Altringham v Torquay United 10th March 2009

Sorry its late but I did say I would write a match report from the Altrincham game on here, however as we are now looking forward to Saturdays game with Barrow, it seems a bit late, so just a couple of points to note from me.
I am also writing this in the car on the way to Cheltenham races so apologies if i cover anything that has already been done and dusted.

The directions to the ground must have been written by the Manchester tourist information board as the mansions we passed on the way in were extremely nice, and posh. I didn’t realise it was such an affluent area, until you get to the ground. The town centre was also very impressive, even the ‘hoodies’ were wearing a shirt & trousers. It doesn’t look like the credit crunch has hit there just yet as the cars we saw were like a Top Gears who’s who.

I thought the ground itself was stereotypical of a non league ground and it grew on me as the evening wore on. The toilets reminded me of the toilets that used to be behind the ‘old’ popside, some of you will know exactly what I mean, skanky but bizarrely memorable.

It was good to meet up with Jon as we compared excuses to see how we justified making the trip ‘up north’ on a Tuesday evening. Sorry Jon, but I did feel that my ‘excuse’ was slightly more plausible.

I would say that the line up was more 5-3-2 rather than 3-5-2, but perhaps I am being a bit pernickety. However, it was a bold move by Bucks (who says he only has one plan??) and it suited the players that were selected.

The first 20 minutes was very encouraging, we took the game to them and looked very dangerous. Once again I found myself initially thinking how many we were going to win by, followed by worrying that another period of sustained pressure and we hadn’t scored and ended with ‘Alty are going to nick it in the end’.

I think that this formation and team would have suited the Kettering game as we played football and rarely was it lumped forward. It would be worth bearing in mind for when they come to Plainmoor.

Green and Benyon worked well during that period and if they could keep it up for longer then it give us another option when Sills is fit again. Although to be fair to them they haven’t had much practice at it so far. Green was unlucky when Benyon played him through and his chip just failed to get over the keeper. Green plays better when he starts in the centre and then goes wide looking for the ball, rather than starting wide as he does tend to drift back into the centre anyway.

The only criticism I had of the first half/formation was Thompson. He looked like he was playing just in front of Hargreaves and Wroe, however when Green did go wide into the channels to get the ball, Thompson should really be pressing to get into the box. He didn’t, so a couple of times the ball came across and only Benyon was in the box.

Actually I have another one; From the long throws Robertson only got to one of them which meant that this part of our game became less potent than it usually is. For those that were saying that Robertson should be considered to play up front as a ‘replacement’ for Sills, I say you are talking Bo**ocks. Firstly he doesn’t get his head onto enough of the balls to flick it on and secondly he is not as strong in the air.

Alty came back into in the last 10 minutes of the first half and we had Mansell (I think) to thank for saving one off the line. We still shaded the first half though.
Second half started much the same as the first and again you begin to worry when we have lots of pressure but haven’t scored. This time it was made worse when Alty really did come back into it in the last 20 minutes, to the point of dominating and looking easily the more likely to score. The shape suddenly disappeared and if it wasn’t for Bevan then we would have been in trouble.

The substitution was a bit strange at the time. One was definitely needed but at the time i was thinking more that Thompson would go off, Hargreaves move back into the middle and Carlisle would go out on the left, leaving Benyon & Green still up front. This was about the time that Alty went on to dominate and whilst in Hindsight we can all say what a great Substitution, but I wasn’t sure of it at the time. We lost our way after that and were rather fortunate to get away with it. However harsh and controversial that may sound i believe that was the wrong thing to do. Mind you that’s why I am not the manager and it eventually brought 3 points, so what do I know.

Thompson is not an option to play up front, he was poor up there after the substitution much better to have left Green on (unless there was a good reason for it??).

As the 90 minutes were up Jon turned to me and said “Better to score in the last minute, than the first”. Less than a minute later his words of wisdom came true.

The winner, rather against the run of play at the time, came at the other end from us, so it was difficult to see. In fact from where we were stood it looked like it had gone over, however what a great moment.

It was also interesting to hear someone in front who had being steadily increasing his displeasure with the team as the game stayed at 0-0, until Wayne scored and he quite rightly said “Job Done, Happy now”.

That is exactly what it was “Job Done”, 3 points and probably on the balance of it deserved. Not that it matters whether it was or not, 3 points is 3 points, and away from home with a few players missing, even more impressive.

For me the Man of the Match was Bevan, unquestionably. He pulled off a couple/three great saves towards the end of the game. Without those we would have lost, so you could argue that he was the main reason why we won.

Of the other players, Ellis had a good game but was prone to the odd slice or Five, though that can be put down to lack of matches. He did make some telling challenges and whilst I would prefer to see Woods back in there for his distribution i think he is a useful ‘back up’.

Wroe had a strange game. Largely quiet and then pops up with the odd telling pass. He is turning into a bit of an enigma. One of those players that you would love to have in the team when you are 2 up, but when the chips are down and it needs a bit of graft and hard work, he may be a bit of a liability.

Mansell and Hargreaves gave there all as usual. Nicholson, Robertson & Hodges were solid. Green and Benyon were good without looking like they quite had that cutting edge, there is no doubt we miss Sills.

Good to see Paul Buckle make sure the players came right over to the away end at the end of the game. They were clapping the fans from the half way line until Bucks made sure they came right over. A gesture that was appreciated by many.

Bring on Barrow, another 3 points would be ideal.