Leigh RMI 1 Altrincham 2
By Matt Lawton January 15 2005
Two late goals from visiting Conference North side Altrincham were enough to end RMI's dream of a lucrative run in the FA Trophy at Hilton Park this afternoon.
Two late goals from visiting Conference North side Altrincham were enough to end RMI's dream of a lucrative run in the FA Trophy at Hilton Park this afternoon.
The result is RMI's second cup exit of the week following Tuesday night's humiliating 5-1 home defeat to Southport in the Lancashire FA Marsden Trophy, and although today's performance was a massive improvement, RMI officials will be devastated at missing out on £4,000 worth of prize money if the game had been won today, along with additional gate receipts and prize money in the further rounds, which would've come as a huge boost to the cash-strapped Railwaymen.
Visiting Altrincham, flying high in the Northern division of the Nationwide Conference, one division below RMI, fielded former RMI goalkeeping hero Stuart Coburn while ex-Leigh striker Marcus Hallows was on the bench. RMI boss Geoff Lutley, meanwhile, was dealt a huge blow prior to kick off with the news that pacy attacker Gary Williams hadn't recovered from the injury that reduced RMI to ten men on Tuesday night, although Lutley did have the bonus of three debutants in the form of on-loan Blackpool defender Phil Doughty and former Carlisle striker Michael Reed, along with ex-Bury man Daniel Douglas-Pringle following Chorley's decision to allow him to move to RMI.
Altrincham dominated much of the possession in what turned out to be a fairly even first half, though the visitors tended to prefer a long-ball approach to the game while RMI were looking for a more patient, passing build up to create chances, and both succeeded though they couldn’t find a way past the two respective goalkeepers, with Coburn showing the sort of form that impressed so many during his spell at RMI during the reign of Mark Patterson.
Debutant Pringle looked impressive playing behind a two-pronged strikeforce of Chris Simm and Michael Reed, while captain Gareth Stoker was his usual tenacious self, battling away in the heart of RMI’s midfield, but neither side could find the breakthrough and the first half ended with the teams all square at 0-0.
The visitors dominated the second half with the Leigh attacking unit becoming more and more redundant as the half went on, resulting in the eventual withdrawal of the ineffective Simm, whilst Alty became more and more regular in their attacks, though a draw and a Moss Lane replay looked on the cards as they threw away chance after chance, with winger Potts smashing the upright.
However, as RMI finally looked as though they were coming back in to the game, Alty caught Leigh out on the counter attack with the game heading in to it’s final ten minutes, leaving Mark Maddox with plenty of time and space to pick his spot and fire the ball past James Mann in the RMI goal to send the large travelling support in to raptures.
The Cheshire side quickly doubled their lead when Mann tried to fire the ball forward close to the touchline outside of his area, but he scuffed his clearance straight in to the path of Alty’s former Shewsbury striker Colin Little, who found the net from thirty five yards out, despite Mann’s best attempts to reach the ball before it crossed the line.
Despite this seemingly putting the seal on Alty’s victory, RMI never gave up and looked to be back in the game as the match headed in to stoppage time when Michael Reed slid home a debut goal and fuel hopes of an unlikely comeback.
With time quickly running out, RMI forced a couple of corners and could’ve had a penalty when substitute Ben Ashmole was hacked down in the area, but it wasn’t to be and a jubilant Alty following in the Hilton Park crowd of 401 celebrated their victory.
Visiting Altrincham, flying high in the Northern division of the Nationwide Conference, one division below RMI, fielded former RMI goalkeeping hero Stuart Coburn while ex-Leigh striker Marcus Hallows was on the bench. RMI boss Geoff Lutley, meanwhile, was dealt a huge blow prior to kick off with the news that pacy attacker Gary Williams hadn't recovered from the injury that reduced RMI to ten men on Tuesday night, although Lutley did have the bonus of three debutants in the form of on-loan Blackpool defender Phil Doughty and former Carlisle striker Michael Reed, along with ex-Bury man Daniel Douglas-Pringle following Chorley's decision to allow him to move to RMI.
Altrincham dominated much of the possession in what turned out to be a fairly even first half, though the visitors tended to prefer a long-ball approach to the game while RMI were looking for a more patient, passing build up to create chances, and both succeeded though they couldn’t find a way past the two respective goalkeepers, with Coburn showing the sort of form that impressed so many during his spell at RMI during the reign of Mark Patterson.
Debutant Pringle looked impressive playing behind a two-pronged strikeforce of Chris Simm and Michael Reed, while captain Gareth Stoker was his usual tenacious self, battling away in the heart of RMI’s midfield, but neither side could find the breakthrough and the first half ended with the teams all square at 0-0.
The visitors dominated the second half with the Leigh attacking unit becoming more and more redundant as the half went on, resulting in the eventual withdrawal of the ineffective Simm, whilst Alty became more and more regular in their attacks, though a draw and a Moss Lane replay looked on the cards as they threw away chance after chance, with winger Potts smashing the upright.
However, as RMI finally looked as though they were coming back in to the game, Alty caught Leigh out on the counter attack with the game heading in to it’s final ten minutes, leaving Mark Maddox with plenty of time and space to pick his spot and fire the ball past James Mann in the RMI goal to send the large travelling support in to raptures.
The Cheshire side quickly doubled their lead when Mann tried to fire the ball forward close to the touchline outside of his area, but he scuffed his clearance straight in to the path of Alty’s former Shewsbury striker Colin Little, who found the net from thirty five yards out, despite Mann’s best attempts to reach the ball before it crossed the line.
Despite this seemingly putting the seal on Alty’s victory, RMI never gave up and looked to be back in the game as the match headed in to stoppage time when Michael Reed slid home a debut goal and fuel hopes of an unlikely comeback.
With time quickly running out, RMI forced a couple of corners and could’ve had a penalty when substitute Ben Ashmole was hacked down in the area, but it wasn’t to be and a jubilant Alty following in the Hilton Park crowd of 401 celebrated their victory.
Bookmark or share this story with:
Digg
Delicious
Facebook
Reddit
Stumbleupon
More Leigh Genesis headlines
Leigh Genesis latest threads
Leigh Genesis Poll
