Altrincham Colts faced Atherton Laburnum Rovers in an another tough game this Sunday at home in the North West Youth Alliance League, with both teams coming in off of a win.

Alty started the game brilliantly as Harrison Howells played a lovely half-volley through ball over the top of the defence to send Jack Chandler through in a one-on-one with the keeper.

Before he could get his shot off, Atherton's full-back tripped him up just outside the box, denying a goal scoring opportunity and resulting in not only a red card for the Atherton defender but a dangerous free-kick that Alty took full advantage of.

Max Whittle stepped up and made Atherton pay, as he expertly tucked away the set-piece into the bottom left corner to put Altrincham a goal up and in a very commanding position against 10 men.

A quick response from Atherton came when they were awarded a free-kick right on the edge of the Alty box which was struck low and hard into the bottom left, a very good free-kick to tie the game up.

Five minutes later, Altrincham made it 2-1 from yet another free-kick, but this time it was floated to the back post by Lucas Edwards, and when the keeper punched it against his own player, the ball fell to Lewis Lambkin to slot home.

Alty's third goal, still in the first half, came from Chandler. As the Robins won the ball back from an Atherton counter-attack, Toby McCabe drove forward and played a through ball into the space behind the defence for Chandler to take a touch and calmly place into the top right side of the net, giving his side a two-goal lead with 25 minutes still remaining in the first half.

There were opportunities for both sides to add to their tally, heading towards half-time, but Alty could certainly consider themselves in a strong position at 3-1 up when the whistle sounded.

In the second half, Alty maintained their lead for the first 30 minutes while playing some great football and carrying on creating more chances that weren’t finished off.

Substitutions where made during this time to get some fresh legs on to the pitch, including Oscar Cooper, Lewis Lambkin, Henry Murphy, Robert Stanton and Harrison Howells coming off for Lincoln Goddard, Teddy Woolland, Ben Taylor, Kian Gonzalez and Charley Jarrald.

Atherton’s second goal came after an attacker's shot was saved by Louie Fallon, only for the ball to fall to one of his team-mates, who struck it into a mostly empty net to make it 3-2 with 15 minutes to go.

Altrincham looked like they were going to see the rest of the game out, but they were pegged back by a contentious penalty in the final few minutes.

After driving into the box, an Atherton player hit a wayward shot but evidently felt some contact and went down, with the referee deeming it a foul and pointing to the spot, much to the Alty players' dismay.

It gave Atherton the chance to level matters, which they did with a strike into the right-hand side with one of the last kicks of the game to make it 3-3.

The game ended in a draw, with Alty unfortunate to concede such a late goal from a penalty shout that could have gone either way.

Squad on the day

1. Louie Fallon

2. Oscar Cooper

3. Lucas Edwards

4. Teddy Woolland

5. Toby McCabe

6. Ben Taylor

7. Afernee Denise

8. Henry Murphy

9. Harrison Howells

10. Max Whittle

11. Jack Chandler

12. Lincoln Goddard

14. Lewis Lambkin

15. Robert Stanton

16. Kian Gonzalez

20. Charley Jarrald