Words Joe Edgar | Pictures Jonathan Moore

Alty make the short journey to the Crown Oil Arena to face Rochdale in
the Isuzu FA Trophy quarter-finals on Saturday (kick-off 3pm).

Setting the Scene

Following our first defeat of 2025 last weekend against AFC Fylde, we bounced back against Newcastle United under-21s to progress into the semi-finals of the National
League Cup on Tuesday.

A lightning-fast start from the Robins saw Alty go 2-0 up in the first ten minutes, thanks to goals from Kahrel Reddin and Kian Taylor. The visitors quickly found their feet in the game, however, and two goals from Garang Kuol and a penalty from Jay Turner-Cooke saw Newcastle head into the final minutes 3-2 ahead.

But coming to Altrincham’s rescue was Justin Amaluzor, who scored a late header as part of a sensational cameo off the bench. The game advanced to penalties, and it was Alty who held their nerve the better of the two teams, winning the shootout 3-2.

Saturday’s hosts have struggled for form in recent months after a superb start to their campaign. They were comfortably in the Vanarama National League play-off places, looking up at the automatic promotion place, but they are now without a win in six and find themselves in 10th place.

Dale have overcome Leamington, Stockton and Worthing to reach the quarter-final stage, conceding just one goal in the process.

The thoughts of Phil Parkinson

“It’s a huge game. As you can see with what we brought in with Rob, we’re doing
everything we can to make sure we’re as strong as possible. Hopefully, we can get a
few back this week who have had a rest now, and we should be nice and fresh going
into the weekend.

"Rochdale are a very good team, and if you don’t play a certain way against them,
they can really hurt you, so we’re going to have to make sure that our game plan is
on point and the lads execute. If they do, they’re more than a match for anyone in
the division, but so are Rochdale.”

Our Isuzu FA Trophy run so far

We began in the third round on December 7 when we faced local rivals Macclesfield at The J.Davidson Stadium in extreme wind and rain. As if the contest wasn’t tense enough, the weather acted as a huge leveller, and the contest was closely fought between the two teams.

Despite a first-half red card for Macclesfield, the game ended goalless, and Ethan Ross’ heroics in the subsequent penalty shootout ensured we progressed.

In the fourth round came National League leaders Barnet, again at The J.Davidson
Stadium. The Bees took an early lead, but two goals from Tom Crawford and a late
strike from Joe Nuttall meant we overcame yet another difficult challenge.

Finally, in the fifth round, we defeated Eastleigh at home thanks to a remarkable late winner from Regan Linney, who drove past a number of Spitfire defenders before finishing coolly, sending the home fans into a frenzy.

Watch extended highlights from our victory over Eastleigh on Alty TV here.

Admission

Alty fans can purchase tickets for Saturday's game here with an e-ticket being sent via email, which can then be either printed at home (best option) to use on the automated turnstiles or scan directly from a smart phone (screen brightness will need to be maximum).

Seats in the Willbetts Lane away section (which will open at 2pm on Saturday) are priced...

• £15 Adults
• £10 65+
• £5 Under-22s
• £3 Under-14s

Wheelchair users and Carers should contact Rochdale's disability liaison officer Nicola Toolan – nicola.toolan@rochdaleafc.co.uk

On the day sales will also be available (online as above) with physical tickets also available, but at an added £1 per ticket.

Tickets can also be purchased in person on matchday using cash or card, however online purchases are encouraged due to how busy matchday is likely to be.

There's no away travel available for this game.

Can't make it to Rochdale?

You won't miss a kick if you tune into Radio Robins on Radio Alty from 2:45pm. Live commentary will come from the always excellent Tom Jolley & Harry Merrell.

Come On You Robins!!!