Words Tom Tattersall Picture Jonathan Moore

Altrincham 0 Pro Elite 2

The latest National League fixture for Altrincham's Academy youngsters began at a cracking pace, with both teams threatening an early breakthrough.

Chances came at both ends, with Pro Elite narrowly missing before Denise led a blistering counter-attack that forced a strong save from the visitors' goalkeeper.

Alty showed plenty of promise in the opening 10-15 minutes, but after their positive start, they began to lose intensity, which allowed Pro Elite to take the lead.

A ball played over the top of the back line found their attacker, who finished neatly over the advancing Alty goalkeeper to make it 1-0 to the away side.

Following the goal, the game became frantic, with both teams struggling to maintain possession and cheaply giving the ball away.

After half-time, Alty came out with greater spirit and intensity, and an equaliser looked likely.

The young Robins created several chances, including a strong run from Gbolagun, who skipped past a couple of defenders before sliding the ball across the box, without anybody on hand to apply the finishing touch.

Around the 60th minute, Alty began to lose momentum, and Pro Elite quickly capitalised, as a dangerous cross into the box found their attacker, who tapped home to make it 2-0.

With around 20 minutes left, it looked like a mountain to climb for the home team, but Alty responded with renewed hunger and determination.

Moments of individual brilliance from Mensah (pictured) and Gbolagun created further opportunities, with Gbolagun firing narrowly over the bar and Mensah coming close to getting the final touch to a well-worked move.

Alty continued to search for a goal right until the final whistle, with strong performances from Sneyd and under-16s prospect Neville, who gave everything throughout.

Unfortunately, the late push came too late for the young Robins to complete a comeback, and the match finished 2-0 to Pro Elite.

In summary: it was a bright start by Alty and a strong second-half effort that showed plenty of promise, but Pro Elite were clinical in key moments, which enabled them to secure the points.

Squad on the day:

Theo Bunting
Sammy Neville
Callum Dakin
Connor Summerfield
Ben McNamara
Harry Cain
Daniel Farrar
William Molloy
William Sneyd
Tom Tattersall
John Gbolagun
Ben Mensah
Nathaniel Moses
Saviour Abanwa
Afernee Denise