrieve the game in a low-key second half.

Defeat dropped Altrincham two places to fifteenth.

Above: Roots Hall on matchday.

In an otherwise unchanged matchday squad, Tony Thompson (right) returned to keep goal today after missing three matches with an infected arm and Phil Parkinson elected to go without a sub goalkeeper today. However, loanee Jordan Hulme retained the captaincy despite Thompson's return.

For the opposition, Bridge, Clifford and Dennis started as the Shrimpers made three changes, with Atkinson, Demetriou and Powell dropping to the bench and midfielder Jack Wood displaced the substitute keeper, also on the bench.

SOUTHEND UNITED (All blue): 1. Steve Arnold, 3. Nathan Ralph, 5. Shaun Hobson, 21. Harrison Neal, 7. Jack Bridge, 10. Sam Dalby, 12. Tom Clifford, 38. Noor Husin, 35. Ollie Kensdale 27, Leon Davies, 30. Matthew Dennis. Subs: 8. James Dunne, 20. Will Atkinson, 24. Jason Demetriou, 11. Callum Powell, 25. Jack Wood

ALTRINCHAM (Yellow shirts and socks, blue shorts): 30. Steven Drench, 23. Harry Perritt, 25. Toby Mullarkey, 14. Jake Cooper, 28. Eddy Jones, 8. Elliot Osborne, 32. Isaac Marriott, 7. Dan Mooney, 15. Matty Kosylo, 11. Ryan Colclough, 29. Jordan Hulme (c). Subs: 10. Josh Hancock, 24. Kyle Ferguson, 17. Ben Pringle, 20. Andy White, 27. A-Jay Leitch-Smith.

TOBY REVIEWS HIS ALTY CAREER

Radio Robins has an excellent audio interview, in anticipation of his reaching that landmark today, conducted by press and media officer, Brian Flynn. The chat with the 25 year-old defender can be heard on the Altrincham FC website, .

BEFORE THE GAME: SOUTHEND UNITED v ALTRINCHAM

The Shrimpers lie one place above 13th-placed Altrincham at kick off, having amassed four points more than the visitors from one fewer fixture. But whilst even a win for Alty would not lift them up a place, defeat would witness a drop with as many as five teams currently sitting within three points of the Robins.

However, only three of those teams are in a position to overtake tomorrow given that two of the chasing pack play each other and that Alty's far superior goal difference over another of the teams precludes their passing the Robins.

But three of the chasing five do also have a game in hand on Altrincham.

On Friday, Southend United reported that "Head Coach Kevin Maher has been pleased with his side’s reaction following their first league defeat of the calendar year, as Blues prepare for a tough test at home against Altrincham...

Maher’s team fell to a 3-0 defeat against Dagenham & Redbridge on Tuesday, which brought their 13-match unbeaten run to a crashing halt...

'We trained today, and everyone was lively again,' said the 45 year-old... 'I’m sure they will respond and they’re desperate to get winning again'...

'We look forward to Saturday against another team in good form... We’re disappointed with how we started [in midweek]; it was contagious after that'...

Altrincham, the in-form visitors have picked up 10 points from their last possible 15, and have scored nine goals in their last two outings...

'We’re hoping to go out on Saturday and play with freedom, do the basics right and put a good performance in," said the Head Coach.

'They’re [Altrincham] scoring goals for fun so they’re in good form'... Southend’s midweek defeat was the first time they hadn’t scored in a league fixture since mid-November, and was the fourth consecutive game that striker Harry Cardwell sat out with a hamstring issue...

Said the Blues' boss, 'Saturday will probably come too early for him in all honesty'".

KENNEDY'S LOAN EXTENDED

Having joined Alty in the summer of 2022 from Hereford, the centre-back departed on loan in February, initially for one month, in order to build up his fitness and get him some valuable minutes on the pitch.

Following several impressive performances for The Celt Army, the 25 year old centre-back, who has made 10 appearances for the Robins this season, including eight starts, will now spend the remainder of the 2021/22 season at The Citadel, helping Farsley in their battle against relegation".

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

After spells with Forest Green Rovers, Gateshead, Kidderminster Harriers, Cheltenham Town and Solihull Moors, Wright joined Torquay in 2020. Injuries and illness have got in the way of a good run in the team this season... ahead of tomorrow's trip to FC Halifax Town.

Wright said... 'I was delighted to get back amongst the goals. It was an enjoyable trip for me and my friends and family who came and watched. The thing is now I have got to pay for them all to go to Halifax now, to spur me on up there.'

Wright will line up against Billy Waters, who he played with at Torquay last season, and who has scored 17 goals for a third-placed Halifax who have won their last four games. Many Torquay fans were surprised to discover Waters had been released in the summer...

But a fit Wright... could be a nightmare for Halifax's defence. Wright said 'I have got over the little injury and illness that I have had so I am feeling good again now'...

Torquay are one point below the curve of manager Gary Johnson's two points per game target for the rest of the season, which began 15 games ago. Since then the Gulls have only lost two league games, but the four drawn games before last Saturday's win at King's Lynn saw the marker on the graph dip below 2.0...

Johnson is confident of reaching the play-offs, which are eight points away from the 11th placed Gulls... However, with home games against Aldershot Town and Weymouth to come on Tuesday and next Saturday... there is certainly the chance that the Gulls could make some serious ground on those above them in the next eight days...

Things look pretty healthy with Armani Little returning to the team last week after a dead leg, and Dan Holman (who came on as a sub), Asa Hall and Dan Martin all on the bench at King's Lynn... Returning to action will be Johnson, who was forced to miss last week's trip because of an illness".

Luton Today advises that "Luton attacker Josh Neufville has returned to National League side Yeovil Town on loan until the end of the season.

The 20- ear-old had a highly productive spell with the Glovers last term, making 31 appearances and scoring five goals, before sustaining a broken ankle during the defeat at Altrincham.

After a lengthy spell on the sidelines, Neufville recently made his comeback in the Beds Senior Cup defeat to Leighton Town, and was also on the bench for Luton's FA Cup fourth round win at Cambridge United... He has featured in a number of development games since, including playing 90 minutes in midweek, before heading to Huish Park".

In the Derbyshire Times we learn that "Curtis Weston [has] called on Spireites fans to continue getting behind the players ahead of their tie against Maidenhead United tomorrow.

Despite sitting in 19th place in the Vanarama National League, Maidenhead will certainly make things difficult for Chesterfield. Indeed... they have failed to beat their Berkshire opponents on any of the six occasions they have faced each other...

'They’ll be pretty direct, they’ll be big and strong, they’re a physical team. Of course, it’ll be a tough battle'...

After Chesterfield’s 12th draw of the season against Boreham Wood, Curtis said it was disappointing to have dropped points in the title race, but added that Paul Cook was working with the team to improve their solidity when trying to protect a lead..

'We know we need to tighten up on that and start holding onto leads. It’s a tough one, but we’re working on it'...

There were no fresh injury concerns to report for the Spireites...

'The support is massive, at home it’s been incredible and away it’s been incredible as well, they’re like our twelfth man'" Curis concluded.

NON-LEAGUE DAY AT ALTRNCHAM

John Edwards explains that "The game marks Non-League Day, for one thing, and plans are already in place for a full day of children’s entertainment, and much more besides, prior to kick-off and live screening of England v Switzerland in the Community Sports Hall after the final whistle.

It also happens to be our opponents’ Tour of Duty game, with in excess of 500 ‘Shots fans likely to make the trip north, and, on top of all that, we are delighted to announce that the National Lottery are once again demonstrating their support for football by offering free tickets... They are launching the National Lottery Football Weekends scheme, a buy-one-get-one-free initiative offering free tickets for games across the UK...

The relevant game for Alty is against Aldershot a week on Saturday, and the way it works for Robins fans is as follows:

You need to buy a National Lottery ticket... It can’t be an old ticket. It must be one that is valid and current at the time of the Aldershot game.. The offer is only open to supporters buying either adult or concessionary match tickets, though you can opt for a junior or child ticket as the free one, if you so wish. The limit per person is two tickets".

For full details, follow the above link.

RESERVES' CUP FINAL

Ross Speight's side have been making significant progress on the league front after successive promotions took them into the Hallmark Security Cheshire League Premier Division, where they have more than held their own this season.

While they have been finding their feet in the Premier Division, they have also made their mark in the Altrincham Senior Cup, where a 6-0 semi-final win over Sale Amateurs booked them a place in the final against Bollington Town... with the tie taking place at Wythenshawe Town's ground on Tuesday, April 12th, kick-off 7.30pm.

Tickets are to be priced at £2 each, and as soon as we have information on availability, we will share it".

NEXT OPPONENTS: SOUTHEND UNITED

The impressive centre-back has been recalled from a loan spell... by Sheffield United.

But Maher feels... 'Kacper was a strong player for us but we have to get on with it and there will be an opportunity for someone else now... We’ve shown when Kacper missed out on games before'...

But Blues remain short of defensive cover and Maher did not rule out bringing in a new signing... 'I’m not going to do it for the sake of doing it but if it suits what we need I’m sure it’s something we will look at'".

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE LEAGUE GAMES

And he confirmed that the league have also told Notts they must play Saturday's fixture at Dagenham & Redbridge, despite there being few signs of improvement in the health of many of their players, several of whom were physically sick during and after the 3-0 defeat at Edgeley Park...

'We placed a request for the Stockport and Dagenham games to be postponed based on the number of players we had who were unavailable, either through illness, sickness or injury,' said Burchnall. 'We were down to 12 players training on Monday but the league regulations state that if we had 11 players available, and that included those we could recall from loans and Doyle [coach], who is registered as a player and counted in that cohort, we met the criteria for the game to go ahead.

'But the reality was that we didn't have one fit, well defender... We were talking about Wootton or Matty Palmer playing in central defence!...

'I have to stress that Stockport were absolutely outstanding, comfortably the best team in the league I have seen, and you want to go there with your full complement to give yourself the best possible opportunity,' he said...

'We sent in the postponement request and it was rejected. We then had the decision to make: do we try to get these players through this game and see if we can dig a result out, or play Doyle and recall Knight, as our other player on loan, Tyreace Palmer, is currently unavailable

'It was a case of playing a very odd looking team of those who were fit, with the likes of Wootton and Palmer in defence, or asking some of those who were ill to play.. and I admire them for that'...

Burchnall said, 'It’s strange, because if we had made this request six weeks ago, the game would never go ahead'".

There is a cryptic statement on the Grimsby Town website stating that the "Club are aware of social media footage relating to one of our players from the early hours of the morning of Monday 14th March 2022.

The issue is currently being investigated internally by the Club. Accordingly, we will be making no further comment on the matter at this time."

The Daily Mirror tells us that "Former Republic of Ireland midfielder Harry Arter has... completed a shock move to non-league side Notts County, saying he just wants to enjoy football again...

He joined Nottingham Forest in September 2020 after the Championship side paid a transfer fee of nearly £5 million. But just 18 months on, Arter has effectively been frozen out at the City Ground.

He featured just 14 times in his first season, with his last appearance for the club coming in January 2021. He had a loan spell at Charlton earlier this season, playing just six times for the League One side...

Despite dropping down three divisions, the 32-year-old admits he just wants to get back to focusing on football after a tough time of it at Forest...

'The level's not important for me any more. It's just about trying to find some enjoyment, which hasn't been there for a while with my situation at Forest,' Arter said to the BBC...

'I knew I was never going to play at Forest. I don't think I was registered for the squad going forward this season... I spoke to Steve (Cooper) and he gave me his opinion and you have to accept it...

'It only feels like yesterday I was playing for Bournemouth in the Premier League and in the space of two or three years so much has changed'...

Magpies' head coach Ian Burchnall said 'We’re delighted that the opportunity to sign someone of Harry’s pedigree has presented itself to us...

'We’re confident he’ll be up to speed quickly and will be a big help to us.'”

NEXT OPPONENTS: SOUTHEND UNITED

Two own goals in the first half put Blues on the back foot with Will Atkinson putting into his own net in just the fifth minute before Steve Arnold was unfortunate to see Junior Morias’ shot cannon in off his back after the winger had struck the post.

Southend were much-improved second-half but were unable to get themselves back into the clash and fell further behind when Morias teed up Matt Robinson to fire in the third and spell the end of Blues’ unbeaten 2022 in the National League.

A week removed from Blues’ 1-0 win against Grimsby, which had extended the unbeaten league run to 13 games, Southend boss Kevin Maher made just the one enforced change... as Leon Davies replaced Kacper Lopata...

Dagenham’s disappointment at missing out on a spot in the final four of the Trophy began to dissipate inside the opening five minutes at Roots Hall as they were gifted an early lead when Will Atkinson put the ball in his own net, converting a cross from Mo Sagaf...

Waves of Dagenham pressure... eventually paid dividends with another own goal extending their advantage as Morias’s shot came off the foot of the post and deflected in off the back of Arnold.

It had been an uncharacteristic first half from Maher’s side, so it was no surprise when the Blues Head Coach made two changes at the interval with Jack Bridge and Tom Clifford coming on at the break and Southend looked far better as they tried to reduce the arrears....

Any hope Southend had of getting back into the game went with that third from Dagenham... Southend remain in 12th ahead of the visit of Altrincham to Roots Hall this weekend.

Blues XI: Arnold, Ralph, Hobson, Dalby, Powell (Dennis 69’), Atkinson (Bridge 46’), Neal, Demetriou (C) (Clifford 46’), Davies, Kensdale, Husin. Subs Not Used: Andeng Ndi, Dunne".

The Southend Echo adds that "The shell-shocked Shrimpers were booed off at the break".

After the match, the Southend Echo also reported that "boss Kevin Maher is demanding a strong reaction to... defeat to Dagenham...

'The main thing now is how we respond,' said the Blues boss. 'There was always going to be a game where it didn’t happen for us and we’re disappointed with how it happened tonight because I don’t think that was us. But we’ll put it behind us and look to respond on Saturday [v Altrincham]...

'We will talk everything through on Thursday but to go from where we were to where we are now is huge and that’s everyone at the club,' said Maher... 'It was never going to be an upward curve the whole way. I won’t go overboard on them about tonight because they still gave everything.'”

BROMLEY GAME NOW A MIDWEEK FIXTURE

The original fixture was to be a Saturday game on 2 April but the South London/Kent side team will now be playing a Buildbase FA Trophy semi-final against York City on that date.

It is the eighth Altrincham league fixture to be postponed this season, only three of which have been due to Covid.

