Tuesday 8th September 2009 - U's 0-0 Altrincham: Amber nation frustration
"Obstinacy is the result of the will forcing itself into the place of the intellect." (Arthur Schopenhauer)
"Time has a way of demonstrating that the most stubborn are the most intelligent." (Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Yevtushenko)
The German philosopher and the Russian poet might have been unable to reach a consensus on the nature of stubbornness, but in footballing terms it works like a charm for the likes of Altrincham, a club not blessed with a great number of gifted individuals, but as a team possessed with a work ethic and a streak of awkwardness a mile wide which can more than compensate on its day. And to United's impotent chagrin, that day has arrived twice this year on the yielding green baize of the Abbey Stadium.
Memories of the Robins' last visit on the final weekend of the league season were still vivid, and the amber army's expectations were high again on Tuesday night, but for different reasons this time following Saturday's seven-goal drubbing of hapless Forest Gump Rovers. United's side, still missing their virus-stricken manager, was understandably unchanged for the fifth game in a row against an Altrincham team which enjoyed a tremendous start to the season with three wins and a draw in their first four matches, but which had then lost three and drawn one of the next four.
It was an almost unnaturally humid September evening and the visitors nearly made a red-hot start, Dale Johnson's chipped through ball inside the opening thirty seconds setting up strike partner Chris Senior who appeared to be through on goal until the telescopic legs of Brian Saah intervened to block from out of nowhere.
A competitive midfield battle ensued with both sides passing it around to decent effect, although it was a further seven minutes before another goal attempt came from Paul Carden, stabbing a ambitious volley wide following a clearance. Danny Crow and Chris Holroyd then combined well but were crowded out at the expense of a corner.
United appeared to have been working on the full-back/winger combinations down the flanks and it was noticeable that several times when the U's were in possession Dan Gleeson stationed himself ahead of Andy Parkinson down the right with a view to winning the ball with his physical presence and knocking it back to his smaller colleague to enable him to cross or cut inside.
Wayne Hatswell stayed in the box after a corner on 10 and Holroyd found him with a cross but he nodded wide, and five minutes later Holroyd played creator again with a pull-back for Crow in a good shooting position, but he just delayed his shot for a fraction and Robbie Williams was able to get across to block.
It was not all one way traffic, however, notwithstanding Alty's primarily cautious approach, and on 16 Matt Doughty's free-kick found Chris Denham whose shot was blocked behind by Anthony Tonkin; Tom Kearney's ensuing corner found Anthony Danylyk in the middle but his volley was well held by Danny Potter.
The visitors were only too willing to look for ways to break the flow of the game and use up time, and ref Jerden offered them one route when Johnson tumbled theatrically to the floor after Saah came up behind him to challenge for the ball. No foul, but a free-kick was awarded, and from there on in Alty's players regularly fell over when they felt an opponent's breath on their backs to gain a succession of soft free-kicks from the gullible man in black.
Doughty drew another save from Potter with a hopeful shot, then on the counter Robbie Willmott fired wide from the edge of the area. Next a corner from the U's winger was nodded on by Hatswell and Gleeson tried a spectacular bicycle kick but just failed to connect properly.
Parkinson had a shot deflected for another flag-kick on 21 and it was now apparent that Willmott had made a welcome change in his corner-taking technique, spurning the hopeful floater for a pacy, whipped curler into the danger zone which held much more promise, but for the visitors' prowess in the air.
Alty enjoyed a little spell of their own around the half hour but the United defence, marshalled well by the impressive Saah and Hatswell, held firm, and on 33 the U's broke back and created their best chance so far, Holroyd chasing the ball down in the corner and squaring it for Crow, who just found the ball caught under his feet at the crucial moment and scooped his shot over the bar.
Three minutes later it was Holroyd's turn for a goalscoring opportunity as he slalomed down the middle against retreating defenders, but with Crow making a good decoy run he hurried his shot and scuffed it well wide.
The visitors were still gaining those free-kicks but tried the ref's patience too much on 38 when Doughty took an absolute eternity to take one from out on the right and received the first yellow card of the night for time-wasting.
The goalkeepers remained well protected in an increasingly frustrating encounter and it was not until the last minute of the 45 that Gleeson had the next shot, his long-range blaster blocked by Doughty. The visitors then broke away and Denham might have nicked one were it not for Willmott's admirable covering back and challenge to deny him.
