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.
Saturday’s scoreless draw against Halifax Town was a compelling game and the point achieved has put us on 50 points for the season, which is another important milestone.
The win over Torquay United on January 17th moved the team on to 42 points, so it has been quite a struggle achieving these last eight over a period of more than two months. With six games to go, it would be great if we could break the 60 mark by the end of the campaign on April 25th.
Watch highlights of the game below:
It was pleasing to take four points from the two games against Halifax and I thought that, on balance, a draw was a fair result, although we had to rely on some heroic saves from Stuart Coburn and excellent defending, particularly from Scott Leather, at times.
We created some good chances ourselves, mainly falling to James Lawrie, and it was good to see the way that we stood up to the aerial bombardment that we knew was coming from our opponents.
Both teams had played during the previous midweek and I thought that there were two tired sides out there in the second half and with that in mind and another long trip coming up this weekend, we decided to give the players a week off training.
Below: More action from Saturday’s game (pictures: Michael Ripley)
At this stage of the season, players are fit and Neil Tolson and I thought that it would be good for the lads to have a break from each other, which we think will help get over the mental tiredness, that is just as much a factor, if not more of a factor, than physical tiredness at this stage.
I was delighted to see that the ‘Cancer Awareness’ day went very well, with over £2,000 raised for St. Ann’s Hospice, through auctioning the players’ pink shirts, selling replica shirts and a collection taken at half-time.
On Saturday, we travel to Kent for the third time in March. Dartford are in a perilous position and from their point of view, it is an encounter that they will see as a ‘must win game’.
Despite the fact that they are second from bottom, we know that this game will be just as difficult as our recent fixtures, particularly as the pitch looks like it is in very poor condition. I would be really happy if we could complete the double over them and move onto 53 points ahead of Easter.
We are travelling down on the day, so it’s another very early start and late arrival back.
