Altrincham 0-0 Farsley Celtic

By James Grayson

The lights went out but came back on as Celtic’s relegation battle stayed alive at Altrincham.

The most dramatic part of the game came in the first half. After a good move from Celtic, a part of the stadium was plunged into darkness. The game was delayed for five minutes on the 12 th minute mark when all four of the floodlights on the main stand side went out. Luckily the problem was only minor so was it was quickly sorted and play resumed.

John Deacey was forced to make three changes from the side that shook Aldershot on Saturday. Stephen Downes picked up an injury between Saturday and Tuesday and so forth was ruled out. Scott McNiven was suspended after picking up five yellow cards and Roy Stamer was unavailable. Coming in for them was Scott Gardner, Ryan Serrant and Steve Torpey.

Celtic were going so well until the lights went out and they had plenty of chances to take the lead. Firstly on four minutes Dominic Krief’s free kick from 18 yards was saved by Stuart Coburn. However Celtic should have taken the lead on ten minutes. Gardner went on a mazy run on the right-hand side and then cut inside. He then passed to Damian Reeves in acres of space inside the penalty area. Reeves looked set to score but from eight yards his low effort forced Coburn to save with his legs. The chances were coming thick and fast and just before the mini break Georges Santos fired wide.

The delay took the sting out of the game and the next best chance came on 38 minutes. It was Altrincham’s chance and they should have taken the lead. Ryan Toulson – on loan from Halifax Town squirmed his way into the box and was one-on-one with Curtis Aspden. Aspden then kept Celtic’s heart beating by pulling off a great save.

HT 0-0

Celtic were on top for the first five minutes of the second half but the tide turned and Celtic had to weather numerous storms. Reeves’ snapshot on 49 minutes was saved by Coburn – who palmed for a corner.

 

Altrincham were very close to taking the lead on 53 minutes. Liam King turned in the box and then from eight yards he fired towards the goal. Aspden was beaten but the ball smashed the bar and came back out. In the commotion after the shot, Altrincham wanted a penalty for a supposed foul by Mark Jackson.

On 68 minutes Chris Senior was fed the ball by King and inside the penalty area he shot for goal, this forced Aspden to deflect the ball wide for a corner.

With the all the Altrincham pressure, the crowd were getting behind them and urging them on to get a goal. They nearly got their wish on 79 minutes. After some sloppy play from the Celtic defence, Tom Cahill was able to become one-on-one with Aspden. Cahill then beat Aspden but the woodwork was Celtic’s saviour again as the ball cannoned back off the post.

Lee Tuck was introduced and he managed to bring new life into Celtic and numerous chances were created. The best one came in the final minute. Altrincham were caught out and Tuck lead a counter-attack. He then passed across the field to a darting Andy Watson. Before Watson could pull the trigger, an Altrincham defender cut his path and passed back to Coburn who then made a mess of it and nearly put it into his own net. His blushes were spared though and the ball went for a corner.

Celtic couldn’t find a goal but a point is better than no points.

FT 0-0

Altrincham: Coburn, Shotton, Tinson, Young, Jennings, Lawton, King, Toulson (Cahill 71), Peyton (O’Neil 74), Little, Senior. Subs Unused: Lane, Battersby, Scott.

Farsley Celtic: Aspden, Jackson, Iqbal, Reeves, Serrant (Watson 41), Bentham, Krief, Torpey (Bambrook 63), Gardner (Tuck 77), Santos, Prendergast. Subs Unused: Heath, Backhouse.

Referee: M Matadar

Attendance: 1154