ALTY OLD BOY

This relates to the notorious video of his brother Kurt kicking his cat. The video was filmed by Yoan.

"Whilst Yoan continues to fully co-operate with the RSPCA, as this matter has now progressed further... Dagenham & Redbridge FC... continues to condemn all animal cruelty... Whilst investigations were taking place, Dagenham & Redbridge FC took the decision that Yoan should not play football for the Club.

Four weeks have now elapsed however since the incident, and the Club feels that any further suspension from the team would be detrimental to both the Club and Yoan. A decision has been made therefore for Yoan to be available to play.

The Club reserves the right to take further action if deemed necessary after conclusion of the Court proceedings".

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Two goals from Paddy Madden and another from Ollie Crankshaw gave the Hatters victory and increased their lead at the top to seven points. The result ensured Notts’ winless run in all competitions extended to five games as they remain outside the play-off zone.

Notts went into the match ravaged by illness and injury, and after Jayden Richardson missed two glorious first-half chances they ran out of steam and were never in the game. Burchnall praised Stockport for an excellent display and refused to criticise his players, saying they played through the pain barrier.

'More than 50 per cent of the squad should not have played the game for health reasons and some of them were vomiting at half-time,' he said. 'We were discussing yesterday about recalling Lewis Knight and Tyreace Palmer, and playing Michael Doyle. We even talked about playing Kyle Wootton at centre-half as Connell Rawlinson and Alex Lacey were extremely unwell.

'I knew it could go like this tonight because I saw the state of training yesterday, and how the players were today. It’s disappointing because we came to such a good team but the players were not in a good state to play. We were miles off it and there were many reasons for that.'"

We read in the Halifax Courier that "FC Halifax Town's collective spirit is encapsulated by players like Jay Benn.

The defender hasn't played for Town in over a month, or in the league for nearly two mo[n]ths, and has a player in superb form in-front of him in fellow right-back Tyrell Warren, yet there is an acceptance that the team comes first...

'I think if you have people, even one or two, just dragging the changing room down, it can have a massive effect and it can be a ripple on the whole changing room,' Benn said... 'The attitude is pushing the whole team forward and I think that plays a massive part in why we're doing so well'...

Benn is a product of Town's youth system... 'Each season Pete [Wild]'s been here we've improved and improved and improved,' he said...

'It's a great mix of youth and experience, we've got the experience when we need it. It's just a fantastic group... I've trusted Pete ever since I've been here, I know his record with young players, he knows how to deal with them," he said.

'We have conversations regularly, he's always speaking to me... I trust him with whatever decision he makes... They're never going to look down on you when you've made a mistake, it's always 'we know where you can be and we have every belief in you...

'I've got better as a player... I came back from my injury for the Grimsby games and thought I did well. But there was always going to be a little drop off with fitness and things like that, because of how long the injury was. Yes it's frustrating... and I want to get back in the team.'

'[Warren]'s a great player and I wouldn't see him as a rival at all', Benn added... 'At the moment, it's my job to put pressure on him to make him better'".

According to The Business Desk, "Stockport County have agreed a 250-year lease for Edgeley Park securing the long-term future of the club... allowing County to build upon its existing investment into infrastructure, ensuring that further investment can be made on the ground and its facilities.

Since the Club takeover in January 2020 by Mark Stott, investment into infrastructure has exceeded £3m with improvements to the pitch, upgraded conference and events facilities, new seating, and training facilities.

Jonathan Vaughan, Stockport County Football Club CEO said... 'Now the Club can focus on the long-term future of the Club whilst having a positive impact on the town and its people, taking football into schools, providing better facilities for people to learn and train, whilst having a positive impact on the town’s economic growth.'

Stockport Council will retain the freehold of the ground and will continue... by helping raise the profile of Stockport on a national level...

Councillor Elise Wilson said 'Agreeing the long-term lease for Edgeley Park with Stockport County is a big win for all parties... Stockport is currently in the middle of massive change that will transform our town for the better, and it is right that Stockport County is part of this journey.'”

His team is having a wretched season but a happy story comes from The Crabble as Kent Online reports that "Dover manager Andy Hessenthaler believes early exposure to National League football has helped George Wilkinson’s development.

The 17 year-old midfielder is on the second week of a fortnight’s trial with Championship outfit Stoke City, having broken into Dover’s first-team this campaign.

Wilkinson made his sixth start of the season at FC Halifax last Saturday and also has five substitute outings to his name having made his league debut as recently as January...

Explained Hessenthaler, Stoke 'asked me if they could have a closer look at him and as a club we couldn’t say no; how can you stand in his way?... He didn’t do himself any harm on Saturday at Halifax, either.

'His age is scary for me, just 17, and physically he is strong enough in our league. Training with us on a regular basis has helped him and he is getting the pace of the game now.

'There was one game early on when he was too far off it but that’s the learning curve, making the change from playing academy football to National League matches.'

Hessenthaler has bloodied Academy products Wilkinson, Luke Baptiste, Noah Carney and Harrison Byfield this season, while 18-year-old Will Moses made his first start since playing Aldershot in October 2020 last weekend following a long-term injury...

'The kids are showing how good they are and we’ve got to try and promote them,' added Hessenthaler... 'We’re focusing on that to the end of the season... We’ve still got to have the experienced players in the team, even though they are quite young themselves in most cases with the average age of 21!...

'That’s the key for the club going forward, if they can play at this level then they can certainly play at the level below next season'.

Dover’s pending relegation could be mathematically confirmed this Saturday. If Dover fail to win at home to Yeovil or Aldershot beat King’s Lynn then they will be relegated with 11 games of the campaign, a quarter of the season, still to go.

'It’s been coming... We’ve got the smallest budget in this league,' said Hessenthaler. 'It doesn’t take a genius to work out that the sides down the bottom of the table, not just Dover, are the ones with the smaller budgets... Of course, we want to be in the top flight of non-league but next season Dover will be in a league that we can compete in financially.'"

SOUTHEND UNITED v ALTRINCHAM

On the eve of that game the Shrimpers reminded us that Southend were "bidding to avoid an unwanted hat-trick of defeats against the Daggers.

Kevin Maher’s first game as Head Coach came against Daryl McMahon’s outfit, a baptism of fire ending in a 3-0 setback at the Chigwell Construction Stadium.

And Blues suffered similar misfortunes in their second visit, when the two sides were drawn to face each other in the FA Trophy... the hosts again prevailed, winning by two goals to nil.

But Maher’s side are a far different proposition now, currently 13 unbeaten in the league and undefeated on home soil since November, tonight’s hosts will see just how far they’ve come...

A notable weakness in the Daggers’ recent run has been their inability to beat the teams around them in the table, each of their victories in 2022 have come against sides placed 14th and below...

The hosts have won six of their last seven matches at Roots Hall in all competitions...

From The Boss... 'We’ve come a long way, but we will keep striving to get better'...

Harry Cardwell and Matt Dennis both trained on Monday, after being out injured for Blues’ 1-0 win against Grimsby Town. Maher will be forced to make at least one change to the side that beat the Mariners, centre back Kacper Lopata is no longer available for selection after being recalled by parent club Sheffield United.

That could see Tom Clifford return to the starting line-up, the fullback is back in contention following his injury issue. Rhys Murphy, Simeon Akinola and Abu Ogogo all remain out".

MIDWEEK RESULTS

• Barnet 1-0 Boreham Wood
• FC Halifax Town 1-0 Bromley
• Southend United 0-3 Dagenham & Redbridge
• Stockport County 3-0 Notts County

THROUGH THE YEARS: March 19

As Howard Watts and Mike Garnett's Through the Years record show, the last game that the club played on a 19 March date was six years ago in 2016, when they inflicted a heavy defeat, 4-0, on their visitors that day, Aldershot Town.

Before that, on 19 March 2011, under the management of Ken McKenna, they entertained Tamworth in the Conference National and beat The Lambs 2-0. That was despite a wretched season in which, from as early as the third fixture, Alty never rose again above 20th place in the 24-team Conference till the campaign ended in relegation. However, had they won their last match of the season at home to already relegated Eastbourne Borough, today's EFL2 leaders, Forest Green Rovers, would have been relegated instead.

Left: Tamworth keeper Mitchell protests that the ball had not crossed the line as Alty congratulate Dale Johnson for his goal. The referee that afternoon was Tony Harrington, who has subsequently progressed to the Premier League.

The match in 2011 marked a dream return for Dale Johnson, who had started the season at Moss Lane before being allowed to join Hyde, from where he had returned on the eve of this match. It was his header, on the hour mark, which just crossed the line off the underside of the bar, which sealed a 2-0 win, just three minutes after he had come onto the pitch.

Earlier Alty had taken a first-half lead in bizarre circumstances. Damian Reeves was tracking back after chasing down the Tamworth keeper. Mitchell had cleared the ball but it came straight back towards him from a Tamworth back pass but fell into the path of the Alty striker who coolly beat the keeper to make it 1-0 (36 mins). Johnson also hit the post in the dying moments before which Kyle Perry, one of three Tamworth men to play for Alty in their careers, had forced a fine save from Coburn, who tipped his header onto the bar.

Nicky Clee (medial ligament) had joined Greg Young, Sam Hewson, Chris Denham and Shaun Densmore on the injured list for this match, so Ryan Brown had come into the starting eleven to replace Clee on the left of midfield.

Altrincham: 1. Stuart COBURN, 2. James SMITH, 5. Robbie WILLIAMS, 4. Marc JOSEPH, 26. Carl PIERGIANNI, 17. Wes BAYNES, 7. Robbie LAWTON (capt), 15. Ryan BROWN, 18. Steven CONNORS, 8. Damian REEVES, 9. Michael TWISS, Subs: 14. Dale JOHNSON, 30. Craig DOOTSON, 3. Jonathan BATESON, 16. Anthony DANYLYK, 19. Mark BEESLEY

Tamworth's trio for the match who also featured for Alty at some stage in their career, comprised Kyle Perry, Tom Marshall and Ben Wilkinson.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Can we make it? Of course, but we’ll need a heck of a run to do it. Despite being rubbish at predicting results, here’s my predictions for the final twelve matches, with a yellow hat on of course!...

Total Points – 17/36. Final NL Points – 64".

We learn from the Grimsby Telegraph that "Lenell John-Lewis's loan spell at York City has been extended until the end of the season.

Grimsby Town have sanctioned for the 32-year-old to remain at the York Community Stadium until the summer.

John-Lewis has spent the last month with the National League North side, scoring once in five appearances and impressed their supporters.

The original plan was for John-Lewis to return to Blundell Park after gaining match sharpness out on loan following a spell out of the side.

However, an injury to Ryan Taylor forced Paul Hurst to bring Emmenual Dieseruvwe to the club until the end of the season, further adding to the competition up front...

John-Lewis is out of contract in the summer and may have played his last match for the club, though Hurst insisted.. 'The idea that we've seen the last of him at Grimsby Town isn't in my mind, not for one second... The idea is for him to go away, get games and come back in a better place with his fitness, confidence and sharpness'".

Notts County "suffered a 3-0 defeat away to league leaders Stockport County.

Paddy Madden set the hosts on their way with a first-half header after Jayden Richardson had been unable to capitalise on two huge chances to give us the lead.

And Madden added his second after the break, making sure of the points after Ollie Crankshaw had doubled Stockport’s lead.

Ian Burchnall stuck with the 3-5-2 system he deployed against Wrexham in the Buildbase FA Trophy, with Vitezslav Jaros returning between the sticks and Connell Rawlinson being flanked by Adam Chicksen and Alex Lacey in central defence...

There was to be no consolation on a difficult night at Edgeley Park".

TOBY'S CENTURY

When Ritchie Sutton was signed by Alty in August 2020, it looked likely that Toby would be the standby central defender, given Sutton's experience and fellow centre-back Tom Hannigan being a fixture in the Alty central defence. But Toby took his chance and for the latter half of the season he was a first-choice at the back, and even played every minute of the last 17 league fixtures in 2020-21.

This season he has made 31 starts, four more than any other player in the Robins' squad, and the only time he has failed to complete 90 minutes was when he was concussed at Yeovil Town and, subsequently, had to sit out ten days under the head injury protocols. Recently he has been the experienced member of the back four alongside three new loanees in Eddy Jones (20), Jake Cooper (21) and Harry Perritt (21).

Toby has also done his bit at the other end of the pitch, where he has scored six goals for Altrincham.

25 year-old Toby joined Alty from Nantwich Town in late May 2019. A product of the Crewe Alexandra youth system, he had subsequently joined Nantwich after a year with Leek Town.

He made his Altrincham debut at home to York City on 3 August 2019 as a used substitute. Soon he joined the starting eleven in the absence of the injured and then suspended Tom Hannigan. After another spell on the bench he held his place after replacing the ill James Jones in early 2020 but again reverted to the bench on Jones's return.

After Jones had departed to Barrow in summer 2020, Mullarkey started regularly until a broken ankle bone sidelined him in late October 2020. However, he returned to action after missing twelve league fixtures.

Toby will become the ninth player at the club currently to have made at least 100 appearances. The other eight are Shaun Densmore, Connor Hampson, Josh Hancock, Tom Hannigan, Jordan Hulme (currently only on loan), Jake Moult, Tony Thompson and Andy White.

ALTY TV HIGHLIGHTS

SOUTHEND UNITED v ALTRINCHAM

Cardwell has missed the Shrimpers’ last three matches with a hamstring problem while Dennis was absent against Grimsby Town last time out due to an ankle injury.

And Blues boss Kevin Maher will make a late check on both players’ fitness ahead of Tuesday night’s game with Dagenham & Redbridge.

'Harry has been out on the grass today so we will keep an eye on him and see if he will be able to make it... Matt has been training too... which is good and it gives us another option.'

Blues striker Rhys Murphy and Simeon Akinola both remained sidelined by knee problems while Tom Clifford seems favourite to replace the recently departed Kacper Lopata at the back. Abu Ogogo remains unavailable due to a heart issue".

ALTY 2 MANCHESTER CITY 0!

So, in the managerial stakes, it's Altrincham 2 Manchester City 0!

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Clownish defending (in the words of Widdrington himself), a number of contentious decisions and five goals, including an absolute belter from Lynn midfielder Brett McGavin.

Yes it was another defeat, but it was far from a failure as Lynn players gave absolutely everything in perhaps their best home performance of the campaign...

'That’s the minimum requirement in a football match; effort and application. I know I know what I am doing, and I know my staff are delivering the right information about the opposition. Some players just can’t follow those instructions, they are not at the level.

