Altrincham's fate was practically sealed this Saturday afternoon with a limp 3-1 home defeat to Newport County, a loss which nearly certainly condemned the Cheshire club to life in the Conference North next season. With the results affecting the relegation battle all bizarrely going in Alty's favour, it was a grim reflection of a season where results have often confounded expectations.
Games against fellow strugglers, at key times of the season were lost - see Histon away (3-0), Southport away (1-0) and most infuriatingly Eastbourne Borough away (5-0!!). Similarly there have been times when the team has grabbed brilliant results against the odds, including beating Darlington away 1-0, Mansfield away 1-0 and Rushden and Diamonds away (2-1). The pattern seems to be the games with huge build up and the requirement to win being emphasised have been let downs, yet with the pressure off the team has grabbed some useful points.
The departure of manager Graham Heathcote after a disastrous start to the season which saw the club lose 8 and draw 1 of their opening 9 games was an unnecessary distraction; his alleged pay-off was the source of much chagrin from the fans, and of course, if it was as substantial as claimed, it also affected the playing budget drastically. Alty are one of few part-time clubs remaining in the top tier of non-league football, and attempting to compete in a league filling up with large, full time, former league clubs was, especially on the financial front, an uphill task from the off.
Despite this, new manager Ken McKenna and his assistant Stuart Bimson revitalised the club in the winter months, and coming into the last 7 games of the season the team was remarkably in contention to survive. Three consecutive games would decide the season - home games with fellow strugglers Southport and Cambridge United, and a trip to FGR. Leads were thrown away in both home games, which ended 1-1 and 2-2 respectively, and the trip to Stroud was an utter disaster. Against the club Alty fans loathe, due to some administrative wranglings several seasons back involving FGR owner Colin Peake (more on that later), the team irritatingly failed to show, losing 1-0 in front of an excellent 200 away fans.
And so last Saturday represented the final real chance for Alty to avoid joining Eastbourne Borough and Histon in dropping from the Conference to the regional leagues. But again, with the pressure on, Alty failed to perform. With tension high on the terraces, the team were sloppy and lethargic, and fully deserved the 3-1 defeat, which in truth should have been more. And so unless they beat both Grimsby away and Eastbourne at home, with numerous results going their way, it seems Alty will return to the league they last took part in the 2004-05 season.
This has been the first post of this blog, which will be expanding at the start of next season to mainly cover the Conference North (or National if the miracle occurs) and as many games as I can get to whilst exiled in Cambridge. Hope the first blog has been enjoyable, feel free to comment and ask any questions.
