Altrincham 5 Farsley Celtic 0

Match report by Alty player Dane Byron

Altrincham began their National Youth League clash with Farsley Celtic well, managing to beat the intense high press from their opponents' early on in the game.

Eventually, Alty’s domination of the ball began to unlock the opposition, and the first goal came through a brilliant finish from Ryan Knowles, who cut inside and slotted the ball into the far corner.

It opened the floodgates for the young Robins, as a brilliant move down the right between Nathan Wood and William Knowles led to a fantastic cut-back. The ball was simple, but precise, allowing Ryan Knowles to round off the move for his brace.

A third goal arrived soon after, as a lovely ball over the top of Farsley’s defence landed in the path of Wood, who showed great composure to chip the ball brilliantly over the onrushing opposition goalkeeper.

Altrincham’s rampant first half continued late into the opening 45 minutes, with Nathan Taylor adding his name to the scoresheet.

An Alty corner was whipped in with great pace, causing a mix-up in the Farsley defence and allowing Taylor to smash the ball into the net from close range to make it 4-0 at the break.

Farsley came out for the second half with a very different game plan, forcing Altrincham to change their approach. The visitors became more physical and aggressive, but it was handled very well by the young Robins.

After several Altrincham chances were denied by the Farsley Celtic goalkeeper, the home team finally scored their fifth of the game.

Sekouba Camara, who had come off the bench, made an excellent run through the centre of the pitch before sliding the ball past the goalkeeper, giving the Robins a fantastic 5-0 victory.

Squad on the day:

Dane Byron

Mo Suwareh

Blyth Bywater

Kyran Webster

Jacob Hill

Vladislav Shtyhlian

Ryan Knowles

William Knowles

Nathan Taylor

Ethan Cosgrove

Thomas Whyte

Oscar Cooper

Sam BP

Nathan Wood

Kian Gonzalez

Sekouba Camara