'Awful defending, people who are not good enough in that situation, got to take that on the chin. Absolutely way below this level defensively. The problem you have got with the set of players that have been put together here is if one department is working well, the other one can’t, and if the other department is working well, that one can’t...

'Whoever accumulated this group of players before I got here [presumably former manager Ian Culverhouse] has a lot to answer for. If we hadn’t defending like Coco the clown at the back we probably win the game'" said Bradbury.

Footnote: Bradbury's predecessor as manager was Ian Culverhouse, who brought the side up two divisions to the National League, winning the National League North in the process.

The Grimsby Telegraph tells us that "Paul Hurst has heaped praise on Sean Scannell for his persistence to earn an opportunity at Grimsby Town.

The winger has been on the outskirts of the Mariners' squad this season due to injury and Paul Hurst's selection choices.

However, Scannell took his opportunity against Yeovil Town netting his first goal in his first National League start of the season...

'We looked at the squad and travelling and Sean (Scannell) was on the edges,' Hurst told Grimsby Live... 'I was tempted to change formation because of who we had available and who needed a breather. I decided to stick with this system, Erico (Sousa) needed to come out, Scanz was the obvious one. Jordan (Maguire-Drew) didn't get on the pitch, it wasn't his game and certainly not to start'".

In the Halifax Courier, FC Halifax Town "Town boss Pete Wild says his side will need to be better out of possession when they host promotion rivals Bromley on Tuesday night.

Halifax beat Dover 2-1 on Saturday... But Wild felt his team fell short off the ball... 'We're going to have to play better out of possession... I think in possession we played well. I hear the fans getting frustrated about playing forward, but they've got to remember we've got a 5ft 7in centre forward, so just kicking the ball up isn't going to work.

'So again, I plead for their patience... It's served us well to this point so why would we be changing it and start lumping it in the box now?...

'It'll be another physical test'... Wild said. 'They're physical on set-pieces, they'll give us a good running over on set-pieces, we know that.... We'll have to stand up to the physical test first and foremost of what they offer. But they'll offer us opportunities to get at them'...

The Town boss has named the same starting 11 for the past two games...

'As I've said in the dressing room, I'll tactically, organisationally, try and make decisions that are best for the team. They're not personal decisions, they're just for the best for the team. Some I'll get right, some I'll get wrong and I'm happy to take that burden'.

It is unclear whether striker Aaron Martin will be available due to the illness which has kept him out of the last two games... On midfielder Kieran Green, Wild said... 'He's still nowhere near ready for selection but we're hoping he'll join in some opposed stuff this week.'"

POST-MATCH v EASTLEIGH

"Our front four are looking great at the minute, that's nine goals in a week. There's not been many weeks like that since the NPL days

"I though we dominated the game and limited them to very few chances. And that third goal, just after the break, was great from Ryan [Colclough].

"We've found where the faults were and made changes. It sounds easy but it's not.

"We're a lot more solid at the back, not playing out as much. And it helps to have a more settled side now. If they're playing well, they keep the shirt".

Lee Bradbury the Eastleigh manager said, "We were embarrassing today... We've gifted them three goals. We made too many stupid decisions. No one came off the pitch with any credit.

90% of our players are out of contract at the end of the season and I've just told them, if they play like that, they're out the door".

COLCLOUGH INTERVIEW

ALTY ACADEMY WIN

"A game postponed earlier in the season ended up having to be squeezed into an unfamiliar Friday slot for our Academy side with a change of venue being Egerton in Knutsford hosting Halifax against Altrincham... "Alty were doing really well, as they also had to contend with playing against a strong wind in the first half.

Then, as Alty broke from a Halifax corner, the game was turned on its head. Good work from Rogers-Morris got Jones free on the right to play in Morton for a must-score chance, but he was cynically stopped by a Halifax player, who was shown a red card...

As the young Robins played with the extra man, they gained more control of the game...

In the 16th minute... Hussain... did what he does best by composing himself to smash the ball into the roof of the net... A second goal seemed inevitable. It duly arrived when when excellent work from Rogers-Morris, retrieving the ball back in midfield, led to Morton linking up with Jones, who clinically placed the ball in the bottom corner".

Alty went on to win 7-0.

Squad: 1 Ryan Forde, 2 Kieran Baguley, 3 Ewan McGeady, 4 Joe Cooney, 5 Eddie Igbeze, 6 Owen German, 7 Tom Jones, 8 Joel Trevor, 9 Ryan Morton, 10 Harlan Rogers-Morris, 11 Amaar Hussain, 12 Loui Williams, 13 Adam Lynch, 14 Sam Chambers 15 Joe Holt.

NEXT OPPONENTS: SOUTHEND UNITED

The centre-back has been recalled by Sheffield United after an impressive spell at Roots Hall...

Lopata, who made 18 appearances while at Blues, was on the bench for Sheffield United at Coventry City on Saturday".

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

But his assistant said he was in constant contact with Johnson...

Two goals in the first half on home-county soil by Danny Wright in the 29th and 34th minutes gave Torquay a 2-0 lead in Norfolk against a team who are second-from-bottom of the National League table.

But they hit back just before half time with Stephen Duke-McKenna's second-half goal making it 3-1 before King's Lynn once again pulled a goal back.

There were some nervy moments after that but in the end it was a fairly comfortable win for the Gulls...

Downes said... 'The boys put a fantastic effort in and they had to work hard for it and earn it. To be polite, it wasn't the prettiest of pitches to play the most attractive football. So we had to adjust to the conditions... We mentioned at half time about the lack of goals we scored after half time. So it was important that they went out and did that. That was fantastic.

'Then it was a great finish from their player to make it a bit of a nervy finish really. The way they are, the position they are in, and with the big lad up front, they were always going to go direct and put us under pressure... We rode our luck a bit at times but in saying that we probably could have been out of sight in the first half if we had taken our opportunities'...

Wright opened the scoring by getting on the end of a long throw-in by Dean Moxey - finding the net with a flicked across-goal header. The 37 year-old's second goal came on 34 minutes after some great build-up play by Armani Little".

ALTRINCHAM 4-0 EASTLEIGH

Match report here.

ALTY OLD BOYS AND LOANEES

Managed by Chris Rowley,, other former Robins Sam Heathcote and Ben Elliott each netted no fewer than five goals apiece!

In addition, Dontai Gabidon (2), Joel Swift (2) and Rhain Davis all found the back of the net. St Mary's have got just two points this season, from 34 games, and have conceded 201 goals!

On a more normal level, Matt Gould saved a penalty as Nantwich Town beat FC United 2-0, with Jamie Morgan also playing for the Dabbers.

NEXT: SOUTHEND UNITED

After a disastrous start to the campaign, the appointment of Kevin Maher as manager has transformed the Shrimpers.

Southend United are currently on a thirteen-game run without defeat, comprising eight wins and five draws.

ALTY RESERVES DRAW

NATIONAL LEAGUE SCORES

• Altrincham 4-0 Eastleigh
• Boreham Wood 1-1 Chesterfield
• FC Halifax Town 2-1 Dover Athletic
• King's Lynn Town 2-3 Torquay United
• Wealdstone 3-2 Weymouth
• Woking 1-0 Maidenhead United
• Yeovil Town 0-2 Grimsby Town

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Tuesday night’s goalless draw against Woking was not the most entertaining affair and the result was as disappointing as the attendance, which was simply nowhere near enough to sustain any club at this level. The statistics, though, especially the expected goals ratio, showed that we deserved to take all three points so we need to put it behind us and concentrate on the positives. If we can put together a little run then anything can happen.

Clearly questions are being asked about next season and many of these will be tough to answer as, until our future is decided and I have a proper face-to-face meeting with the manager and his staff, I will not have all the definitive answers.

I am asked a lot about budgets and whilst our budget is currently far higher than I would like it to be once accommodation is included, we are in a very difficult position and are playing teams with bundles of cash.

Money is important, but at the start of the season we could have signed three strikers for less money in total than we paid out in the National League North for two strikers; sometimes it is all about how you spend the money. The previous manager, Ian Culverhouse, turned down all three players, a decision that I found challenging, as the reasons given were to my mind nonsensical.

Ian felt that the players in question were not good enough and I disagreed. I felt all had huge potential and were certainly good enough, but no one from the management team shared my beliefs.

Subsequently, one of those players signed for a club in the National League, after we turned him down and has since been sold in the January transfer window to a League Two team for a six-figure fee; another plays in our league for another club, but has plenty of league clubs following him and will without doubt be playing league football next season, and the third was Joe Taylor, who came through our academy with KES and came on as a substitute for Peterborough in their draw at Bournemouth on Tuesday night. They were all certainly good enough and with the benefit of hindsight maybe our season could have played out differently.

I am often asked what is the most frustrating part of being a chairman and the above situation illustrates many of my frustrations quite well. The relationship between the manager and the chairman is vital; you can’t always agree, but you can always listen to each other and I am pleased to say that Tommy Widdrington is someone who works with you and looks out for the club and you cannot ask much more from my perspective.

One of the big debates is should we have gone full-time last season and will we stay full-time next season?

I have yet to speak with Tommy on this issue, but I believe that staying full-time gives us the strongest chance of challenging whatever division we find ourselves in. It does, though, have positives and negatives. On the plus side, younger players want to find clubs that are full-time and can help them improve, but more experienced players may have other jobs and struggle to commit to the full-time model unless large wages can be found. My overall view is that the decision will be the manager’s and he will decide in the best interests of the club.

Another question that keeps popping up is will I be staying around as the club’s custodian? I have never made it a secret that I would welcome more investment and would happily sell a percentage of the club to someone who could help to take the club forward. Indeed, if someone with deeper pockets than myself entered the building then I would certainly not stand in their way. The club is an attractive proposition, its debts are long term to the government on low fixed interest rates or interest free loans from myself which will in all probability will never be repaid.

We have made significant improvements to the stadium in recent years, created a fantastic academy with KES, deliver football coaching to schools in West Norfolk, have a long lease on a low rent and the ground has been passed fit to be suitable for the Football League (not every club in our league is able to be promoted or participate in the play-offs for this reason). In essence, the building blocks with the formation of the charity Linnets in the Community (more on that soon) are all in place for the club to grow to the next level...

Our playing surface has had a lot of work over the recent years, but is still not good enough. Our high water table does not help and we are examining many different options, including a 3G pitch".

12 March 2022

ALTRINCHAM 4-0 EASTLEIGH

Match report here.

Altrincham made it nine goals in a week, without reply, as they comfortably beat Eastleigh whose defensive mistakes were plentiful and whose goal threat was minimal. Alty's win lifted them to thirteenth in the table and also means they have not conceded a goal now for almost 400 minutes.

After a mundane opening to the game, things improved after a quarter of an hour with Altrincham having the better of things. Colclough won his side a penalty as Boyce brought him down and, having missed their last three spot kicks, it was one of those who had missed previously, Ryan Colclough (left) who took it. He curled the ball into the net to give Altrincham a 1-0 lead (25 mins).

Kosylo wasted a great chance moments later. Nevertheless, it was soon 2-0 when Kelly's poor back-pass led to the keeper's kick hitting Colclough and Hulme scored from a tight angle (29 mins).

The interval arrived with Altrincham still two goals to the good. But under two minutes after the restart it was 3-0 as Kelly, once again, gave away a goal. Following an Eastleigh freekick the ball was played to Colclough who went on to score and make it 3-0 (47 mins).

Ten minutes later it was 4-0 as Hulme played the ball for Mooney who scored into the far corner (57 mins). The Robins comfortably remained in control to the final whistle.

FA TROPHY FIXTURES

• Bromley 3-1 Solihull Moors
• Dagenham & Redbridge 1-1 York City (York won 7-6 on pens)
• Needham Market 0-3 Stockport County

BEFORE THE GAME: ALTY v EASTLEIGH

Jake Moult gave Alty an early lead in that match but the Spitfires ended up deserving 2-1 winners.

However, today's return fixture will feature an almost totally different Altrincham starting eleven from that game in Hampshire as just two of the Altrincham starting eleven for the defeat in October also started Alty's midweek win over Weymouth.

They are Toby Mullarkey and Matty Kosylo (right) with manager Phil Parkinson unlikely to make too many changes after the mauling of Weymouth last Tuesday.

THE CHANGING FACE OF THE NATIONAL LEAGUE

Only two other clubs which are in the current National League were also in its equivalent, the Blue Square Bet Premier (BSBP) ten years ago. But in both of those cases the clubs in question were not in the National League (or its forerunners) every year over that decade.

Left: Ten years ago today, on 12 March 2012, Alty were recovering from a 0-2 home defeat to Bishop's Stortford in which Duncan Watmore had been a rare positive for the Robins. Alty lay seventh in the Blue Square Bet North after that reverse which was played in front of just 844 supporters.

Those two clubs are Grimsby Town, who during the decade returned to the Football League for five seasons before suffering a re-relegation back to the National League, and Stockport County, who went the other way, down to the National North level for six seasons before regaining national status.

Apart from these three clubs which, in 2022, are at the same level that they were playing in 2012, the 21 other clubs in the Blue Square Bet Premier (now National League) in 2011-12 are all now plying their trade elsewhere in 2021-22.

Each season over that past decade (and since 2003) only one club at National League level has won automatic promotion each season with another earning promotion through the play-offs. So whilst two clubs have been promoted each season, up to four have been relegated each year.

So, over those ten years, many more teams have dropped downwards than headed upwards from the top flight of non-League.

Eight of those 21 members of non-League's elite division in 2011-12 today find themselves operating in 2021-22 at a higher level (in the EFL), with four of those having enjoyed further promotions. Those four are Cambridge United, Fleetwood Town and Lincoln City, who are now in EFL1, whilst Luton Town have risen as far as the Championship.

The other four BSBP teams from 2011-12 operating at a higher level today are currently competing in EFL2; they are Barrow, Forest Green Rovers, Mansfield Town and Newport County.

In contrast, no fewer than thirteen members of the BSP (now National League) in 2011-12 are now playing at a lower level. They are AFC Telford United, Alfreton Town, Bath City, Braintree Town, Darlington, Ebbsfleet United, Gateshead, Hayes & Yeading United, Kettering Town, Kidderminster Harriers, Southport, Tamworth and York City.

As for Alty, ten years ago in 2011-12, they had just been relegated out of the BSP, and were competing in the BSB North, having enjoyed six seasons of their third spell in the top flight of non-League between 2005 and 2011.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

The Linnets boss made his thoughts very clear after Tuesday night’s goalless draw against Woking... It appears Widdrington is not entirely convinced by Lynn’s ‘full-time label’...

