Mannion on the mark to give slick Robins deserved win
Match report Charley Jarrald | Pictures Jonathan Moore
Altrincham 1 Boston United 0
Altrincham faced a very physical Boston side on home turf at Egerton in an Under-19 National League fixture which saw the young Robins coming out with three points after a hard battle.
After a close opening 15 minutes, a goal-kick from Boston led to Alty deservedly going in front, as the high press resulted in Manion being played through on goal for a one-on-one chance with the keeper.
Manion calmly placed the ball over the keeper's head, and, despite a valiant effort from the Boston number one, who got a fingertip to the ball, it hit the back of the net to put the Robins 1-0 up.
With Altrincham on the front foot, many more chances came, as Howells held the ball up with his back to goal before spinning his defender and sliding in Jarrald for a well-struck shot from outside the 18-yard box that was brilliantly saved.
With minutes left before the half-time whistle, Boston began to put more pressure on the Alty back line, but some good saves from Fallon and fine defensive work from Whyte, Lecky, Powell, and Edwards saw the young Robins going into the break 1-0 ahead after a good first-half performance.
Heading into the second half, Altrincham picked up the pace with a very physical start. An early second-half change for the young Robins saw Watson replace Suwareh.
As the game opened up, Raymond produced a great switch of play to find Jarrald, who ran directly at his full-back and drilled a low driven ball into the box which gave Whittle the chance to fire a shot narrowly over the bar.
With Altrincham on the front foot and looking for another goal, attacking changes were made, with Howells being replaced by Shtyhilian, Mannion by Wood and Whittle by Webster.
With Lecky winning his aerial battles all game, we saw a chance created instantly by a well-won ball by the Alty defender from a Boston goal-kick landed at Wood's feet.
Wood was able to drive at his full-back and play a lovely pass into Shtyhlian, and it took an unbelievable save from the Boston keeper to stop the resulting effort doubling Alty's lead.
The full-time whistle blew to round off a brilliant all-round performance from the young Robins that deservedly brought them all three points.
Altrincham: 1.Louie Fallon 2. Tom Whyte 3. Lucas Edwards 4. Kian Lecky 5. Kaiden Powell 6. Muhammad Suwareh 7. Isaac Mannion 8. Remi Raymond 9. Harrison Howells 10. Max Whittle 11. Charley Jarrald. Subs: Blyth Bywater, Harry Watson, Kyran Webster, Vladislav Shtyhlian, Nathan Wood.