Altrincham v Wealdstone | Robins Review



Words: John Edwards | Photo: Jonathan Moore



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We return to Vanarama National League action, looking to emulate the performance that saw us through to the last 16 of the Isuzu FA Trophy.

It was always going to be the toughest of tests last Saturday against a Barnet side flying high in the league, and the 10 changes they made to their starting line-up scarcely made the task any easier.

They've got pretty much two players for every position on the pitch, so we were well aware that, regardless of the line-up they settled on, we were going to have our work cut out.

So it proved, particularly in the first 20 minutes or so, when we didn't have enough control of the game and they probably edged it.

We didn't get the press quite right, but that started to change in the second half of the first 45 minutes, as we began to impose ourselves and generally do things a lot better.

With that control came the goals we needed, and there was plenty to admire about all three of them.

I've said before about the positive impact Tom Crawford has had since joining us in the summer, and it was great to see him add another two goals to the many other ways he contributes.


We are still probably toying with that advanced midfield role after trying a few different players there, but Tom showed what we knew he was capable of with two highly accomplished finishes, and I was really pleased for him.

The first, that put us back on level terms, was a really good goal capped off by an excellent first-time finish. Credit to Alex Newby for biding his time on the right flank, after combining with Jake Bickerstaff, and picking his moment to cross low to Tom for a goal that gave us real impetus.

The second was all down to Tom's composure and technique, as the ball dropped to him from a punch by the keeper and, spotting there was no-one on the line, he measured a first-time lob to perfection to put us 2-1 up. We were well on our way by this point, and I don't think Barnet could have any complaints when we added a third, Newbs latching on to a clearance from Lewis Baines and finding himself one-on-one with the keeper but unselfishly rolling the ball sideways for Joe Nuttall to convert into an empty net. I've remarked before that we haven't always done as well as we would like in this competition, so I was delighted that we got through, deservedly so as well, to a last 16 tie at home to Eastleigh.


Today, the focus switches back to the quest for league points and a very important game against Wealdstone, who have hit a decent patch of form after a bit of a shaky start to the campaign and held us to a 3-3 draw at Grosvenor Vale only a month ago.

We will be eager to maintain our impressive home record, but we know we face a tough test and will have to be on our game against a very good Wealdstone side.

Finally, I'd like to welcome Kacper Pasiek to the club after he joined us from Preston North End on a one-month loan and went straight into the squad last Saturday.

We first became aware of Kacper after playing a bounce game at Preston a couple of months back and being impressed with him, and with Eddy Jones picking up an injury, it was a timely breakthrough to be able to bring him in to help us cope with what is a busy schedule of games.

Until next time,
Neil Sorvel