Words Max Anderson | Pictures Sean Walsh

Altrincham 0 FC Halifax Town 1

Alty were left stunned after a 94th-minute strike from Halifax condemned the Robins to a cruel 1-0 defeat on a rain-soaked afternoon at The J. Davidson Stadium. 

Despite a resilient defensive display and rattling the crossbar in the second half, Neil Gibson's side were undone at the death by the promotion-chasing visitors, who started the better as the rain poured down pre-match on a gloomy afternoon, dictating the early exchanges and creating a flurry of chances. 

It took exceptional reflexes from Luke Hutchinson to keep the score level in the sixth minute, as the Alty keeper produced a heroic double save during a frantic goalmouth scramble that also saw Halifax rattle the crossbar through Jay Turner-Cooke. 

The early onslaught galvanised the Robins' defence, with Dan Sassi putting in a tireless tackling shift and Josh Grant producing a vital block to weather the storm in the 12th minute. While Alty enjoyed spells of possession as the half wore on, clear chances were rare. Liam Humbles and Charlie Kirk sent efforts over the bar from outside the box, though Jimmy Knowles nearly capitalised on a defensive mis-header from Shaun Hobson just before the break.

The visitors came out of the interval with renewed energy and it took another sensational, full-stretch save from Hutchinson in the 47th minute to claw a curling 30-yard free-kick from Turner-Cooke out of the top corner.

Lucas Weaver started to find real joy in the channels, and Humbles soon forced a smart save from the Sam Johnson in the away goal, with a curling effort from the edge of the box. 

The Robins were suddenly knocking firmly on the door and came agonizingly close to a breakthrough in the 71st minute, when Jimmy Knowles latched onto a Sassi pass and unleashed an stinging strike that rattled the crossbar, before a well-struck Kirk volley flashed narrowly wide minutes later.

As the clock ticked down, a flurry of substitutions disrupted the rhythm, and Alty found themselves relying on the counter-attack. They nearly snatched a late winner themselves when substitute Olly Crankshaw saw a deflected effort fly narrowly over the bar in the 88th minute. But the fatal blow arrived four minutes into stoppage time.

Turner-Cooke, who had threatened sporadically throughout the game, found space inside the box and drilled a low finish across Hutchinson and into the bottom right corner to win the game.

Beeline VIP Travel Man Of The Match Liam Humbles

Altrincham Hutchinson; Grant (Cooper, 84'), Marriott, Knowles, Kosylo (Khan, 84'), Weaver (Jones, 84'), Crawford (c), Golden, Humbles (Crankshaw, 84'), Sassi, Kirk. Subs not used: Reed, Breckin, Fallon.

Halifax Johnson (c); Hugill (Kawa, 75'), Hobson (Morris, 79'), Harris, Smith, Crowe, Palmer, Turner-Cooke, Johnson, Latty-Fairweather (Warburton, 14'). Subs not used: Ford, Mills, Bray, Hoti.

HT 0-0

Goals None | Turner-Cooke 90'+4

Yellows Kosylo 20', Marriott 26', Crawford 57' | Hobson 36', Johnson 63', Hugill 70'

Reds None | None

Referee Melissa Burgin

Assistants Martin Parker & Jack Nield

Fourth official Jacob Viera

Attendance 2,572 (505 away)

Next Up

We head for York City on Easter Monday (3pm) for our penultimate Enterprise National League away game of the season. All your ticket and travel info can be found here.