Words John Edwards | Pictures Jonathan Moore

Tamworth 1 Altrincham 2

Justin Amaluzor laid on a goal for Alex Newby and scored one himself as Altrincham moved up to ninth in the Vanarama National League with a second win in four days at The Lamb Ground this afternoon.

It was imperative the Robins built on Tuesday night's victory over Dagenham & Redbridge, and they did just that with goals from Newby in the 61st minute and Amaluzor in the 79th that put them in complete control at 2-0 to the good.

It wasn't all plain sailing from that point on, though, with Tom Crawford controversially shown a second yellow card in the aftermath of Amaluzor's goal, presumably for an over-exuberant celebration, and Tamworth reducing the arrears deep into stoppage time.

The 10 men held out to make sure of a valuable away win that should help create extra momentum as the Robins seek to close in on the play-off places.

Alty were in the ascendancy early on, dominating possession in midfield without causing too many alarms for the home defence.

Tamworth, for their part, mustered a couple of long-range efforts in the opening quarter-of-an-hour that were both held with ease by Ethan Ross.

There was a scare for Alty in he 18th minute when Kennedy Digie, of all people, let the Robins off the hook.

A free-kick was swung into the area from the left, and Digie needed only to make contact with it to put his side in front from a central position no more than eight yards out.

Instead, the former Alty centre-back swung a boot at the waist-high delivery and missed completely with the goal at his mercy, much to the Robins' relief.

Alty finally registered an attempt at goal in the 23rd minute when Amaluzor's pace took him surging into the Tamworth area on the right, only for his shot to finish in the side netting.

Two minutes later, Ross had to be alert to keep the game goalless, the Alty keeper diving to his left to parry a shot from Chris Wreh.

Ross' opposite number Jas Singh was called into action in the 31st minute, holding on to an Amaluzor drive after the winger was teed up by Elliot Osborne.

The Robins so nearly went ahead in the 45th minute when Newby got an outstretched boot to a ball driven into the box, only for Singh to get a left hand to the point-blank effort with the sharpest of reflexes.

A knock to Regan Linney led to an enforced change for Alty at half-time, with Joe Nuttall going on as substitute for the start of the second half.

The best chance so far for Alty went begging in the 54th minute after Newby got to the bye-line on the right and cut the ball back to Lewis Banks.

The Alty right-back's slightly underhit shot allowed Singh to make a smart save to his left, when a more emphatic finish would surely have given the Tamworth keeper no chance and put the Robins in front.

Newby supplied just such a finish in the 61st minute to break the deadlock with a goal that owed everything to Amaluzor's tenacity.

Amaluzor has few peers when it comes to pace, but sheer physical strength is another attribute, and it was very much to the fore as he muscled a defender off the ball and rolled it into the path of Newby, who clipped a first-time shot past Singh.

The points were in the bag when Alty doubled their advantage in the 79th minute, though it came at a cost.

Osborne's deep free-kick was headed back across goal by Jake Cooper, and Amaluzor was on hand to win the aerial duel in the middle and power a header into the roof of the net from little more than a yard out.

As Alty players celebrated with the travelling fans behind the goal, they suddenly found themselves a man down as the referee marched over to Crawford and showed him a second yellow card for a reason that was not immediately apparent.

The 10 men looked like seeing out six added minutes at the end of the 90, only for a close-range header by substitute Dan Creaney to cause a jitter or two in the Alty camp.

It came in the fifth of those six extra minutes, but the Robins stood firm to safeguard their lead and ensure they headed home with another morale-boosting win safely in their possession. 

Tamworth Singh; Digie, Milnes (c) (Tonks, 73'), Fairlamb, Wreh (Creaney, 65'), Williams (Acquaye, 76'), Morrison, McGlinchey, Tshikuna, Hollis, Sundire (Cullinane-Liburd, 45'). Subs not used: Phillips, Enoru, Okafor.

Altrincham Ross; Banks, Cooper (Haygarth, 83'), Osborne, Linney (Nuttall, 46'), Newby (Humbles, 86'), Amaluzor, J.Jones (c), Reddin (Wilson, 70'), Crawford, Golden. Subs not used: Kosylo, Bickerstaff, Randle.

HT 0-0

Goals Creaney 90'+5 | Newby 61' (Amaluzor), Amaluzor 79' (Cooper)

Yellows Acquaye 90'+2, Creaney 90'+2 | Linney 34', Crawford 40', 79', Newby 55'

Reds None | Crawford 79'

Referee James Bancroft

Assistants Thomas Staten & Simon Robinson

Fourth official Jason Roberts

Attendance 1,358

Next Up

Vauxhall Motors visit The J.Davidson Stadium on Tuesday evening - Cheshire Senior Cup, First Round (7:45pm).

Get your tickets here priced £7 over-18s, £2 under-18s - this game is not included with season tickets.