'This club will not be relegated because of tactics and shape or anything like that, it will be because they are not good enough footballers and physicality and fitness are part of that,' he said.

'People look from the outside and think that we’re a full-time club but the footballers are kidding themselves if they all think that.

'They don’t look like full-time footballers and can’t play 90 minutes like full-time footballers, so until we improve the infrastructure behind that and give them the platform to train and physically prepare like a full-time footballer, I won’t be calling them that.

'I know they are capable of doing what I ask them to do, but have we found that winning formula?... I know where our issues are but I can’t fault the players for their effort or application'...

Reflecting on the stalemate with the Cards, Lynn’s boss added 'The timing of the moments that came, possibly came to the wrong people who aren’t quite at the level or they came to people who in my opinion can play great for 45 minutes but then fall out a little bit because of their fitness levels and physicality.

'That’s where Woking were better than us as they were physically stronger and faster and we didn’t have anybody other than Josh Coulson who dominated their individual battles, but that’s because he’s played 500 games in the Football League'...

Widdrington took his biggest swipe yet at Lynn’s previous coaching regime... 'If you want to drive to Glasgow you don’t put £20 in your car, you put £120 in it these days,' he said. 'That’s the best analogy I can give you. There has not been enough ground work done to class this group as full-time, both physically and mentally preparing these players who have not played at this level in their lives, some of them'".

Boreham Wood "confirm that goalkeeper Nathan Ashmore has joined National League counterparts Maidenhead United on a short-term loan until the end of the Easter bank holiday weekend.

Nathan experienced a long-term injury in our defeat at Chesterfield in mid-October which meant the Gaffer sought to find a replacement in Nathan’s absence, with Fulham’s Taye Ashby-Hammond arriving at the LV BET Stadium Meadow Park on loan.

Nathan’s recovery was in truth faster than expected and as such all parties decided the best course of action for both Nathan and the team was for Nathan to take the next step in his recovery by getting minutes under his belt on loan... Nathan is available for immediate selection for Alan Devonshire’s Maidenhead United as they travel to Woking on Saturday".

Meanwhile, the Derbyshire Times reports that Boreham Wood manager "Luke Garrard described his team as 'big, strong and ugly' after their midweek loss to Wrexham, and said they needed to defend with passion when they face Chesterfield at the LV Bet Stadium Meadow Park on Saturday evening. Jamie Grimes admitted that Boreham Wood would pose a tough challenge, but said the Spireites only had three points on their mind.

'They’re one of the best teams in this league and we’ve seen that from their performances. They’re very resilient, they seem to get a lot of clean sheets, and as a defender I respect that. When you look at the league and see how many games they have in hand, it’s definitely a crucial game.

'They’ll be difficult to break down but we just have to believe we’re going to score and believe in ourselves defensively to keep that clean sheet at their place... It’s so competitive. You only have to look at the league table, everyone seems to be beating everyone, and it’s only recently that Wrexham and Stockport seem to be putting runs together...

'I’ve played in League Two and the National League, and there’s not much difference. In terms of player quality it gets better every year, and it’s tougher and tougher to get out of the league'.

Jamie also discussed the club’s injury crisis... 'I haven’t known anything like it. We said at the start of the season that we had such a good squad, we basically had two starting 11s, and we’ve really needed it; it’s crazy. If you look at the 11 we have out, if they were all fit and playing, that team alone could be sitting in the playoffs, we’ve got such quality sat in the physio room.... But these are all long-term injuries'...

Jamie also congratulated Curtis Weston on the birth of his child earlier this week... 'He’s the best professional I’ve played with, he’s incredible. He’s always doing extras and looking after himself... We have a good positive atmosphere at the minute, despite the adversity we’ve had, which everyone knows about'".

The Dorset Echo says that "Weymouth manager David Oldfield wants to recapture the Terras’ form of February going into a massive clash at Wealdstone.

Oldfield’s men went three games unbeaten in the previous month... but defeats to Stockport, Halifax and Altrincham, all without scoring a goal, mean Weymouth are nine points adrift of Vanarama National League safety...

Wealdstone are currently in 16th, some five places and 13 points better off than the Terras.

Oldfield told Echosport 'We need to get back to the difficulties that we were presenting to teams in recent games... We need to stop giving away so many cheap goals. We give ourselves an uphill battle in matches that we have to do better on...

Oldfield added... 'We have to redouble our efforts, make sure we’re working as a collective group that we painfully failed to do so during the week'...

Cameron Murray and Dan Smith (both head), Harvey Bunker (ankle) and Haji Mnoga will all be assessed after picking up injuries in the 5-0 loss to Altrincham".

Bromley "confirm the signing of forward Ali Al-Hamadi on loan from League One side Wycombe Wanderers until the end of the season.

The 20 year-old progressed through the Academy set-up at Swansea City after joining from Tranmere Rovers... before making the move to Wycombe over a year later.

Born in Iraq, Al-Hamadi represented his country on two occasions".

HIGHLIGHTS FROM WIN OVER WEYMOUTH

BERRY DEPARTS

Having joined the Robins during the summer of 2021 after his departure from Championship side Hull City, he went on to make several pre-season appearances for the club. However, a decision was made that regular football at a lower level would help to further develop his game.

Berry's temporary move... has proven to be successful for him, with the 21 year-old initially signing until the New Year, before that loan deal was extended until the end of the season. During his time at the club, he has... [scored] 11 goals from 32 games. And as they now plan for life in the Northern Premier League Division One West... Berry’s permanent signature was a high priority. He has signed a two-year deal".

Footnote: So James (aged 21) leaves without playing a competitive game for Altrincham. He made his first appearance from the bench as a trialist in a pre-season game at West Didbsury & Chorlton in July 2021. After a second pre-season appearance also as a substitute, on 5 August 2021 Altrincham announced his signing.

However, he went immediately on loan to the newly formed Macclesfield FC at Step Five in the pyramid, and the loan was extended in January 2022 until the end of the 2021-22 season. .

NEXT OPPONENTS: EASTLEIGH

It was the visitors who took the lead after 20 minutes with Tom Bragg lashing home from close range after a melée. Just after the hour mark, Eastleigh should have doubled their lead through Brendan Willson’s header...

Lewis Noice’s incredible double save kept Totton in the tie and Eastleigh hit both posts as they made the showpiece finale at their home ground.

Spitfires: Flitney, Burgess, Willson, Bragg, Harper, Mann, R Taylor, Yang, Haylor (Ebejer, 8 (Dyer, 82)), Simpson, Munn. Unused subs: Edwards, Marchant, Medcraff".

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Grimsby Town will be hoping to move back into the top-seven for the first time since November... rimsby boast the third-best record from the last six matches... Only Stockport County and Wrexham have recorded more points than the Mariners in that time... Grimsby currently sit in eighth in the table, just two points behind seventh-place Notts County, who occupy the final place off spot, while Solihull Moors and Boreham Wood are also within touching distance...

Four of their next five matches are against teams inside the top-half...

Meanwhile, we have taken a look at the fixtures each of the teams in the play-off race...

5th: Boreham Wood... The Hertfordshire club had lost just once in 15 league matches prior to Tuesday's 4-2 defeat at Wrexham... The Wood are set for a hectic final few weeks of the season and face one of the toughest schedules compared to their play-off rivals.

6th: Solihull Moors. It has been a mixed fortnight for Moors... [but they have] a nine-game unbeaten run... However, they have drawn their last three matches... Solihull take on three bottom-half sides in their next four games...

7th: Notts County... Having failed to win any of their last three matches, it is safe to say that Notts are going through a sticky patch... And their upcoming set of fixtures couldn't be much tougher on paper.

They are scheduled to face three of the top five in Stockport, Boreham Wood and Chesterfield within the next fortnight...

8th: Grimsby Town..

9th: Bromley... Wins are proving hard to come by for Bromley at the minute, having failed to record a victory in their last four matches, picking up two points in the process.

Neil Smith's side have dropped outside the play-offs and... [face] some tricky-looking fixtures to come. They are set to take on high-flying Wrexham and Halifax in their next two matches, but then play four consecutive games against sides in the bottom-half.

Another team firmly in the mix are Dagenham... Two successive wins have revitalised their push for promotion... They face just two of the top-five between now and May 15".

According to the Maidenhead Advertiser, "Alan Devonshire wasn’t about to hammer his players after Tuesday's lacklustre 2-0 defeat to Wealdstone at York Road.

The Magpies were a pale imitation of the energetic side which took the scalps of Bromley, Chesterfield, Halifax Town and Boreham Wood in recent months, with fatigue setting in after playing six games in three weeks.

They weren’t awful in the first half and moved the ball well at times... However, from the moment Jack Cook stretched to volley Aaron Henry’s free-kick past stand-in keeper Harry Palmer the game was up.

The Stones added a second through Rhys Browne to confirm their second half superiority and the Magpies trudged off at the end knowing they hadn’t reached the levels Devonshire expects from them...

Without the likes of Will De Havilland, Charlee Adams, Remy Clerima and Sam Barratt, and with goalkeeper Dan Gyollai pulling up injured in the pre-game warm-up, United were made to look pretty ordinary by one of the teams that are in and around them in the table.

The accusation that the side raises its game for the big teams but can’t do the same for those at the bottom of the National League table is one that’s been levelled at them more than once this season, and Devonshire will be keen for his side to show that's not the case...

'We were just poor tonight,' he said. 'But what do you expect, we had the keeper get injured before the game... but there’s no excuses at the end of the day... I don’t know if we're tired or what, I don’t know.'

United have now gone three games without scoring and they laboured to break down their resilient visitors on Tuesday night, much like they did in Saturday’s goalless draw with Altrincham...

Said Devonshire, 'Had we scored first, I think we might have won it, but it is what it is. I’m not going to be too hard on them. I’m disappointed, very disappointed...

He added 'I think teams are doing that to us a bit more now (sitting back and inviting the Magpies on). They're showing us a bit more respect, but we've got to find a way past them'".

PHIL PARKINSON: POST-MATCH

GOULD CALLED UP BY NEW ZEALAND

The Altrincham keeper (left) has been on loan at Nantwich Town, but he [has been]... named in New Zealand's 30-man squad for this month's Oceania qualifiers...

He is about to board a jet bound for Qatar after head coach Danny Hay included him for an eight-team tournament that kicks off in the host country on March 17th.

The All Whites start their Group B campaign against Papua New Guinea two days later, on Saturday, March 19th, followed by further group games against Fiji on Tuesday the 22nd and New Caledonia on Friday the 25th.

The top two sides progress to the semi-finals against the top two Group A teams, with the final being held on Thursday, March 31st and the winners progressing to the Intercontinental Play-Off against the fourth-placed Concacaf side for a place at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022".

Matt has yet to win a cap for New Zealand but is the only player from England's non-League to be included in the New Zealand squad.

ALTY OLD BOYS

NEXT OPPONENTS: EASTLEIGH

On Tuesday night, The Spitfires were engaged in their local County Cup, as the The Ugly Inside reported beforehand that it was "local derby time in Southampton as Totton Take on Eastleigh in the semi finals of the Hampshire Senior Cup... Not that long ago both were Wessex League sides playing in front of 60 or so people in grounds which were not that much more than enclosed fields with a small stand.

Eastleigh of course lead the way with their movement up the leagues and the transformation of their ground then called Ten Acres into the League standard stadium that the Silverlake now is.

AFC Totton's official match preview [stated]... "Given the season they are currently enduring, it remains to be seen whether Vanarama National League side Eastleigh will regard a mid-March Hampshire Senior Cup Semi-Final against historic local rivals AFC Totton as a welcome change of pace or a fixture they need like a hole in the head.

The Spitfires, who parted company with manager Ben Strevens in late-January, are currently on a run of 11 matches without a win in all competitions, which has left their hopes of making the promotion play-offs in tatters as they now sit in 15th place. Lee Bradbury, the former Portsmouth and AFC Bournemouth striker, has just left his post as Assistant Head Coach at Crawley Town to fill the Silverlake Stadium vacancy and one of his first tasks will be to decide just how strong a team to field against the Stags.

There were several departures from the first team squad during the transfer window but the recent arrival at the Silverlake Stadium of veteran 34 year-old striker Brett Pitman, who lists AFC Bournemouth, Bristol City, Ipswich Town, Portsmouth, Swindon Town and Bristol Rovers among his former clubs, has been one cause for encouragement.

While their National League form has been spluttering, they haven’t fared much better in the cups. They needed a replay to see off the challenge of Folkestone Invicta in an FA Cup Qualifying tie, but then fell at the 1st Round hurdle with a 0-2 defeat at fellow National League outfit, Boreham Wood. And it was a similar story in the FA Trophy with a convincing 5-0 thrashing of Enfield Town in the 3rd Round being followed up by a 1-2 defeat at Notts County.

Surprisingly, Eastleigh have only ever won the Hampshire Senior Cup on one occasion".

But since that preview was written, last Saturday, as the Eastleigh News reports that The Spitfires "got off to a winning start under new manager Lee Bradbury as they claimed a comfortable National League home 4-1 victory over Wealdstone...

The result was Eastleigh’s first win in 12 games in all competitions...

The Spitfires took the lead 10 minutes in when Danny Whitehall curled a free-kick over the wall and past George Wickens.

Ryan Hill scored after 52 minutes, chipping the ball over Wickens to double the lead but Stones then pulled one back... The hosts restored their two-goal lead five minutes later through Tom Broadbent, who headed home a corner from Harry Pritchard.

Danny Hollands added a fourth for the Spitfires in the 67th minute".

So like Alty the visitors have experienced a miserable run in recent weeks and, like them also, have now put an end to that.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

The Mariners’ play-off hopes were dented as Sam Dalby’s second-half penalty was enough to wrap up all three points for the home side...

'I thought we’d done enough to get something from the game, not to win it,' he told the club’s official YouTube channel. 'I thought it was a pretty even affair, I know they rattled the bar towards the end but we’ve had a great chance with the ball in from Callum Jones at the end. But, in general, I didn’t think either goalkeeper has had too many saves to make...

'Second half, they were probably slightly better than us, overall but I’m not sure they did that much in terms of creating so from that point of view, a draw would’ve been a fair result... We couldn’t fashion enough chances, only one or two real moments to try and get something.'...

It was a lazy challenge from Michee Efete which led to Southend being awarded the penalty that ultimately won them the game. Hurst admitted that the referee was right to give the spot kick but was frustrated at the lack of organisation from his players after losing the ball in a controlling position...

