Stalybridge Celtic 5 Altrincham 1

Stalybridge put themselves top of the table in emphatic style as they beat Altrincham 5-1 in front of a bumper crowd of 1,005 at Bower Fold.

This was a game that promised lots of goals as the highest scoring and second highest scoring teams in the division faced up, but in truth the opening 5 minutes was a non event. It was scrappy, both teams seemed to have begun expecting an early onslaught from the other, and there were signs of understandable nerves given what an important game it was for both teams. The early signs were this might be one of those games where two good teams cancel each other out.

Then out of the blue in the 6th minute a hopeful long ball gave Connor Jennings something to chase. He beat the defender to the ball, controlled it on the right side of the penalty area and smashed it into the net to give Stalybridge an early lead.

The game livened up after this and a couple of minutes Stalybridge had another chance as Lloyd Ellams had an effort from around 25 yards out heading for the top centre of the goal tipped over by the keeper.

Altrincham had spells of their own and nearly capitalised on a defensive calamity, Stalybridge’s keeper and defender both chased after a hopeful long ball as it approached the penalty area, and rather than one of them just clearing it into touch, the defender instead decided it’d be a good idea to kick the ball low towards goal.

This touch left Altrincham’s striker chasing the ball on his own, and Stalybridge were lucky that the touch had taken the ball wide to the left of goal, and by the time he got to the ball it was nearly out for a corner. He desperately tried to roll the ball towards goal before it went out but with the angle too tight he could only send it rolling in front of goal where a relieved defender cleared it away.

A couple of minutes after this they had another chance as 20 yard shot hit the top of the bar and went over. Straight after this Stalybridge had two good chances of their own as a close range shot from the right of the 6 yard box was tipped wide and then Ellams had a low shot from the edge of the penalty area caught by the keeper.

In a seesaw spell of play Altrincham were next to have another couple of chances, as a scrappy giveaway lead to a chance from wide left that was blocked for a corner, and from this the ball was headed just wide.

With all these chances being created it was a matter of time before one of them was converted. In the 37^th minute Stalybridge had an effort from outside the penalty area to the left that hit the post, bouncing out right into the path of Wilkinson who tapped in the rebound from little more than 6 yards out.

Altrincham responded immediately, a minute after the goal they earned a corner that was headed into the bottom right corner of the net by Michael Twiss to bring the score to 2-1. In a dramatic spell Stalybridge then raced up the other end, and in the 40^th minute Phil Marsh got the ball on the left edge of the 6 yard box and curled it into the top right hand corner. 3 goals in 4 minutes and suddenly it was 3-1 to Stalybridge.

Altrincham had one more big chance themselves before the half drew to a close as the ball was dribbled past 2 defenders before the shot from the edge of the penalty area went just wide to the left of the goal.

The second half began with Altrincham having a lot of the ball in Stalybridge’s half without really being able to create a major chance with it. Stalybridge were always looking to catch them out on the break, and did just that in the 55^th minute as they raced forward and crossed from the wide right. Altrincham’s defenders frantically chased back, and in the rush Williams slid in to try to block the cross, instead succeeding only in sliding it into his own net.

Altrincham continued to try to respond, a cross from the left leading to a low shot just wide to the right and a couple of minutes later another low shot this time from the left edge of the penalty area went just wide to the right.

Again they were sucker-punched in the 64^th minute, Stalybridge breaking forward and Jennings getting the ball inside the penalty area on the left side, curling a shot into the low right corner of the goal for his second goal, this making it 5-1.

Altrincham continued to see a lot of the ball after this, as Stalybridge were content to sit back and occasionally break when given the opportunity. Altrincham had a lot of corners, throw ins and free kicks in the Stalybridge half but for the last 20 minutes could create little more than occasional half chances, the game ending 5-1 to Stalybridge.

The 5-1 scoreline was harsh on Altrincham in a match that was end to end for large parts, particularly in the 1^st half. Stalybridge didn’t create a lot more chances than Altrincham, it was simply a case of Stalybridge finishing off a large amount of their big chances and Altrincham not being able to.

Altrincham will hope this was just a bad day where things didn’t go their way, and after a 4 match winning streak before this game they’ll hope to make sure it’s just a blip and not the start of a spell of further dropped points.

Meanwhile this win will reaffirm Stalybridge’s promotion ambitions. After their last home league game was a disappointing draw to Gloucester and they lost last week at Colwyn Bay, some may have wondered if the team was beginning to revert to the inconsistent results of last season. But from this evidence, this is a team that ought to be right up there at the end of the season.