08 Aug 2018 by Admin

A moment of magic from John Johnston helped Alty take all three points from their trip to Southport and pick up their first win of the season. Tied at 1-1, Johnston picked up a cross-field pass, cut inside and curled a superb effort with the outside of his right foot into the corner to put Alty back ahead.



That proved to be a decisive moment at a time when Southport were enjoying their only real spell of dominance in the ten minutes after they had equalised. Jordan Hulme added a third with a classic poacher’s goal and Alty expertly controlled the game to the final whistle.

The first half saw the Robins control possession for long spells, but there were few clear cut chances of note. The best opportunity came from a long range effort from Jordan Hulme which Southport keeper Daniel Hanford tipped over the bar. For all the match often flowed end to end, there were not too many alarming moments for either goalkeeper, despite Alty having more of the ball.

Similar to Saturday, Phil Parkinson’s men came out with of the traps with greater purpose and it was a well worked free kick which led to the opening goal. Johnston fed the ball into Daniels who had run over the ball, and his deflected effort was well saved by Hanford who was diving the wrong way, but Goulding was on hand to slide the rebound home and open his account for Alty.

On 57 minutes, Southport hit back. A dubious free kick was awarded on the edge of the area which allowed Jordan Richards to step up and curl a lovely effort past Tony Thompson.

That equaliser then saw Southport enjoy their best spell of the game and they came close to taking the lead. A corner was whipped over from the left and the goal-bound header was blocked on the line by Sean Williams.

Fresh legs were added on 63 minutes as Richman and Hancock came on for Daniels and Harrop, and it was Hancock who was involved in what proved to be the decisive goal. His run across the field and pass to Johnston set the Alty winger in motion before producing the moment of the match with his beautiful curling effort.

Jordan Hulme was not to be thwarted and he continued his hot goalscoring streak by scoring his third goal in the opening two matches to put the match to bed on 76 minutes. That third goal settled Alty down and they looked well in control of the game after that with the hosts a little deflated.

Tempers flared a little with a couple of late bookings for Hulme and Southport’s Morgan, but Alty ran out deserved winners in the end after an excellent all-round performance.

Attentions now turn to Spennymoor on Saturday, with our opponents following up their draw at Chester on the opening day with another draw at home to local rival Darlington.