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’m not quite sure how we didn’t manage to get something from Tuesday night’s game at Macclesfield when we eventually finished on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline.
We went into the game on the back of two positive results against Macc at our place, and it was our first visit to Moss Rose for something like 17 years, so there was a lot surrounding the game.
Macc got out of the traps really quickly and closed us down, and we found it difficult to get a foothold. I thought they had the lion’s share of possession in the first half without actually managing that many efforts on goal.
We had the lion’s share in the second half, and I thought we created more chances with our lion’s share than they did with theirs. At half-time it was a case of saying to the players ‘come on, we are better than this, we can do more than this’. We were decisive in changing things, sending on Kyle Perry and going for it.
Everyone knows our passing style, but we are no one-trick pony. If we need to go more direct because circumstances dictate, we will adapt to do just that.
Kyle created problems for people, and you have to feel sorry for him that he has had a headed goal chalked off for the second successive game. Replays have shown the one against Aldershot on Saturday was onside and should have stood, and the ball travelled a long way to him for this one. I’ll need to have another look at it, but I must say the possibility of offside never crossed my mind at the time.
There was only one team in it at half-time, and when it became 2-0 so early in the second half, there was a danger it could have been three or four, and we head back down the road with our backsides well and truly kicked.
But we weren’t having that, and the way the lads came back at Macclesfield and went for it was magnificent. To be fair, if the ball had fallen a little more kindly for Damian Reeves, it could have been 1-1 before they got their second goal. We could have been in business then, and after Kyle scored, it looked for as if we were going to take a point.
We were superb in that second half, and we are disappointed, because we went into the game on a four-game winning run in the league and could so easily have taken something out of it, but I’m proud of the way the players reacted in the second half. It shows mental strength. We made all the running after the break and contributed more than our share to what was a pulsating game.
The hard-earned 1-0 victory over Aldershot last Saturday has put us on 45 points and with the way the players responded in the second half on Tuesday night, we can take on play-off hopefuls Forest Green Rovers on Saturday in confident mood.
We achieved a deserved draw down in Gloucestershire in December and I would expect another very close game again at The J Davidson Stadium on Saturday.
