Altrincham away on a Friday night, our closest away game of the season. The usual suspects were buzzing for our 46-mile journey into poshest Cheshire after our entertaining goal-fest last weekend. Even the bank holiday traffic was reasonable. What could possibly go wrong?
Our drive over the hill was, dominated by an irritated Greetland Shayman. ‘My mate Geoff called me last Saturday. He started by asking me how I was, which was very strange. It turned out he was actually ringing me to find out where I was, telling me the team were 4-0 up and it was half-time.’ The Greetland Shayman was blissfully unaware of the early kick-off, and although he doesn’t blame Geoff (much), he did mention a few times that he would have appreciated a call before kick-off next time. We, obviously, did not find any of this amusing and agreed it was all Geoff’s fault.
After raiding the local chippy, we entered the familiar surroundings of the open end before heading to the seats. Altrincham’s Moss Road ground hasn’t changed in over half a century, but following a minor tweak over the summer break, we were treated to some exciting pre-match entertainment…
‘You can’t sit there,’ came an authoritative voice from across the segregation line. Suddenly, there were exasperated voices in the home end and the entertainment began. ‘These seats are now padded and only for privileged corporate guests,’ explained a well-dressed club official. You could tell this was news to some of the ‘deprived’ locals, who quickly scattered. Some had perhaps sat in those seats for the last decade or so. Soon, backup arrived, as one stubborn home fan refused to budge, then had the audacity to bring out a supermarket carrier bag with a few sweets for his child. We were, of course, vocally supportive of the club’s attempt to remove Cheshire’s great unwashed from our vicinity, but credit to him, he was staying, as the club agreed a one-match compromise.
Town started the game with a couple of quick corners, attacking the far end as dusk fell. Altrincham then started to take control of the game, forcing a few corners of their own and having much of the play. A wayward back pass was a real gift for Alty as they took the lead with a calm finish midway through the half. The sophisticated locals sat next to us in the padded seats applauded without getting too excited. They were then treated to a second goal, just before their canapés at half-time. It wasn’t a great half for the Shaymen.
Town started the second half with real purpose, attacking the open end with over 400 travelling Shaymen providing vocal support. Alty were resolute but escaped with the intervention of a linesman’s flag as Town looked like they’d pulled one back. It was a close call for the liner, who perhaps missed the touch of an Alty defender.
Our all-time Alty favourite, Matty Kosylo, then pulled one back for us late on with a powerful close-range whack into his own net following a dangerous cross. In the end, it was just a consolation as Alty hung on.
Alty deserved their first win of the season and never really looked like giving up their comfortable half-time lead. The Shaymen were better in the second half, but after a decent run of results at Moss Road, it was a well-overdue win for the home side.
Next up, it’s a tricky early start, with the wonderful TV people scheduling a 12:30 kick-off for a trip to Aldershot. I’m not sure who will be up for this one, but it will be an early start.
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