Crewe Alexandra Reserves 1 Altrincham Reserves 1

Due to last-minute injures and illness, some reshuffling of Altrincham's squad was required, which resulted in no fewer than nine youngsters aged between 16 and18 featuring in the starting line-up.

Perhaps not surprisingly, with Crewe being much the more physical team and winning first and second balls, the Alty boys found it tough going in the first half.

After quarter-of-an-hour, Crewe's pressure paid dividends when, following a poor clearance, the ball was played to the far post and tapped home to give the home side a 1-0 lead.

Undeterred, the young Robins side kept plugging away and drew level 10 minutes before half time, when Edson Cata nicked the ball off the Crewe centre-half by the centre circle and raced towards goal before firing a low shot into the bottom corner for an excellent equaliser.

A few tweaks at half-time had the desired effect, as the boys came out for the second half and started to dominate the game, winning the first and second balls without quite being able to add an end product to their approach play.

Crewe finished strongly, with their route one style causing problems in the final 10 minutes, as they hit the post and bar three times. It could have gone either way, but credit to the Alty youngsters for standing their ground and coming away with a deserved point, with Fin Ryan and Olly Partington particularly impressive in the second half.