Farsley Celtic 4 Altrincham 2

Match report by Alty player Jack Chandler

Altrincham took on top-of-the-table Farsley Celtic in a National League under-19 fixture for their return away match.

The first chance fell to Alty as Remi Raymond played a lovely chipped ball in behind to Harrison Howells, as they combined on the edge of the Farsley Celtic box.

This allowed Howells to play the ball through towards the penalty spot, where Kian Gonzalez was waiting to calmly place the ball into the left-hand side of the goal, putting the Robins 1-0 up after only 10 minutes.

Around five minutes later, Farsley responded from a free-kick, as the ball was whipped in from the left-hand side. The cross fell to the edge of the box, where it was struck by a Farsley player, unluckily deflecting past Louie Fallon in the Alty net.

With the two sides locked at 1-1 for most of the first half, the Altrincham players felt they should have had a penalty shortly before half-time. Howells was brought down inside the box as he recovered the ball from the corner, but his shout was waved away by the referee.

While some Altrincham players were still asking for a penalty, Jack Chandler picked up the ball and found Joel Bailey, who struck the bouncing ball towards goal from 12 yards but couldn’t keep his half-volley down.

After a slow start to the second half from the young Robins, the Farsley number 10 picked the ball up in space, 30 yards out. Remarkably, he fired a powerful effort into the top right corner of the Altrincham goal, leaving Fallon with no chance and giving Farsley the lead for the first time in the game

However, the Altrincham side responded quickly with a goal of their own, as Chandler picked up possession on the halfway line and drove down the right wing and into the box before finding Vladislav Shtyhlian.

Despite being faced with a very tight angle, Shtyhlian finished the chance expertly, and the game was level again.

Alty looked as though they would use the momentum created from their second goal to go on and find a winner, but several missed opportunities let Farsley back into the game.

After these chances, the momentum shifted into Farsley’s favour as they were able to get two late goals. It was another shot from outside the box which restored the Farsley lead, and a fourth soon after put the seal on it for the home team.

Squad on the day:

Louie Fallon

Kaiden Powell

Ajani Oshidin

Kian Gonzalez

Nathan Wood

Tom Whyte

Vladislav Shtyhlian

Sekouba Camara

Remi Raymond

Lucas Edwards

Joel Bailey

Charley Jarrald

Harrison Howells

Alfie Curwen

Jack Chandler