Altrincham FC manager Lee Sinnott will be giving us the inside track on the Robins’ return to the Conference. Here’s his latest column for Altrincham Today.
I thought that last Saturday was just a great day all round. We put on a really good show against Dartford and fully deserved our 2-1 win in front of a great crowd of almost 1,600, with the promotional work at the club for ‘Non League Day’ really coming up trumps.
The players rose to the occasion and showed everyone what kind of football we are trying to produce. The boys are encouraged to keep the ball on the deck and play football, and they are showing they are up to it. The public seem to like it, I’m glad to say.
They certainly did on Saturday, and again our supporters were magnificent at Alfreton on Tuesday night, when it looked like about 100 made the trip and the players really appreciated the applause that rang out at the end.
Damian Reeves could have had a hat-trick at Alfreton, and he acknowledged that in the dressing room, because he’s that sort of lad, honest as the day’s long. But I want to say that we can’t rely on him all the time. That would be totally unfair. Other people have to be weighing in with goals as well. Thankfully, Kyle Perry got a late equaliser and we earned our first point on the road this season.
What we have to take on board is that when you play the sort of football we did, and create that many opportunities, you have to be more clinical
”Lee
You have to say it was justice in the end. I thought Alfreton started very brightly for the first 15 minutes, but then we worked our way into it. If you look at the game overall, we have seen the whites of the keeper’s eyes probably seven or eight times. On six or seven of those occasions, we did not work him. We could do that again in another game, and I’m sure the stats would be quite different. What we have to take on board is that when you play the sort of football we did, and create that many opportunities, you have to be more clinical.
I would say our keeper, Dave Parton, hasn’t exactly been overworked, but we have only drawn 1-1. It was a great delivery from the corner for the equaliser, and a good header from Kyle.
We have a few fitness problems for Saturday’s home game with Eastleigh. Simon Richman took a knock at Alfreton, while Nicky Clee is recovering from his ankle injury sustained against Dartford. Ryan Crowther has gone down with food poisoning, so his availability depends on how long that takes to leave his system. Damian Reeves was the other to take a bit of a knock at Alfreton, so we will just have to assess all of them on Thursday night at training.
Eastleigh, like us, have just been promoted to the Vanarama Conference. They have the benefit of huge financial backing and have signed some very good players in the summer, so we know that we are in for a tough afternoon, but if we can play as well as we did against Dartford, then there is no reason why we can’t achieve a good result.