'We were a little bit lazy covering the position and then dangled a leg,' he claimed... '[Efete] gave the ball away just over the halfway line, a long way from our goal but people are allowed to give the ball away. That was the first mistake and then, after that, I felt we had recovered and I think we could have got back in position better and got goal-side before dangling legs trying to recover.'

Hurst will have been annoyed to see his side’s six-game unbeaten run come to an end".

In the North Wales Daily Post, we learn that "Wrexham put in one of their best displays of the season to see off promotion rivals at the Racecourse

Wrexham AFC continued their fine recent form with a thumping win against promotion rivals Boreham Wood in front of another huge Racecourse crowd.

8,705 fans were treated to an entertaining contest in which the visitors more than played their part, although some of their cynical play and time-wasting tactics didn't do much to endear themselves to the locals at times...

Although it was early in the game, the visitors were taking their time with every dead ball situation and the crowd were urging the referee to clamp down on what they saw as time wasting tactics... In the 14th minute, Wrexham got their reward. A fine out-swinging cross from skipper Luke Young found the head of Palmer who planted a solid header into the bottom corner of the net...

Wood got their equaliser when former Reds striker Scott Boden pounced to bring the visitors level...

Wrexham began the second half on the front foot... The Dragons did get their reward in the 61st minute though as Aaron Hayden got his seventh goal of the campaign with a fine header planted into the bottom corner of the net.

The excellent James Jones then made it 3-1 a few minutes later with a fine finish... The game then turned on its head once more as Wood pulled a goal back through a neat Tyrone Marsh header at the near post.

Paul Mullin then capped off an incredible ten minutes as he latched on to a long Rob Lainton kick and finished smartly to make it four goals in 10 minutes... The Dragons saw the game out comfortably to give Phil Parkinson's men a notable victory over a promotion rival"/.

From Somerset, Ian Perkins, via Gloverscast, tells us that "It was another disappointing night at Huish Park as Yeovil Town collapsed to a 3-0 defeat against Dagenham & Redbridge to leave them third from bottom of the home form table over the last six National League games.

We were masters of our own downfall. The positive of our season so far has our security at the back and the strength of our defence. We let an in-form Paul McCallum have freedom of the six yard box... We know we have issues in the final third, and we haven’t scored two goals in a game since November..

Conceding so early meant we were chasing the game but we never seemed to have cohesion going forward... Dagenham & Redbridge nailed it tactically. From kick off they applied pressure to our defenders whenever we had the ball... They weren’t going to let us play out from the back... All in all, it was a comfortable night for Dagenham...

The last three results have cemented that we’re definitely mid-table and any run on the playoffs would need a miraculous set of circumstances... The vision from the boss at the top of the club is non-existent... Apathy has set in again. The early goal sucked any life the supporters at Huish Park might have had, but there was a real flatness last night...

We slept walk out of the Football League, and if we don’t drastically improve in front of the home fans on Saturday against Grimsby, there will be a perception that we’re sleepwalking to the end of the season and after that who knows what?"

ALTRINCHAM 5-0 WEYMOUTH

After Weymouth had spurned a couple of early chances with Smith, twice, shooting at Drench, Matty Kosylo gave Altrincham a tenth-minute lead. He drove the ball into the far top corner from an acute angle, left of goal, after beating a defender.

It soon became 2-0 when Colclough did well and fed the unmarked Kosylo who, from 20 yards, curled the ball past Fitzsimons in the 15th minute. It was his fourth goal against the Terras this season.

Shortly after a second stoppage for a clash of heads, a Mooney cross was headed downwards into the net by Jake Cooper to make it 3-0 (27 mins). After the visitors had almost netted an own goal, Weymouth conceded again just before the break as Hulme laid the ball off for Colclough to bend the ball into the top corner to make it 4-0 (45+5 mins). In all, seven minutes of added time were needed before the interval.

In the second half, Weymouth did not give up but Altrincham could have added a goal but for a fine Fitzsimons save from Osborne after 81 minutes. However, Alty did make it 5-0 in the 87th minute when Mooney finished off a good move up the left.

Match report here.

A DORSET VIEW

The Terras had started superbly but two chances for Dan Smith and one for Brandon Goodship went begging. Thereafter it was the Altrincham show as a classy double from Matty Kosylo set the Robins on their way.

Three injuries either side of Jake Cooper’s header for 3-0 hindered the Terras before Ryan Colclough’s low strike made it 4-0 at half-time to all but seal the three points.

Weymouth continued to fight in the second half but lacked a consolatory goal they perhaps deserved, instead Dan Mooney notched a late fifth to book Weymouth’s heaviest league loss since the 7-2 thrashing by Chesham in February 2015...

[It was] a ghastly opening half for the visitors. Weymouth actually did very little wrong aside from failing to score one of three excellent chances in the first 10 minutes...

A superlative goal from Kosylo set Altrincham on their way. Picking up possession 25 yards out, there seemed little on but Kosylo plundered a thunderbolt into the far postage stamp from an acute angle for a breathtaking goal.

And 15 minutes in, Kosylo doubled his and Alty’s tally with another stunning strike, bending an effort round keeper Ross Fitzsimons into the bottom corner from 20 yards. The Robins were suddenly on fire... Smith picking up a bloodied head in the aftermath. Murray then cut his head in a clash of heads midway through the half, both him and Smith needing bandages and shirt changes.

With Weymouth dazed by the two stoppages, Altrincham’s quality again shone through as Cooper rose highest to head home a Mooney free-kick for 3-0 in 27 minutes.

While the Robins had three goals, Weymouth had three injuries as Harvey Bunker was forced off, Mussa his replacement... Altrincham duly made it 4-0 in the fourth additional minute...

Weymouth trailed but had made no critical mistakes, Oldfield reaching for Rose at the break for the injured Smith...

Altrincham did notch number five with typical quality, Mooney finishing off an attractive team move".

MIDWEEK RESULTS

• Altrincham 5-0 Weymouth
• King's Lynn Town 0-0 Woking
• Maidenhead United 0-2 Wealdstone
• Solihull Moors 3-3 Notts County
• Southend United 1-0 Grimsby Town
• Wrexham 4-2 Boreham Wood
• Yeovil Town 0-3 Dagenham & Redbridge

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Rowe took over in November 2020 after joining from Gloucester City and led Town from the National League relegation zone to the play-offs last season...

Rowe said he was now targeting winning promotion to the National League.

'I’m delighted to be here at the club, and I’m looking forward to getting started and getting integrated within the community, and with that in mind, me and my family moving to the area to help with that,' he told the Coasters’ official website.

'All focus is on the short-term objective of returning to the Vanarama National League, whilst also implementing the foundations for the long-term success'...

AFC Fylde chairman David Haythornthwaite said, 'James is a manager who has been on our radar for some time as his results at both Gloucester and Chesterfield were outstanding. Over the last four days, we have had several meetings with James both face to face, and... over TEAMS. We have all been struck by James’s openness, burning ambition and desire to win.

'We have done our due diligence on James, and while it is clear he is no shrinking violet, we are confident that James will bring winning mentality to the club, which we all want.'".

Lynn News tells us that "Struggling King's Lynn Town picked up a battling National League draw at home to Woking as they dropped more points in their quest for survival.

The Linnets, who'd lost their previous two league matches on home soil, were excellent at the back, especially during a visiting onslaught early in the second half, but were lightweight at the other end of the pitch.

Injuries once again dictated Lynn's line-up as manager Tommy Widdrington made five changes to the line-up... Both Olly Scott and Ross Barrows, who picked up knocks at the weekend, missed out while the trio Munashe Sundire, Daniel Bowry and Aaron Jones dropped to the bench.

Midfielders Michael Clunan and Brett McGavin were recalled to the starting line-up and there were also starts for Luis Fernandez, Jak Hickman and Gold Omotayo...

But despite all their endeavour, Lynn's problems were again in the final third of the pitch as they drew another blank in front of their home faithful".

ALTRINCHAM'S UKRAINE INITIATIVES

Inspired by friend of the club Phil Howden, who is currently in Kyiv, and our very own Matty Kosylo (pictured), whose grandfather was Ukrainian, the club have devised a number of fund-raisers... starting with one that is dedicated to Phil.

Known as Ukrainian Phil on the Fans' Forum, he sponsors Toby Mullarkey’s away shirt, so what better way to acknowledge and honour his support than by flipping any further profits from player sponsorship to the Ukrainian Red Cross appeal?

There are plenty of players to choose from, too, with crowd favourite Jordan Hulme, fresh from his first goal back in Alty colours against Dagenham & Redbridge, Dan Mooney, also on the scoresheet a week last Saturday, Ben Pringle, A-Jay Leitch-Smith, Elliot Osborne and Connor Hampson all still available for shirt sponsorship.

As usual, sponsors will receive the signed shirt of the player they choose at the end of the season, and, don't forget, you will be contributing to the worthiest of causes. All profits will go directly to where help is needed most, and you can find out more about how to sponsor one of the above players by clicking here...

In addition to the shirt appeal, Alty's Community team will be taking part in a sponsored walk with a difference. Embracing all the schools the Community team work with, the idea is to collectively clock up the 3,600 miles you would travel on a journey to Ukraine and back.

Each mile covered by each walker will add to the total and take us nearer our target, and it goes without saying that sponsors are just as essential as participants for making the venture a success and helping us raise the sort of sum we would love to send to the people of Ukraine. Whatever the final amount is, that's where it will go.

If you would like to sponsor the walk, or just feel you would like to be part of our appeal, you can donate any amount by clicking here

We will also be organising a non-uniform day with everybody wearing yellow and blue for a £1 donation...

Not to be left out, Altrincham's Reserves squad have been set an extra incentive for winning games over the next few weeks by the management team of Ross Speight, Michael Welch, Max Pouncey and Danny Jarrett.

The squad have been set the challenge of picking up nine points out of 12 across their four games this month... If the minimum target of nine points is met, the management team will spray their hair in Ukrainian blue and yellow for a matchday. If it is missed, the entire squad will have to spray theirs!

Alongside the challenge on the pitch, the Reserves will be out and about in Altrincham town centre, collecting in buckets for the appeal at a date to be announced.

Our fundraising will culminate in a bucket collection at the Barnet home game on May 2nd.

There will be more initiatives announced over the course of the month, and any donations will be most welcome.

Last but not least, our friends at Trafford Veterans are collecting much-needed supplies to help those heading to safety in Poland. The club is a collection point for any of the below-mentioned supplies that you may be able to donate. Please call in and let us have any of the listed items during the following office hours: 8am–7.30pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday; 8am–4pm Wednesday; 8am–6pm Friday", writes press and media officer, John Edwards.

NEXT OPPONENTS: WEYMOUTH

The match against Weymouth was scheduled for a fortnight or more ago but had to be postponed when Weymouth were advised not to travel because of Storm Eunice.

Weymouth are 21st in the National League and are nine points from safety and twelve points adrift of Altrincham, alongside whom they were promoted back to the top flight of non-League in 2020.

Their poor form led to the sacking of manager Brian Stock. He was replaced in mid-January 2022 by David Oldfield, well known in the South Manchester area as a former Manchester City player. Oldfield was also in the Stafford Rangers side which played Alty at Moss Lane in 2006 but was an unused substitute on that occasion.

More recently, he had been manager of Oxford City from 2020 before joining the Terras.

Oldfield's management career was developed via a post as Peterborough United's Academy Manager followed by similar positions at West Bromwich Albion and MK Dons before he became the Assistant Manager at Stevenage, QPR and Burton Albion;

Weymouth have won just once in their last thirteen matches in all competitions; that was a 1-0 home in against Eastleigh. They drew the corresponding fixture to tonight's game with Altrincham at Moss Lane in 2020, in a disappointing goalless draw played in very wet consitions on the opening day of that season, behind closed doors.

The Dorset Echo reported on Monday that "David Oldfield admitted he is 'upset' and 'annoyed' by the 2-0 loss to FC Halifax Town at the Bob Lucas Stadium [last Saturday].

Oldfield’s men saw a three-game unbeaten home run in the Vanarama National League come to an end with a luke-warm display... Weymouth’s only shot on target came courtesy of sub Tom Blair 84 minutes in...

Following what was one of the more disappointing performances in Oldfield’s tenure, the Terras’ manager did not dress the defeat up. He told uptheterras.co.uk 'I’m annoyed we didn’t manage to match the passion of the fans enough. We did do some good things but we don’t do anywhere near enough of those.

'And to concede (such) preventable or soft goals is a recipe for disaster. We are upset and annoyed that we haven’t managed to match the passion of the fans consistently enough... We need to make sure we stick our chests out, hold our heads high and keep working.

'There are numerous reasons, but one of the reasons we’ve made steps forward is the competitiveness and we need to make sure we retain that going forward... Did we do enough to win the game? I don’t think we did. Maybe in those games we need to hang on and work it and we need to get something out of the game.

'We are a work in progress. The players are certainly trying. The supporters have been absolutely fantastic'...

Weymouth struggled with their set-piece delivery all afternoon in blustery conditions... Oldfield conceded... 'I’m more concerned with our general play. We saw again that the set-pieces win or lose you the game'".

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

There was a distinct lack of any Mariners players despite them being in arguably the best form in non league following five wins in their last six games.

Fourth-placed Halifax also saw an absence of their players in the squad, something that their supporters were particularly frustrated about on social media. Unsurprisingly though, Hurst wasn’t bothered at all especially considering the injury problems he has had to deal with in recent weeks".

Also from the Grimsby Telegraph we learn that "Callum Jones made a steady start to life at Grimsby Town after his signing was announced just an hour before kick off on Saturday.

The 20 year-old agreed a month-long loan from Hull City and was thrown straight in at the deep end by Paul Hurst.

Jones played in the deepest of the midfield roles in the victory against Woking where he was able to do all of the basics well enough to help his new team mates.

It was the late-late show at Blundell Park as Emmanuel Dieseruvwe's 95th-minute winner secured three vital points for the Mariners. The goal moved Grimsby within a point of the play-offs...

'I think you could see we were on top for most of the game,' said the young midfielder... 'We kept prodding away for the whole game so I believed that it’d come and it did'...

'I think I played 20 league games for Morecambe, maybe five in the cup. If I come here and get seven, that’s over 30 men’s games this year'".

Further down the east coast, the Eastern Daily Press tells us that "Old habits die hard and some King’s Lynn Town’s players appear to be struggling to adapt to life under manager Tommy Widdrington.