So far, so predictable, and with Martin Ling indisposed it was down to Paul Carden and Jez George to work out a way past Alty's massed deep-lying ranks while remaining watchful for the odd breakaway.
For the first time this season Parkinson and Willmott did not swap wings for the second half, a little surprisingly in view of the side's need to produce some variety in search of the breakthrough, and they started part two they way they finished part one with a Gleeson thunderbolt which flashed over.
Altrincham made an early change when Doughty was replaced by Danny Heffernan on 51, and some rare somnolence in the United defence two minutes later saw Potter chase the ball to the left of his goal only to be beaten to it by Denham who squared it into the middle, but without a keeper in the goal, Saah stood tall and blocked Senior's shot with other colleagues also covering.
Willmott made a decent run and cut-in on 56, but with Tonkin available on the overlap and three men waiting in the middle, he blazed wildly and unwisely over. On the hour Nicky Clee collapsed to the ground under an innocuous challenge from Gleeson and angered the crowd by getting the United full-back booked, the ref giving the decision while his linesman, much closer to the incident, acted like he was a mere spectator, staring noncommittally into space.
United finally got the ball in the net on 62 when Crow produced a magnificent reverse ball to feed Parkinson, who darted through and should have scored in a one-on-one with keeper Stuart Coburn, but the latter blocked at close range and the ball ran for Holroyd to ram home from close range... only for the offside flag to cut amber celebrations short. It was not clear which U's man was flagged, but the lino did not appear to have raised it when Parkinson received the ball.
The ref had gone off the idea of giving a free-kick every time an Alty player fell over in this half, and United had enjoyed much the better of the possession since the interval, but the visitors still broke out occasionally and on 73 an horrendous misplaced pass from Carden offered them just a chance, Senior eventually shooting across goal and wide.
James Smith was carded for bringing down Willmott, then both sides made a change. Jai Reason mistook Alty's number change for his own side's and had started to trudge unwillingly off until the fourth official changed his board and indicated that Sam Ives was to replace Parkinson. Ross Thaker came on for Johnson.
A couple of minutes later the hosts had the ball in the net again. Reason's superbly angled free-kick from the right cut across the box to Hatswell, roaring in on the blind side, who powered home from close range, but again celebrations were cut short as Gleeson was apparently penalised for some shirt-tugging in the Alamo-like charge for the ball in the build-up.
The ref was in random mode now and next booked Tonkin for the most innocuous of challenges on Denham, and while United retained the upper hand in terms of possession, too many crosses were aimed into the air where Alty were always going to dominate, the home side hardly winning a header in the opposition box all night. The team needed a winger to get to the byline and pull it back low but Willmott appeared subdued and Ives is not a wide man, although he made an excellent, tireless contribution both getting forward and covering back.
Willmott fizzed a shot wide on 80 and four minutes later Reason had an effort blocked by Williams. Further changes ensued for both teams, Lee Phillips coming on for Crow to add some muscle up front while the unpopular Slee was replaced by Andrew Pearson.
Next minute, disaster almost beckoned as United, now taking unimaginative corners repeatedly and fruitlessly floated towards the penalty spot, were caught cold from one such flag-kick and Thaker, wearing a shirt devoid of name or number, broke free down the left channel. The U's chased back desperately but he reached the penalty box alone and Potter sprinted from his goal, just doing enough to put him off and make him shoot feebly wide of the near post. A definite let-off for United, albeit a winner for Alty would have been a total travesty.
In the closing minutes United played it strangely narrow, trying to thread it again and again through a congested middle while Hatswell acted as an underused spare left winger, and although Phillips was now winning some aerial ball, such an unsubtle approach was never going to work against the visitors' towering, battling defence. The U's needed the courage to play their passing football, but it seemed to get forgotten in the rush to pump it forward.
Hatswell sent a decent blaster into Coburn's midriff on 89 and as the five added minutes ebbed away, Danylyk handled in the D at the cost of a booking. Willmott stepped up to take the free-kick but it deflected off the wall, and with the clearance of the ensuing corner came the final whistle.
