Wealdstone 4 – 0 Altrincham
Wealdstone4 - 0
AltrinchamA dominant Wealdstone swept aside in form Altrincham in the battle of the play-off pushers at Grosvenor Vale this afternoon.
A first half brace from Micah Obiero, along with goals from Corie Andrews and Alex Dyer ensured that Stuart Maynard’s men bounced back from a midweek thrashing by Halifax to leapfrog the Robins into 11th position in the National League.
Maynard made two changes to the starting line-up with Captain Jack Cook and Dom Hutchinson returning for the Stones. After a tentative start from both sides, the visitors were the first to craft an opportunity when Elliot Osbourne struck straight at Howes from the edge of the box, after 11 minutes of play.
However, the Stones quickly grew into the game, cranking up the pressure as they won four corners in as many minutes, but they were unable to capitalise from these set-pieces. Brooklyn Ilunga was a constant threat down the left wing and it was no surprise when the Milton Keynes Dons’ loanee beat his man and whipped the ball to the far post for Obiero to head home and put the Stones ahead in the 17th minute.
Moments later, the Robins should have draw level when Regan Linney was played through on goal for a one-on-one, but Sam Howes was quick off of his line to produce a crucial save to preserve the score line. As the first half progressed, Wealdstone began to dictate and their superiority paid dividends on the half an hour mark as Obiero popped up to score his second, firing a driven effort into the bottom corner to double his side’s lead. Maynard’s men were close to trebling their advantage in the dying seconds of stoppage time when Hutchinson surged forward and unleashed a fierce effort on goal, but the Robins’ Kyle Ferguson responded with a vital block to deny the attacker.
The Stones returned from the interval with the same attacking intent, extending their lead within two minutes of the restart as Andrews headed home from close range. Altrincham had a chance to reduce the deficit in the 53rd minute when Tyrese Sinclair found Linney with a pinpoint ball and he burst down the left-hand side and cut into the box to shoot, but Howes was equal to his effort. Five minutes later, the Robins were on target again as Sinclair latched onto a loose pass and drilled an effort from range which was well-saved by Howes. Sinclair had the opportunity to pull a goal back for the Robins two minutes later, but his strike only brought a routine save from Howes.
As the second half drew to a close, Altrincham began to find more rhythm with their passing and attacking play, coming close to scoring in the 81st minute as Lewis Baines’ header flew just over the crossbar. However, the Stones capped off a dominant performance as Alex Dyer converted in the 95th minute to quadruple their lead.
Wealdstone return to action on Tuesday evening when they entertain Maidstone United at The Vale in a 7.45pm kick off.
WEALDSTONE: Howes, Barker, Cook (c) (Barrett 50), Habergham, Ilunga, Charles, Dyer, Kretzschmar, Hutchinson (Lo-Everton 71), Obiero, Andrews (Olomola 76). Subs not used: Ferguson, Whittaker.
Report by Nicole Cho–Yee
Matt Saunders post Match interview HERE
Jon Taffel Match pics HERE
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