Match Sponsor - GILSTONE HOMES
New goalkeeper Mikkel Andersen made his debut in tonight's match at Plainmoor, Kaid Mohamed was given the captains armband as United set out to claw back Aldershot's six point lead at the top of the Blue Square Premier.
The match almost got off to a rip roaring start when Roscoe Dsane controlled the ball 25 yards out and spun and hit an unstoppable shot that left Coburn in the Altrincham goal rooted to the spot, unfortunately for United the ball hit the crossbar and bounced down to safety. The match was a stop start affair with the referee slightly over keen in blowing his whistle and not letting play run.
United nearly took the lead in the 11th minute after some good football down the right which finished with Mohamed lobbing the ball into the penalty area where Chris Zebroski collected but shot wide of the far post from an angle. The match was very scrappy with Altrincham trying to slow down the play whenever possible, even in the first half! Midway through the first half and Chris Hargreaves almost broke the deadlock with a shot from the edge of the area which was deflected for a corner as United tried to gain the initiative. More good football by United in the 33rd minute led to a shot by Steve Adams from 18 yards which was blocked but the ball fell to Mohamed who hit a decent drive but Coburn saved comfortably. Just as it looked as though the first half was going to end goalless Chris Zebroski came up with a moment of magic; Altrincham tried more than once during a game of head tennis to clear the ball but it eventually fell to Zebroski on the edge of the area, he turned neatly and hit a superb shot that gave Coburn no chance as it whistled in the left hand side of his goal. United even had time to score a second before the break when Mohamed was put through by Dsane, the in form Mohamed shot early but Coburn was up to the challenge and parried, the ball fell back to Mohamed but this time he just lifted the ball wide of the left hand post and out for a goal kick. United gave a good display in the first half and going in a goal up all looked positive, Altrincham never looked like scoring in open play and as it turned out in the second period it was to be a spot kick that gave the visitors their goal.
The second half started much the same as the first with some scrappy play and Altrincham were certainly doing their best to put the United defence under much more pressure than they did in the first half. The first chance of the second period fell to United when Tim Sills had a snap shot from wide left of the area but his shot went wide of the far post. It was the United front man who nearly scored again on 65 minutes when he latched on to a fine cross from Kevin Nicholson but his flick header slipped narrowly wide. A minute later and Roscoe Dsane did well on the right before slipping a low cross in front of Sills but it was just too far in front of Tim for a shot.
Altrincham were creeping their way back into the match and their best chance fell to Battersby who headed an O'Neill cross toward goal but Kevin Nicholson did well block almost on the goal line. Altrincham were given a lifeline with 19 minutes to go when Mark Ellis was adjudged to have pushed O'Neill as they both chased a through ball inside the penalty area, referee Halliday pointed straight to the spot and Peyton made no mistake with the spot kick sending Andersen the wrong way. 1-1 and a tough last 15 minutes for United as they pushed for a winning goal. A succession of corners for Torquay were well defended by the visitors and as United pushed forward they almost let Altrincham in on the break but Mark Ellis did very well to deny a shooting chance for O'Neill as he looked to be bearing down on Andersen's goal. Altrincham were reduced to looking for breakaway opportunities as United pressed for a breakthrough Iand in the last 10 minutes United had two free kicks awarded right on the edge of the Altrincham penalty area, both were taken by Kevin Nicholson and both were blocked by the wall. Battersby was booked in the 87th minute for time wasting as United piled forward looking for the winner but it was to no avail. A match in which United played some decent football and, as always, finished strongly but this time the opposition held out for the draw. Grays away, Aldershot at home in the next seven days for United, plenty of twists and turns left in the season, no-one said it was going to be easy……
