Manchester League Division One: Old Alts ... 6 Stand Athletic ... 1

FOR fifteen minutes after half-time, Stand made a mockery of Old Alts' 2-0 lead.

John Airey, expertly put through by Lee Hall saw his shot cannon off the right-hand post before Andy Moore broke free only to see his angled shot skim the same upright.

Hall watched in frustration as his 35-yard lob rebounded from the other one.

Hall's effort was to bring the consolation of a penalty, after a crude foul on Moore, but whilst Stand were rattling chances against the woodwork, the home team had raced away to go 3-0 up, a lead which was reduced to 3-1 by Hall's spot kick.

At this point, thirty-five minutes remained and it seemed, even after the paucity of their first half performance, that Stand would retrieve a result.

An opinion which hindsight was to reveal as a clear case of misplaced optimism.

For what promised to be a game of two halves delivered a team of two halves.

One half competitive, the other not. One half prepared to dig in. The other preferring to opt out. Inexperience? If the results are beginning to suggest that the problem is deeper than inexperience, the 45 minutes before and the 15 minutes after Stand's purple patch offer incontrovertible evidence.

This was arguably Stand's worst display since they first entered the Manchester League a decade ago.

A propensity to give away the ball aggravated by an unwillingness to try to win it back and, most worryingly, the whole debacle exacerbated by a distinct lack of individual character.

Given the lion's share of possession, given the room to play, and appreciative of the non-competitiveness of much of Stand's tackling, Altrincham simply helped themselves - to two goals before half-time and four after.

But for the heroics of Mike Whewell in goal, and a handful of his outfield colleagues, it could have been a whole lot worse.

Whewell made some fantatstic saves to deny the goal hungry Altrincham side and he was the Athletic man-of-the-match.

Team: Whewell, Mawdsley, Kluj, Greenhalgh, Davenport, Shine (Moore 55), Martin, Welsh, Airey, Dickinson, Hall.