The former Southampton midfielder took over at Lynn in December following the departure of Ian Culverhouse... Successive promotions had been built on a passing game that drew many plaudits, but Widdrington’s approach has been more robust and with very much a horses for courses attitude.

Widdrington has never had a bad word to say about the previous management regime, but it appears some of the lingering traits don’t sit well with him.. 'His comments after Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Solihull Moors, when his team blew a two-goal lead, sent a clear message to those who don’t toe the Widdrington line.

'It was a game when we knew exactly what we were doing in the way we wanted to play, that’s why I went with Mal (Linton) up front,' he said. 'It was a game to play into space not into feet, but there is an inherent thing at this football club that they all think they’re five-a-side players, that’s what it is. That’s the problem, they're brilliant on astroturf, they’re brilliant in five-a-side games, but you put them on a bigger pitch... some people just don’t want to put the ball into areas, where, quite frankly, they need to.

'If they don’t they’re not going to play, simple as that, because we are not good enough to pass our way through the opposition, that’s been proved in the first half of the season, so we have to do something different.

'If people don’t get on board with it they can go. I don’t give a monkey’s how long they’ve been here. There are certain people at this club have got their own ideas about the way the game should be played and they’ve got to get on board or they’ve got to get off. Simple.'"

POST-MATCH AT MAIDENHEAD

In the interview, Parkinson confirms that goalkeeper Tony Thompson was unable to play at Maidenhead, as he had been taken into hospital with an infection before the game.

THROUGH THE YEARS

ALTY OLD BOYS AND LOANEES

Jonny Margetts (right) scored Stamford's first goal in a 4-0 win at Chasetown. Jonny scored twice in six games for Alty when on loan from Tranmere Rovers in 2016.

Alty youth and reserves' product, Sam Madeley scored both of Winsford United goals in a 2-2 draw at AFC Liverpool.

Striker Danny Mitchley scored Skelmersdale United's third goal as they won 5-1 at Squires Gate.

And Damian Reeves continues to find the net as he scored the fourth goal for Maltby Main as they won 4-2 at Hemsworth Miners' Welfare in Yorkshire.

NEXT OPPONENTS: WEYMOUTH

Last Saturday Weymouth lost 0-2 at home to FC Halifax Town but, before that, the Dorset Echo reported that "Weymouth UTH boss David Oldfield has urged his side to kick on to escape relegation, adding 'We need to get some results'.

Oldfield’s men are nine points adrift of safety...

Defeat to Stockport last time out followed a three-game unbeaten run which yielded draws against Chesterfield and Bromley plus a win over Eastleigh...

He told Echosport... 'We’re definitely moving forward but we need to get some results, that consistency of performance that the boys are producing, and turn them into results'...

Oldfield’s comments add to Josh McQuoid’s, the Weymouth skipper sharing his belief that safety can be realised. He said 'I don’t think there would be any point in us playing if we didn’t think that. We know we’ve got to fight until the end. It’s still in our own hands, you can’t ask anything more than that.

'Definitely there’s a feeling in the changing room that we can do it. There’s been improving performances. The belief’s there and we’ll keep going until the end, keep working as hard as we can and try and achieve something.'”

ALTY RESERVES

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Notts County rescued a point to avoid suffering back to back defeats as Alex Lacey's stoppage-time goal snatched a 1-1 draw against Yeovil.

Alex Bradley had given the visitors the lead when he struck into an unguarded net after a poor backpass from Ed Francis had caused panic in the defence.

The Magpies did have chances to score in the first half as Ruben Rodrigues and Kyle Wootton went close, but that was as good as it got for head coach Ian Burchnall's side...

Prior to Tuesday's game against Chesterfield, there had been talk that Notts could still force themselves into title contention given they were 12 points behind leaders Stockport with two games in hand. But a 3-1 defeat on Tuesday night delivered a significant blow to those hopes while a draw here against Yeovil offered little evidence that Notts will be involved in the reckoning come May...

Even with a game in hand and the Hatters still to play, Burchnall's side are going to have to be foot perfect to get anywhere near the summit. The realists will admit that the best Notts can really hope for is to finish second or third, which is certainly not beyond them, but this month will be crucial...

A trip to Neal Ardley's Solihull Moors on Tuesday is followed by one of the biggest games of the season at Stockport...

Kyle Cameron slumped to the turf midway through the first half... Burchnall admitted afterwards that is a suspected hamstring problem... To lose him at this stage of the season, ahead of such a pivotal month, would represent a significant blow...

This performance was a long way off the Notts County we have come to expect this season... But despite being far from their best, Notts continued to plough away in the hope they could salvage something from the game... While there were lots of complaints about the performance as a whole, at least Notts hung in there...

It is perhaps no surprise that the teams with the three biggest budgets in the league sit first, second and third. Notts can certainly hold their own when it comes to finance, but it's nowhere near the reams of cash that Wrexham, Chesterfield and Stockport have spent this season.

Notts cannot compete with some of the crazy wages that are being thrown around in the division, but they have still built an excellent team through their recruitment model. But for all of their qualities, there does seem to be something lacking from this team although putting your finger on it, is a perplexing task".

According to Devon Live, reports that "Torquay United's second goalless draw in three games; and their fourth draw on the trot, might not at first feel like a great result. But when Joe Lewis was sent off in the 38th minute, things could have gone downhill rapidly, and they didn't.

Bromley were never going to be easy opponents. They are a strong unit who are one place underneath the National League play-off places... under their well thought-of manager Andy Woodman.

But against the odds in the second half Torquay kept a clean sheet and remain 11th in the table...

'The lads did our club proud,' said manager Gary Johnson. 'They were out there against a strong, Land of the Giants team. We had to compete, they do go direct, they are very strong at doing that, and I felt we coped with that. And I am really pleased that we coped with that because, on average, our players were probably six inches smaller per man.

'And they do get late goals sometimes so I was pleased that we went right to the end and the fans kept with us, which was great'...

To be fair to referee Paul Marsden, despite mostly having a poor game, there wasn't much of a decision to be made when Lewis stopped Bromley's star striker Michael Cheek from breaking away and being free on goal in the 38th minute. It looked like a red card before the referee even produced it... Up until then, Torquay were on top, but there were chances they should have finished...

Torquay actually dealt with being a man down well but they weren't getting any favours from the referee...

Johnson said... 'I am pleased with the boys because they did show some great character and great endurance'">

FC Halifax Town won 2-0 at Weymouth, after which manager Pete Wild claimed 'It was a really professional performance. Under tough conditions, I thought we defended really well'...

Tom Bradbury opened the scoring early in the second half with a great finish with his weaker foot that found the bottom corner.

'It’s a really well worked set-piece,' Wild told Shaymen TV. 'That’s two set-piece goals in two games... That goal allowed us to really take control of the game and we looked comfortable.'

Zak Dearnley netted his first league goal for the club with just added time remaining...

Town’s next fixture comes against Dover who continue to struggle at the bottom of the table...

Wild told Shaymen TV 'We’ll be treating them like any other game'".

MAIDENHEAD UNITED 0-0 ALTRINCHAM

Match report here.

MAIDENHEAD PERSPECTIVE

Alan Devonshire was quick to concede his side didn’t do enough to claim victory, but he was satisfied with the point, more so the clean sheet, following Tuesday night’s defeat at Dagenham & Redbridge.

Nathan Blissett’s ninth-minute strike from distance – that was palmed out for a corner by Steven Drench, was a close as the home side got to a goal with chances at a premium in the cold March air.

Phil Parkinson’s men... were well stifled through the 90 minutes by the centre-back partnership of Alan Massey and Will De Havilland.

'I don’t think either team did enough to win the game,' said Devonshire at full-time. 'There were two tired teams out there today. But, listen, we’ve come a long way in a short period of time and it was imperative that we got a response from the loss earlier this week.

'We were poor, but we’ve managed to get a point, a clean sheet too, and we move on to the next game'...

Entering the final 10 minutes of the first half, the visitors had the majority of possession, but opportunities of scoring were at a minimum...

In the 57th minute, Daniel Mooney rattled the crossbar with a long-range attempt and with the ball bouncing off the underside of the woodwork, many in attendance thought it had crossed the line. Much to the relief of the Bell Street End, referee Scott Jackson and his linesman disagreed.

The spell that followed was a feisty one with several players from both sides going into Jackson’s book for strong challenges just past the hour mark...

A few penalty appeals from Altrincham were waved away in the dying embers of normal time, and with five minutes extra to play the Magpies held on".

THIRTEEN GAMES TO GO

Measured by their current league positions, there is a marked contrast in the strength of the opposition to be faced in the home and away fixtures.

Just five of the remaining games are on the road but, all except one, are at top-half clubs in the current league table; Wrexham (3rd), Notts County (7th), Bromley (9th), Southend United (11th) and, in the bottom-half, Dover (23rd).

So eight of the 13 fixtures left to play will take place at the J. Davidson Stadium, with six of those being against bottom-half clubs, namely Yeovil Town (13th), Eastleigh (14th), Barnet (15th), Wealdstone (19th), Aldershot Town (20th) and Weymouth (21st).

The two home games against top-half teams are against Chesterfield (2nd) and FC Halifax Town (4th).

ALTY OLD BOYS AND LOANEES

In National North, Elliot Durrell (right) scored Grantham's opening goal as, at home, they beat Morpeth 3-2.

And Alty loanee Marcus Dinaga scored Dartford's second goal as they beat league leaders Dorking Wanderers 3-2 in National League South.

MIDWEEK GAMES

• Altrincham v Weymouth
• King's Lynn Town v Woking
• Maidenhead United v Wealdstone
• Solihull Moors v Notts County
• Southend United v Grimsby Town
• Wrexham v Boreham Wood
• Yeovil Town v Dagenham & Redbridge

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

The first relates to the game v Eastleigh on 12th February... Breach of FA Rule E20.1 – It is alleged that in or around the 82nd minute of the fixture, Yeovil Town FC failed to ensure that its players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion. Charge denied – Paper Hearing requested.

It’s worth noting that Eastleigh have also been handed the same charge from that fixture and have accepted the charge resulting in a fine of £500.

Fast forward to February 25th and the game against Maidenhead, another ‘mass confrontation’ and another charge...

It is alleged that in or around the 94th minute of the fixture, Yeovil Town FC failed to ensure that its players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion.... Much like in the Eastleigh game, Maidenhead have also been charged with the same offence and also have until Wednesday 2 March to respond".

The Derbyshire Times tells us that "Paul Cook says Chesterfield’s draw against Southend United could prove to be a ‘good point’ despite conceding a late equaliser.

Jeff King gave the Spireites the lead on 10 minutes with a brilliant long-range half-volley into the top corner.

But the visitors equalised from the penalty spot early in the second-half through Sam Dalby after Scott Loach brought down Will Atkinson.

Calvin Miller scored his first Town goal when he headed in King’s cross with 13 minutes remaining but substitute Fraser Kerr turned a cross into his own net with just two minutes left.

'I am very disappointed to draw from a winning position but I can’t ask any more out of the players,' Cook said. 'I am delighted with the performance. The pitch is difficult and the commitment, effort and desire was there in abundance... We give Southend a great deal of respect. They are a tough side and they will be a test for anyone who plays them coming up...

Cook continued, 'We were getting information late on that Laurence Maguire was not right on the pitch so we made a sub to help him and Fraser Kerr has come on and made an individual error. There is no blame culture at our club and there never will be. I don’t work like that. We got ourselves in a winning position but whether we deserved that or not is debatable'...

Cook revealed that Saidou Khan had been due to play but he dropped out before the game. And midfielder Jim Kellermann had to come off early in the second-half with an injury...

Cook said... 'We can bring one or two in but if they come in they have got to make us better. There is no use signing players for the sake of it. They have to improve us'...

On [ex-Alty man] King’s superb opener, Cook added 'It was an unbelievable goal. He has got amazing ability. His talent with the ball is as good as anything as I have seen. His deliveries are fantastic. He is a really good player and he is a great lad.'".

SATURDAY LEAGUE GAMES

• Aldershot Town 0-2 Stockport County
• Barnet 6-0 Dover Athletic
• Chesterfield 2-2 Southend United
• Eastleigh 4-1 Wealdstone
• Grimsby Town 1-0 Woking
• Maidenhead United 0-0 Altrincham
• Notts County 1-1 Yeovil Town
• Solihull Moors 2-2 King's Lynn Town
• Torquay United 0-0 Bromley
• Weymouth 0-2 FC Halifax Town

PRE-MATCH BLOW AS THOMPSON RULED OUT

Left: Tony Thompson..

But with Gould now on a season-long loan at Nantwich Town, into the team today comes experienced goalkeeper and coach Steven Drench (right) who rejoined the club in September 2021, having previously been at Moss Lane for the latter half of the 2018/19 season.

Now aged 36, his initial spell with Altrincham saw him make his Alty debut against FC United of Manchester on 9 February 2019 but, after two further games, Steven was sidelined by injury and Tony Thompson resumed as first-choice till the end of that season.

Steven started 2019-20 as first-choice keeper but, in just the sixth game of the National League North campaign, he ruptured his Achilles and that ended his season, at the end of which he moved on to Farsley Celtic.

Right: Steven Drench during his first spell at Altrincham in 2019..

Having announced his retirement at Farsley, his second spell at Moss Lane was intended to be in a coaching role but, with Gould being loaned out, he has also had to be available to play and has been named on the bench on a number of occasions.

However, he has not played for the first team at all this season, although he has been an unused substitute in the National League on five occasions. In addition he has been an unused sub in three cup matches during this campaign.

So, Steven's last appearance for Altrincham was on 24 August 2019 at home to Darlington when, in the 87th minute, he collapsed to the ground with a serious Achilles injury. The game was completed with winger John Johnston in goal for the Robins who ended the game with just nine men, Tom Hannigan having been red-carded, as he was stretchered off, earlier in the match.

Drench's goalkeeping counterpart today, Dan Gyollai, had kept goal for Alty in pre-season in summer 2019.

The line-ups today are:

MAIDENHEAD UNITED (Black & white striped shirts, black shorts): 1. Dan Gyollai, 4. Will De Havilland, 9. Nathan Blissett, 10. Kane Ferdinand, 11. Dan Sparkes, 15. Sam Beckwith, 16. Ryheem Sheckleford, 19. Ryan Upward, 22. Josh Kelly, 24. Alan Massey (c), 27. Charlee Adams. Subs: 20. Shawn McCoulsky, 5. Manny Parry 17. Reece Smith, 18. Emile Acquah, 8. Shaun Donnellan,.

