Altrincham

E-mail Article Print this story

Related Links

• Teams
• Altrincham
• Mansfield Town

Altrincham 1-2 Mansfield

Mansfield managed to see off the challenge of nine-man Altrincham in an incident-filled encounter at Moss Lane on Saturday afternoon.

The Stags made a flying start to the match, claiming the lead in the eighth minute when Matt Somner's initial effort was saved by Alty goalkeeper Stuart Coburn and Kyle Perry was on hand to slot home the rebound.

A key moment in the match took place in the 28th minute when Nicky Clee reacted angrily to a tough challenge from a Mansfield player and a scuffle seemed to develop around the midfielder.

Striker Chris Senior charged straight into the action and appeared to push Perry with both hands, knocking the Mansfield player to the ground.

The referee had no hesitation in brandishing the red card but there would be more in store from the man with the whistle.

Altrincham had a great chance to equalise in the 34th minute but Colin Little's header smacked against the underside of the crossbar and was subsequently cleared.

The home side hand another opportunity to draw level just before the half-time break but substitute Aaron Burns saw his goalbound header clawed out by Mansfield goalkeeper Alan Marriott.

Mansfield extended their lead just twelve seconds after the restart as Louis Briscoe latched onto Rob Duffy's lofted pass and blasted the ball into the top-right corner from inside the six-yard box.

The Robins saw their chances of mounting a comeback take a serious knock when Matthew Doughty picked up a second yellow card for a foul on Mansfield's Gary Silk.

Despite being reduced to nine men, Graham Heathcote's side battled on valiantly and pushed the visitors to the wire.

Altrincham pulled one back in the 64th minute when on-loan Northwich striker Burns collected a pass from Little before firing past Marriott and into the bottom-left corner.

Mansfield were put under some serious pressure in the closing stages but Altrincham's Robbie Williams saw his late goal chalked off for offside as the visitors held on to claim all three points.

Altrincham bookings: Doughty, Clee, Young.

Sent Off: Senior (28), Doughty (52).

Mansfield bookings: Mills, Silk, Heckingbottom, Speight, Sturrock.

Referee: A Halliday (West Yorkshire).

Attendance: 1,642.