Altrincham had frustrated United once again, and who could deny them the point for which they had worked so hard, albeit rather dubiously on occasion. The U's had not played enough to their strengths and shown insufficient patience towards the end, but there is not much wrong with this team, as long as everyone plays to somewhere near their best form. However, it is not the finished article and seems to be missing that extra spark of inspiration and creativity when the chips are down. Plenty of food for thought for Mr Ling as he lies on his sick bed.
Statto Corner
United's matches with Altrincham always used to produce so many goals... but they seem to have dried up for now. They first met in a friendly at Moss Lane in August 1967, Alty having been crowned champions of the Cheshire County League for the past two seasons, while the U's had finished eighth in the Southern League the previous term. The result was a 7-1 thrashing for United, and the Robins went on to miss a hat-trick of titles by one place before becoming founder members of the Northern Premier League.
They did not win that competition until 1999, but became founder members of the Alliance Premier League (now our beloved Blue Square Premier) in 1979 and were champions for the first two seasons of its existence, as well as collecting the FA Trophy in 1978 and 1986 to bookend a period when they were probably the strongest club in non-League. In fact they missed election to the Football League by only one vote in 1980, gaining 25 to Rochdale's 26.
Our clubs' paths did not cross again until 2005-06 after Alty had secured two successive promotions from the NPL and the Conference North. They exchanged victories that season, 4-0 to the U's at the Abbey and 2-1 to Alty in Cheshire, and next term a 2-2 Abbey draw was followed by a nightmarish 5-0 defeat for United at Moss Lane. We had our revenge the following season, winning 2-1 at home and 3-0 away, but last term the Robins took the points 1-0 at home and secured that all-too-memorable goalless draw at the Abbey on the last day of the regular season.
Danny Potter's next League game for United will be his one hundredth in the black and amber (115th including cup games and playoff ties). He will be only the eighth U's goalkeeper to make three figures in post-war league matches, following Keith Branagan (110), Scott Barrett (119), Peter Vasper (136), Shaun Marshall (150 + 5 as sub), John Vaughan (178), Rodney Slack (217) and last but never least, Malcolm Webster (256 between 1976 and 1984).
Conversely, seven keepers have appeared in only one league game, namely Steve Berryman, Martin Brennan, Paul Casey, James Jowsey, Jim Larkin, Alex McCarthy and Luke McShane. And last season also saw one-game cameos from Steven Drench in the Setanta Shield and Adam Bartlett in the playoff final. You might remember that one...
Player Ratings
Potter 7. Never less than comfortable.
Gleeson 7. Decent game and gave good support to those ahead of him.
Saah 8. Immaculate.
Hatswell 8. Getting back to his best.
Tonkin 7. Like his full-back partner, impressive going forward and just needs to cut out the odd sloppy pass.
Parkinson 6. Industrious and intermittently effective; missed a great chance in the second half.
Carden 8. Led by example as usual.
Reason 7. Not bad, but capable of much better.
Willmott 6. Had his moments, although could have done with a few more. Might have made more impact if he had switched to the right like he normally does.
Crow 7. Tremendous link play, but fluffed his lines in front of goal.
Holroyd 7. Always potentially dangerous, although forgot his shooting boots today.
Ives 8. Positive, courageous and tireless, haring from box to box to support the attack one minute and tackling an opponent as last man back the next. Deserves his first start soon.
Phillips 7. Threw himself about well in the closing stages.
Match Summary
The groundhogs were out in force at the Abbey as dogged, doughty Altrincham battled and scrapped for their second goalless draw in five months, and almost nicked a winner at the end. Proof positive that although United are building a good side here, they are not quite there yet.
Man of the Match
Brian Saah. Imperiously strong and calm, how nice it is to see him gain possession and be able to just relax safe in the knowledge that he will neither lose the ball nor give it away with a careless pass. Class act.
Ref Watch
Jerden 5. A most peculiar effort from a ref who seemed determined to reward every dive and slip of an Altrincham player with a free-kick in the first half, then went totally random in the second with an array of curious decisions and pointless bookings.
Out of the Mouths of Babes
"The referee was not fair, as at a corner one of our players was nearly strangled." (David Oswald)
Soundtrack of the Day
Pains Of Being Pure At Heart 'Come Saturday'
Andrew Bennett
Andrew's previous match reports
More Match Photos
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