ALTRINCHAM (Yellow shirts and socks, blue shorts): 1 Steven Drench, 23. Harry Perritt, 25. Toby Mullarkey, 14. Jake Cooper, 28. Eddy Jones, 8. Elliot Osborne, 32. Isaac Marriott, 7. Dan Mooney, 15. Matty Kosylo, 11. Ryan Colclough, 29. Jordan Hulme. Subs: 2. Shaun Densmore, 17. Ben Pringle, 20. Andy White, 27. A-Jay Leitch-Smith, 24. Kyle Ferguson.

BEFORE THE GAME: MAIDENHEAD UNITED v ALTRINCHAM

Peters thanked the fans who travelled up to Victoria Road on a rather miserable evening.

With Altrincham to face on Saturday, before another encounter at York Road next Tuesday against Wealdstone, Alan Devonshire’s right-hand man said]...

'We owe the fans; some of these fans have driven three hours in a car to support us [this evening],' he said. 'These next two games will set us up. It’s just making sure we are right, get back to the way we have been, and try and get some more points on the board.

'We’ve been on a really good run, so we came here in terrific spirits. But we didn’t start very well and that’s unlike us for the last eight to 10 weeks so we’re going to have to look at that. This game has gone, we are going to forget it now, and we will look to Saturday...

'We’ve been scoring goals for fun at the minute. We just had to start well in the second half but we weren’t able to do that.

'Dagenham were very good once they were three goals ahead and it became tough... It’s a case of putting that to bed now and looking forward to Saturday’s game.'”

SHANE WARNE R.I.P.

Longstanding Alty fans will recall that, in August of 2005, the touring Australian cricket team visited Moss Lane to watch Altrincham beat Bangor City 5-0 in a pre-season friendly.

The connection between the cricketers and Altrincham FC was that the Alty chairman at the time, Geoff Goodwin, had the contract for his Go Goodwins coach company to transport the Aussies around the country on behalf of the England Cricket Board. They gave the Alty chairman the nickname "Popeye" owing to his muscular forearms!

Shane Warne was one of the very affable visitors to Altrincham on that occasion. After the match against Bangor, in the Sponsors' Lounge at Moss Lane, Shane kindly posed for the photo (right). More than two dozen of the Australian touring party were at the match and, as well as Shane, they included Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Jason Gillespie, Michael Kasprowicz and Damien Martyn.

Ties with Alty were further cemented when a number of those Australian cricketers acquired shares in the Football Club.

The Alty Files expresses its condolences to Shane's family and friends.

JUST LIKE THAT, COOPER STAYS

The 21 year old has made a favourable impression as a cool, composed presence at the heart of Alty's defence since arriving from Rotherham United on an initial one-month deal on February 1st...

A trip to Maidenhead United tomorrow is followed by the rearranged home game with Weymouth on Tuesday night, ahead of the Robins stepping out at The J.Davidson Stadium again next Saturday against Eastleigh".

NORTH-WEST NEWS

Bentley joined the club in October 2019 after a 17-year association with Morecambe. Much of Jim’s first two seasons at the club were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic...

Despite a promising start to this campaign, a recent run of poor form has left the Coasters off the pace and heading in the wrong direction, so after Tuesday’s defeat to York City, it was decided a change was needed.

Club Chairman and Owner David Haythornthwaite said 'These things are never easy, and Jim is a true gentleman and someone I have great respect for as an individual, so yesterday’s conversation was difficult but one we had to have...

'In the meantime, Nick Chadwick and Andy Taylor will take over on an interim basis'".

Former Alty striker and manager Ken McKenna followed Bentley from the Shrimpers and was initially his assistant at Fylde, from October 2019, but he stood down from that role in July 2020.

Footnote: AFC Fylde currently lie fourth in the National League North, ten points behind the leaders Gateshead, having played one game more than The Heed. AFC Fylde have won two and drawn one of their last seven fixtures.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

Hurst is challenging his Grimsby Town side to get back to keeping clean sheets after a recent drought. The Mariners have only shut out the opposition in one of their last seven matches and have only kept two clean sheets since November.

Whilst the defensive record has been far from poor, Hurst thinks his side have been giving away too many chances...

'We have enjoyed the results but we have played better than the last two games and lost matches. When we lost I said not everything was wrong and, on some occasions, we were very happy with the performance. In the last two we have won, I haven't been totally happy but we have done more than enough to win the games...

I want us to get back to clean sheets... Ironically the clean sheets was when we didn't score a goal and took a point'...

David Longe-King will be ineligible to feature against his parent club [Woking] this weekend. The defender has spent the last month on the sidelines with an injury but returned to training last week.

'He's been injured too much, that's been the problem,' Hurst said on Longe-King's loan."

NEXT OPPONENTS: MAIDENHEAD UNITED

With tube trains not running several Magpies players arrived late to the ground, while fans also had all sorts of bother trying to get to East London to follow their side. While the disruption was no excuse for the visitors’ sluggish first half showing, it certainly didn’t help.

The play-off chasing Daggers have seen their league form derailed by their FA Trophy run in recent weeks, but they swept Maidenhead aside in the first half, with the visitors failing to get to grips with the hosts’ ‘little and large’ front pairing of Junior Morias and Paul McCallum... United ultimately suffered a points failure despite an encouraging opening to the match...

That opening was as good as it got for a Maidenhead side who soon hit the buffers. Only eleven minutes had elapsed before the Daggers Dean Rance... hit a powerful effort from range... [Ex-Alty trialist] Goalkeeper Dan Gyollai (left) got down well to parry the shot, but Morias was stationed ideally for the rebound...

[In] the dying embers of the half... [there was] a double strike for McCallum... Damage done, there was no platform for a second half recovery...

A hugely disappointing way for an unbeaten run to end and Maidenhead will be looking to get back on track against Altrincham at York Road on Saturday".

And the Maidenhead Advertiser adds that "Alan Devonshire admits Maidenhead United weren't good enough on the night as their five-match unbeaten run in the National League was ended by the Daggers, but he's hoping his players can write it off and recharge in time for this week's home games against Altrincham and Wealdstone...

But after losing just once in 10 matches prior to the trip to East London he wasn't about to go overboard on the criticism... Maidenhead have been one of the league's form sides since the turn of the year".

Referring to the Dagenham defeat, Devonshire said "They had three shots in the first half, and they scored three goals. I'm disappointed with the way we defended and reacted to going behind... We were poor on the night, especially first half and they were better than us so we can't have any complaints really... We’re going to just write it off and recharge for Saturday"...

The article continues, "A couple of wins this week in their home games with Altrincham on Saturday and Wealdstone on Tuesday night would go a long way to achieving a healthy mid-table finish, however, Devonshire is wary of the dangers posed by Altrincham, a team like Maidenhead who are punching well above their weight in the division...

'Like us they've had a lot of injuries,' Devonshire said. 'When they had their bad run, they had a lot of their key players out, but they're all coming back now. When you’re a small club in this league and you have four or five of your best players out at the same time it hurts you.

'The clubs are similar in stature, so it’s going to be tough. They beat Dagenham 3-0 on Saturday and we lost to them last night, and they deservedly beat them as well'".

EMIRATES FA CUP

• Everton 2-0 Boreham Wood

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

The Aston Villa loanee limped off... last weekend after sustaining a calf injury. Raikhy has been sent for a scan on Thursday...

Hurst told Grimsby Live... 'Arjan Raikhy is the one we will be missing, unfortunately..We don't expect to have him for the next two games'...

Taylor, Maguire-Drew and Wright all remain on the sidelines and won't be involved in the next two fixtures either...

'We have nobody back from injury for Woking or Southend. From that point of view, the squad is stretched, six are out injured. Two out on loan. We're not quite bare bones but my decisions for the matchday squad are limited. We get on with it, we'll have a good team out'".

The Halifax Courier tells us that "In-form Shaymen defender... Jesse Debrah encapsulates why FC Halifax Town are in the thick of the National League promotion race.

His outstanding performances of late highlight the level of quality in the Halifax squad, especially for a player who has made just a dozen league starts this season...

And Debrah's attitude of putting the team before the individual, as one of the Town squad lower down the list of appearances, emphasises why Pete Wild and Chris Millington place so much importance of signing the person as well as the player...

'Credit to the gaffer and Milly for trusting me to play,' said the defender... At times this season it's been a bit stop-start so it's been a bit hard for me, but I'm just enjoying this run of games... You've got Naz and Tom, two really good centre-backs, ahead of me, so that's not easy...

'We've done a lot of training work on me, a lot of extras, with Sarg (Joe Sargison, first-team coach), Milly, trying to get me playing more, believing in myself, stepping out with the ball, moving my feet defensively, just getting better in every single aspect because I know I'm not the finished product and I've got a lot to learn...

'I always feel like I can do better,' he said...

'The gaffer always talks about trying to be forward thinking, find positive passes, and that's what I try to do...

'I think you saw that last Tuesday, under the cosh, gone a man down, some teams would fold,' he said.. 'Honestly, we do have a really good changing room.... There's no bad eggs, everyone talks to everyone'".

MORGAN MOVES OUT ON LOAN

Now, Altrincham FC announces that "Jamie Morgan has this afternoon (Wednesday) linked up with Northern Premier League side Nantwich Town on a two-month loan deal... The 24 year-old has moved on a temporary deal to the club he joined Chester from in 2019 [before rteruning to the Deva Stadium]...

This loan presents Jamie a wonderful opportunity to get some regular game time with a team that he already knows a thing or two about...

Left: Jamie Morgan

Phil Parkinson explained that this was always going to be part of the plan. 'Jamie is going out to get the minutes he needs. The idea was always to send him out playing before we decided to take him in. Circumstances meant he made an early debut and played some games that weren’t anticipated due to the injury of other players.

'He’s a player we identified for next season, so we didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity of getting him now. He’s missed a lot of football with COVID-19 and injury but he is over his injuries now and needs to sharpen his tools to fight for a place in the National League...

'He’ll be training with us as much as possible and is firmly in plans moving forward'" concluded the Altrincham boss.

ALTY OLD BOYS

Widnes report that "Cameron Terry’s clean sheet was the first shutout for an away side at Borough Park in a league fixture since November 2019".

Former Altrincham striker Danny Midgley scored for Skelmersdale as they beat Irlam at the weekend.

Trafford crashed 4-1 at Warrington Rylands on Saturday and in the game Altrincham's "Trafford full back Sean Higgins suffered a nasty looking head injury and was taken off so Danny Caldecott’s [team] finished the game with ten men as all three substitutes had been used".

WEYMOUTH'S VISIT RE-ARRANGED

Altrincham FC has now confirmed that "Altrincham's Footy for a Fiver fixture with Weymouth has been rearranged for next Tuesday evening (8th March) at The J.Davidson Stadium, kick-off at 7.45pm. Tickets already bought will stay valid for the new date, as will half-time pints that were purchased in advance, for what is an eagerly-anticipated Vanarama National League fixture against a team who are 11 points behind the Robins but have had a recent upturn in form".

Since that postponement, Altrincham have regained some form with afine 3-0 home win over Dagenham & Redbridge.

In the same post-portponement period, The Terras have played twice, both games being against top of the table teams. Last week they secured a 2-2 home draw against Bromley and followed that up last Saturday with a narrow 1-0 defeat at Stockport, where the Hatters benefitted form an unlucky own goal.

From March to mid-April, the new fixture date means that Altrincham now five home games in a sequence of seven fixtures.

NEXT OPPONENTS: MAIDENHEAD UNITED

Having convincingly swept aside King’s Lynn Town at the weekend, the Magpies were optimistic to add to an unbeaten run of five matches at Victoria Road.

But, playing with a strong wind at their backs, the Daggers seized control of the game in the opening 45 minutes with goals from Junior Morias and Paul McCallum (two).

'The damage was pretty much done in the first half,' said Sam Beckwith. 'It was very disappointing and we were poor considering how well we’ve done over the past month or so. We gave away three sloppy goals...

'At half-time, the message was to try pick ourselves up and go get an early goal. It didn’t come, however...

'We know what we’re capable of and we will look to put it right this weekend against Altrincham.'”

In advance of Altrincham's visit to Berkshire on Saturday, Maidenhead United "encourage supporters to purchase tickets in advance to prevent queues at the turnstiles on the day.

We will have a number of Tea Bars and our main Stripes bar open for refreshments which both home and away supporters can enjoy.

This match will be UNSEGREGATED with both home and away supporters able to access the stadium via the York Road or Bell Street turnstiles.

Our match programme and team sheet for this fixture will be available free of charge online with details being released on our social media channels (@MUFCYorkRoad)."

ALTY'S CUP FINAL

Altrincham FC now adds that "Ryan Morton continued his prolific scoring form with another two goals, and there were further strikes from Josh Jordan, Amaar Hussain, Louis Morrison and Raheem Mercurius...

The first half had been a tale of Altrincham possession, and the second 45 minutes was no different, with the Robins increasing the tempo, if anything, and putting Sale Amateurs to the sword...

'We were ruthless at times, and it was another excellent performance from the lads,' said Alty Reserves manager Ross Speight... 'We had to earn the right to play against an experienced Sale side. In the second half, we shifted through the gears and showed how effective we can be when on the front foot...

'We will look forward to the final and the chance to bring some silverware to the club.'

Altrincham will face Bollington in the final, at a location and time to be confirmed", concludes press and media manager, John Edwards.

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

The 47 year-old was chosen to be the leader of a consortium offering to purchase the Black Cats in 2018 after they were put up to sale by billionaire owner Ellis Short.

Donald, who was previously Eastleigh's chairman for seven years, left the Hampshire club to join Sunderland as they looked to bounce straight back to the Championship. However, news broke that Donald was reportedly trying to sell the club after 19 months of ownership due to backlash from fans and a failure to fulfil his promises...

It it understood that Donald hopes to return to Eastleigh after guiding the club from the lower echelons of the non-league pyramid up to the National League.

'I left a lot of friends behind at Eastleigh and it wasn't a finished project at the time,' Donald told BBC Radio Solent. 'So if I can organise myself in Sunderland in a way that worked for everybody, that frees me up so that I could go back to Eastleigh and finish the job that I started those years ago, then I think that would be a wonderful way for me to get my football fix...

'I think it's quite common knowledge within the game because I've had a couple of other clubs come to me and ask what the situation is, because they know ultimately my shareholding in Sunderland is probably going to go... but Eastleigh is miles ahead of any other club emotionally for me@".

