Words Brian Flynn | Pictures Ayush Bhattacharjee

Hyde United 0 Altrincham 3

A hat-trick from Ben Mensah secured Altrincham a comfortable passage into Third Round Qualifying of The FA Youth Cup and a trip to Chorley, in an intense Friday night encounter at The Project Solar Stadium, which saw three Hyde United players sent off in the second half.

The hosts were left to rue a missed penalty in the 18th minute when Callum Jeffries’ spot kick struck the outside of the post. Alty then took the lead just before half-time, as Mensah created space inside the penalty area and fired a powerful angled shot into the far corner.

The goal signalled boisterous celebrations from the strong contingent of teenage Alty fans in an impressive crowd of 410.

The Tigers twice went close through the talented Jeffries soon after the interval, but suffered a major setback when Tom Lee received a second yellow card on the hour. 

Within two minutes, Mensah doubled the Robins’ lead, racing clear before intelligently clipping a lovely 25-yard shot over the advancing Zaki Naji and sparking more wild celebrations behind the goal.

What had always been a lively cup tie erupted as Hyde’s skipper, Evan Cooke and goalkeeper, Zaki Naji were shown straight red cards for wild challenges, reducing The Tigers to eight players and allowing Mensah to complete the scoring with his and Alty’s third goal of the night after 89 minutes.

Hyde Naji; Edwards, Patani, Boyle, Lee, Hunter, Wardle, Cooke (c), Bullock, Kelly, Jeffries. Subs: Holmes, Bollington, Morgan, Bevins, Ashton, Grainger, Saleem.

Altrincham Bunting; Dakin, Rowlands, Fereday, McNamara, Mattison (c), Obamwonyi, Dempsey, Mensah, Rowe, Gblogun. Subs: Herreaman, Molloy, Sneyd, Bagley, Cain, Wilson, Rodwell.

Attendance 410

Next Up

Paul Fay's squad head to Lancashire to take on Chorley in Third Round Qualifying - the tie will take place the week beginning Monday, October 12th.