FA Cup 1st Round Proper
Altrincham 1 Millwall 2
Valiant Altrincham FC went down to visiting Millwall at Moss Lane on Saturday, in front of 2,500 spectators. For much of the first half, Alty were equal and at times superior to Millwall. Which should let you know how awful Millwall were. They were so slow they made Altrincham look like a good team, which really takes some doing. Still, Alty went on the attack, and the best player, Chris Senior, ran at the defence down the right. In first half stoppage time, Altrincham won a free kick outside the penalty area on the right. Instead of going over the wall, the kick was chipped into the penalty area towards the by-line, wide on the right, where it was met on the full by Chris Senior who knocked it over the keeper's head and along a tight angle to strike the inside of the bar and bounce back just over the line. The whistle blew shortly after and Alty went into the break
1-0 ahead.
Millwall came out very late for the second half, and immediately started playing with more intent. They attacked repeatedly down the right and a goal looked only a matter of time. After some desperate goalkeeping to keep Alty ahead, Millwall passed through the defence and a goal-bound shot hit a defender on the hand, producing a red card and a penalty. Within 5 mins it was 2-1 to Millwall and the game was virtually over. There was some late excitement as the Alty keeper went up for two corners, but luck never favours the minnows and Alty are out. It was close until the end, and the goal looked even better on Match of the Day. At least some supporters will get satisfaction from Macclesfield's loss to Conference side Rushden and Diamonds.
Alty will still struggle to survive in the Conference this season, but it was the best performance I've seen them give for 6 months. Millwall were terrible and would have a hard time winning the Conference, let alone surviving in their division this season. Oddly, their new manager - with the unlikely name of Kenny Jackett - lives in Altrincham. As for the potential violence, unsurprisingly nothing happened. Only 270 Millwall supporters turned up, probably because the police had made such a big deal out of it, and they didn't want to spend their afternoon being harrassed. I suppose that's the police strategy. There were police on foot and on horseback at Altrincham tram stop, lining Moss Lane, and at the ground. Three mobile police vans were stationed at the ground, and about 40 police standing between the home fans and the away end. We heard some Man City supporters singing on the tram, and they might have been part of a group of supporters standing near the Millwall end during the first half. They were chanting something pretty offensive at the away supporters, because they looked very annoyed (at least from what I could make out through the gloom - the lights were on for the 3 o'clock kick off). But then the Alty fans moved there in the second half and the Millwall supporters were clapping their chants. I await the next edition of the Messenger for more details.
The police had warned local shopkeepers of possible trouble, with what sounded like exaggerated stories of supporters from all around the northwest arriving for the game to take revenge on Millwall. The chippy, Barney's, opened as usual, but Mr Yungs, the bakery and the bottle shop all shut down and lost an afternoon's business. A mistake, I think. Unfortunately, despite threats to close, Tesco opened as usual, perhaps in response to mid-week taunts from the manager of Sainsbury's.
After my 60 second walk home, I sat in inside on a drizzly evening, listening to the clip clop of police horses on Stamford Park Rd, with the smell of coal fires filling the air. 'Ay up, luv! Coal man's 'ere!'
Nick
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