From Gloverscast, we learn that "South Somerset District Council has confirmed it has allocated £2.8m to buy land around Yeovil Town’s Huish Park stadium from owner, club chairman Scott Priestnall.

The authority agreed its annual budget at a meeting on Monday night". The Council confirmed that the "owner of the land is ready to proceed with the sale".

Gloverscast explains that "All land at Huish Park is held by two companies, Yeovil Athletic & Football Club and Yeovil Town Holdings, both of which list Priestnall and fellow club director Glenn Collis as their only directors. The statement confirms what we already knew that the authority’s District Authority approved the purchase and leaseback of the land, including the stadium, back in December 2020.

However, that was halted when the Glovers’ Trust activated an Asset of Community Value (ACV) listing it had on the land which gave it six months to raise the cash to match the council’s offer. It failed to raise the cash and the pause on the Council completing the deal was lifted, but since then discussions over the sale of Yeovil Athletic & Football Club have got underway between Priestnall and Simul Sports, a group led by former Cardiff City commercial director Julian Jenkins.

Since the discussions between Simul and Priestnall began, things have gone quiet on a potential deal with the council, but this latest update would appear to suggest they are moving again...

Also on Monday night, the Glovers’ Trust published... a full disclosure of what it knows about Simul Sports... Financier Greg Baker is the man backing the deal. Baker is the founder of ESE Capital, a London-based finance firm which specialises in property development".

THROUGH THE YEARS

Their Through the Years records reveal that the last encounter for the club on 5 March came in 2019 with a 1-1 draw against Blyth Spartans at the J. Davidson Stadium.

A:tywill be hoping for better luck in 2022 than they experienced three years earlier as the outcome of the match against Blyth was influenced by a decision by referee Lewis Smith. After Altrincham, playing fluent football, had taken a 21st minute lead through John Johnston's shot from the front edge of the box, Blyth equalised in questionable circumstances just six minutes later.

Two Altrincham players had tried to clear the ball near the byline, to the right of their own goal. The ball came off one Alty defender, onto the other, and then to goalkeeper Tony Thompson, who collected the ball. Whilst the referee's interpretation of this as being a back-pass was itself contentious, Blyth were permitted to take the freekick from a much more favourable distance than it would have been, had it been taken from where the offence actually occurred (i.e. where the handling occurred).

Apparently the Laws of the game permitted this, stating "indirect free kicks to the attacking team for an offence inside the opponents’ goal area are taken from the nearest point on the goal area line which runs parallel to the goal line".

But, with Alty's wall standing on the goal-line, all Robbie Dale had to do was hit it into the upper reaches of the net from about seven yards, which he duly did.

It has to be said, however, that in the second half Altrincham did not reach the level of their first-half performance with too many attacks taking too long to develop. So the Robins dropped two points and lost ground on their play-off rivals, two of whom won tonight.

MIKE'S CHANGE OF FOCUS

For the past nine years, Mike has been a familiar face at Alty matches up and down the country... He started out alongside Gavin Rathbone and took on the mantle of main man when Gavin stepped aside...

Mike took to Twitter to explain his decision, saying, 'Been a great 9 or so years photographing @altrinchamfc, best seat in the house, but catching up with people before, during and after the game, and watching from the stands today reaffirmed my choice to knock the photography on the head, and support my team in a different way.'

Alty director Rob Esteva led the club's expression of gratitude to Mike... Said Rob, 'The number of games he has covered during that time has been incredible, and the countless hours he has given the club is hugely appreciated. It’s not just the home games; it’s the travel he has put in going the length and breadth of the country covering our games, something made even more challenging with the distances involved in the National League'...

The club are extremely fortunate to have another top-notch photographer in Jonathan Moore, who has been working alongside Mike in recent seasons and will, we hope, continue providing such an excellent service".

The Alty Files would like to echo the above sentiments and thank Mike for his friendly help over the years.

ALTY AWARD FOR BRIAN

Alty director Sam Mackenzie came up with the idea, after marvelling at the endeavours of those who volunteer their services to keep the club ticking over, and it was implemented with the full backing of the board, once Blanchflower Bakery & Kitchen owner Phil Howells kindly consented to act as sponsor.

Named the Outstanding Contribution Award, Phil generously agreed to provide a £30 voucher as the prize for each monthly winner, and Brian is now savouring the prospect of sampling the always-excellent town centre restaurant's many delights after being voted the recipient for January...

Sam said... 'Anyone can nominate a volunteer, and at the end of each month, I'll go to the rest of the board with all the nominations, and we'll have a chat about who the winner should be... In the case of Brian, he does numerous things for the club, always with a smile and an affable nature, and that was evident, as ever, throughout January.

'He can turn his hand to anything, and there were so many examples of it during the month. He unblocked a toilet, which saved us paying to call out a plumber, and when one particularly windy match day left rubbish strewn all round the ground, he came in and cleared it all up single-handedly.

'He is a great guy with a wonderful disposition, but the same can be said for so many other volunteers at the club'...

Nominations should be Sam Mackenzie to reach her by the end of each month, with a brief note outlining why the nominee has impressed you... Nominations for February will remain open until the end of this week".

MIDWEEK RESULTS

• Chesterfield 3-1 Notts County
• Dagenham & Redbridge 3-0 Maidenhead United
• Wrexham 2-0 King's Lynn Town

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The amiable Geordie has always prided himself on bringing back a community feel to the Cards since joining in May 2018 and feels he has been let down by the nature of his dismissal.

'I tried to do the job in a different way because I knew we couldn’t compete with money so I tried to do it the community way and get people behind the club,' he said. 'And I don’t mind if they want to do it a different way and I have no problem with that. But what has hurt me more than anything, and I have no words to describe it, is that I got a 20-second phone call off Kelvin Reay [director who has since resigned, see below] after four years of giving my life to the job. That hurts more than anything.

'I realise the fans turned in the end but then I hear like that they’ve done it [sacked me]. The worst thing is, there’s people in the background making the decisions. How about getting me in man to man? They could have said, "look Dowse, thank you for this, thank you for your efforts or whatever but it’s not working".

'But no, it was a call which lasted 20 seconds saying, "by the way we’ve sacked you". I’m not blaming Kelvin. He was the one told to make the call. Then 20 minutes after the call I read the statement on the website. I learned more from that than I’d known from the call.”

He is now washing his hands of Woking, something he felt he would never say. He added... 'I’m going to go down to Blacky’s [Martin Black’s pub the Kingfield Arms] from 5pm on Friday [March 4] to say goodbye to people who matter if you like. Then I’ll never be at Woking again'. While Dowson expressed ‘surprise’ that joint assistant manager Ian Dyer will take the team at Grimsby Town on Saturday [March 5], he revealed others in his management team; Martin Tyler, Christian Jolley and Nathan Collier, have all left the club. Chairman Rosemary Johnson has also stepped down [said to be not Dowson-related] while Reay, an ally of Dowson, has also resigned.

Dowson added 'John [Katz] sold me this big dream for the next three years. All of a sudden it’s come to this. Kelv and Rosemary, I will wish them well on Friday, and then I’ll be gone. I’ve got nothing there [at the club] now, not how I’ve been treated.'

And Woking "confirm the resignations of Rosemary Johnson and Kelvin Reay from the Board of Directors.

The Club places its thanks on record for their long-standing and unwavering support during their respective tenures at the Club, including navigating the incredibly challenging financial difficulties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

'Rosemary Johnson has been the very glue that has held the football club together for many, many years,' said Woking Chief Executive John Katz.

'The Board will miss her leadership and guidance greatly. Rosemary has been synonymous with Woking, with the football club, the council, and serving our community. The club is grateful for her selflessness, and she will be missed.

'Kelvin Reay has been an influential part of our football team as Football Liaison Director after having served in numerous other capacities with the club,' said Katz. 'I will miss his company around the ground, on the board, and on the long coach journeys. Both Rosemary and Kelvin are Woking through and through, and they will be missed.'"

ALTY v DAGGERS VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

ALTY PHYSIO, RYAN, MOVES ON

Press and media officer, John Edwards, continues, that during "Saturday's game with Dagenham & Redbridge... it was typical of Ryan's willingness to react to any scenario that he was the one to rush to the aid of an injured linesman after the official was scythed down by the sliding boot of a visiting defender....

There were hugs and words of gratitude from one player after another as he joined squad members and supporters for a farewell drink in the Community Sports Hall bar after the match.

In tandem with Tommy Uda, Ryan joined the club when Phil and Neil Sorvel were appointed in the summer of 2017, and, as a pair, they ran Alty's medical department with a level of professionalism and care that was second to none... Alty boss Phil Parkinson said: 'Ryan has been a good servant to me and the club, and he goes with our blessing. The lure of Wrexham is big and unfortunately we are again a victim of our success, which shows our recruitment is not just good on the pitch, it’s the same off it.

'The players are in demand and so are the staff. We won’t always win the battle to retain them, but we should take it as a big compliment that their services are in demand from teams like Wrexham... After Tommy’s departure, Ryan stepped up to continue and lead the area and move it on again... with the talented Ryan Spencer by his side... With losing Tommy and now Ryan, we need to take our time and get the right person in for this position'".

ALTY'S AXA CLAIM

The claim was filed in December and relates to the closure of the club from March 2020 to June 2021 during the Covid pandemic. The club's business interruption policy with the insurers, Axa, apparently includes a clause for the "closure of the premises 'on the advice or with the approval' of the government" and the case seems to be based on whether that clause should trigger a payout by Axa or not.

NEXT OPPONENTS: MAIDENHEAD UNITED

Prior to that Maidenhead had done brilliantly to respond after falling behind, with Dan Sparkes firing them level midway through the first half before Josh Kelly stole the show with another impressive brace. His first saw him touch the ball past his marker before shrugging him off and firing high into the net to give the visitors the lead.

And he was at it again two minutes later, gliding past a couple of challenges on the edge of the box before keeping his cool to roll the ball underneath Paul Jones.

The victory lifts the Magpies 12 points clear of the relegation places and up to the heady heights of 14th in the table ahead of tomorrow night's (Tuesday) trip to 10th placed Dagenham & Redbridge. [Coincidentally, they were Altrincham's last opponents].

They've won five of their last 10 matches, losing just once in the process to leaders Stockport County, a run of form that now has them targeting a top half finish".

Of the King's Lynn game, "Upward said, 'We started well, and we knew our jobs... It was a good all-round performance on a bad pitch... It was brilliant (to score)'".

VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE NEWS

'Following the prolonged run of poor form in the league, the Board of Directors has taken the tough decision to relieve Dowse of his duties,' said Woking Chief Executive, John Katz.

'Since being appointed Manager prior to the 2018/19 season, Dowse has engineered an instant return to the National League after inheriting a relegation side, he has led the club to a Third Round FA Cup home tie as the Cards played host to Watford, he took the club to the semi-finals of the FA Trophy in 2020/21, and he was instrumental in the Club’s financial survival in the midst of the global pandemic.”

'The Club would like to thank Dowse for all he has done both on and off the pitch during his tenure in Woking. Dowse is kind and generous with his time serving the community in which he managed. The Club and this community will miss his charisma and passion for Woking, as will the local charities he has done so much for. We wish him well in all of his future endeavours and he’ll always be welcome at the Laithwaite Community Stadium.'

Assistant Manager Ian Dyer has been asked to take charge of the First-Team as Caretaker Manager for the foreseeable future. A search for a new manager will begin immediately".

Footnote: Woking have an identical record to Altrincham, having gained 33 points from their thirty games. The Cards lie 16th, lying just above Alty on goal difference.

Serious About Rugby League reports that "Halifax Panthers and Halifax Town continue to enter into talks with the Calderdale Council in a bid to sort out the Shay stadium debacle.

A fortnight ago, Town were in uproar following the decision to postpone their football game on Saturday and then allow the Panthers to play Sunday.

Town’s fixture against National League side Bromley because of a waterlogged pitch, yet, the Panthers were able to stroll to a 28-0 over London Broncos the day after.

For Halifax Town boss, Pete Wild, that decision rankled him... 'I just feel disappointed at how the game was allowed to go ahead for the rugby club on Sunday,' Wild told the Halifax Courier... 'I think it’s very detrimental to what we’re trying to do as a football club, them playing on the Sunday, and I have to be honest, I’m very disappointed'...

Without investment, Wild continued... 'That pitch needs investment, but without the investment, we’ve got to take care of it as much as possible. I just don’t think that’s happened over the weekend.'”

According to the Derbyshire Times, "Chesterfield appear unlikely to add to their squad before Tuesday night’s game against Notts County.

With eight players injured and one suspended, the Blues’ squad is stretched for the visit of the seventh-placed Magpies.

Town are particularly light on strikers, with Kabongo Tshimanga and Danny Rowe both unavailable. Tom Denton will be assessed after hurting his ankle against Yeovil on Saturday. That leaves manager Paul Cook with just Akwasi Asante and Joe Quigley to choose from.

Asked about any possible incomings, assistant manager Danny Webb said 'At the moment he (manager Cook) just wants to focus on this particular group we have got.

'It does not help when you are picking up an injury per game which is what it has been for the last period. The numbers are dwindling. We have taken the magnets of the injured players off the board now because most of them are such long-termers it just brings you down to look at it...

Webb added 'I think the manager, at the moment, is focusing on what we have got, probably not ruling out any additions in time but, at the moment, especially going into tomorrow, will be as you were.'”

At Eastleigh, the Spitfires "announce the appointment of Lee Bradbury as the club’s new First Team Manager.

The 46 year-old makes his return to first team management with the Spitfires after leaving his role at SkyBet League Two side Crawley Town, where he has spent the past three years as Assistant Manager to John Yems.

Bradbury is well-known locally, having spent time with Portsmouth and AFC Bournemouth as a player and in various coaching roles before spending seven years as manager of Havant & Waterlooville.

In seven years with the Hawks he boasted a win percentage just shy of 50%...

Bradbury said... 'It’s been a tough decision to leave Crawley but it’s one I’m pleased that I’ve done and I’m looking forward to the challenge... Eastleigh has always been a club on the up over previous years... and I believe that is still the case, which was a big attraction for me.

'I’ve been really impressed with what I’ve seen so far.

'In terms of what I want to bring to the table, it will be organisation, hopefully excitement for the fans, and I want to let the players play with freedom. I want us to play aggressive, attacking football; working hard high up the pitch but not forgetting those vital clean sheets that good teams are built on...

'I think the whole club is set up ready to move up the divisions, and I hope I can be the one to give them that in the near future'".