February 27, 2023

Max hits hat-trick as Alty sharpshooters see off Dabbers!

Altrincham Under-16s 5 Nantwich Town Under-17s 2

Report by Alty player Teddy Woolland

Picture by Luke Reynolds

Altrincham Under-16s welcomed Nantwich Town Under-17s to the MHA for this North West Youth Alliance Development League fixture, looking to make amends for a narrow defeat at the hands of the young Dabbers a fortnight ago.

The young Robins started well and took a deserved lead after a period of pressure resulted in a penalty being awarded for a foul on Jack Chandler.

Max Whittle calmly slotted home from the spot to make it 1-0 to Alty.

The Robins continued with their domination of the ball and doubled their lead on 28 minutes through Harrison Howells.

A flowing attacking move saw Harrison's movement, control and early shot prove too much for the Nantwich keeper.

Alty should have increased their lead still further, two more good chances going astray, before keeper Louis Fallon found himself with work to do to keep Nantwich out and safeguard the Robins' 2-0 half-time lead.

The second half saw Alty concede within two minutes of the restart, with some loose defending resulting in a tap-in at the far post.

Worse followed as Alty conceded again almost immediately when Fallon was harshly adjudged to have brought down a forward inside the area, and the resulting penalty was converted to make it 2-2.

However, Alty showed great character to regain control of the game and go in front again 10 minutes later through Howells.

Two minutes after that, Nantwich found themselves down to 10 men when a second yellow card was shown to one of their players.

Soon after, Alty restored their two-goal advantage through a wonderful solo effort from Whittle.

Astonishingly, Nantwich were reduced to nine men on 83 minutes when Afernee Denise was pulled down in the penalty box by the last defender, as he was about to slot home after the keeper had been found stranded outside the penalty area.

Whittle put his second spot-kick away to complete his hat-trick.

Alty didn’t manage to increase their lead any further in the last few minutes, but they were good value for a thoroughly deserved 5-2 win.

Squad:

1. Louis Fallon

2. Sam Taylor

3. Toby McCabe

4. Harry O’Gara

5. Oscar Cooper

6. Lucas Edwards

7. Teddy Woolland

8. Jack Chandler

9. Afernee Denise