Report by SJG

F. A. CUP

ALTRINCHAM vs WIGAN ATHLETIC

11^th November 1933

ROBINS HALT THE LATICS INAUGERAL CUP RUN.

A cold afternoon at the Moss Lane ground saw a real blood and thunder cup tie, complete with a sending off, four goals, and a whole bucket load of incidents and controversy.

With new man Talbot not available as he was cup-tied. As he had not been signed on for the requisite 14 days prior to the match. The selection was further complicated as the services of ex-captain, Albert Harrison had been dispensed with in midweek.

Latics had to rearrange their defence with O’Dell dropping to full back and player-manager Charlie Spencer returning to the heart of the defence for his first game of the season alongside Arnold Robson.

Wigan made a fast start to the game and Felton played Scott into space. The winger outpaced Heywood and fired in a strong shot that Steward turned behind for a corner kick.

Altrincham grabbed an early lead in the 7^th minute, Chesters found some space in midfield and tried his luck with a speculative long shot that Caunce fumbled and in the ensuing melee BATE got the vital touch and steered the ball home.

Wigan still looked the livelier of the two sides, despite the early setback and when Cowper and Jones linked up they played the pass inside to Robson but his hurried shot failed to hit the target.

Following a hand-ball by Spencer Altrincham were awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position and Clacher drilled the ball past the wall, but it also flew narrowly wide of the Wigan goal with Caunce a mere spectator.

On 20 minutes JONES drew Wigan level, Cowper and O’Rourke worked the ball down the right wing before picking out the striker who headed the ball beyond Roscoe before sprinting into the space and firing home from an acute angle. Wigan nearly netted again two minutes later but after good work from Felton and O’Rourke it was Cowper who flashed the shot right across the face of the Robins goal.

Both sides were producing some entertaining play and there was no shortage of commitment from either side with heavy bruising challenges aplenty. A number of scoring chances were presented to both sides but good defending and rushed finishing saw the score remain unchanged at the break.

Half Time; Altrincham 1-1 Wigan Athletic.

The committed challenges that had become common place in the first half continued and the tackles started to err into the realms of ‘foul play’, with tempers becoming frayed. Clacher was lively in attack for the home side and he forced Caunce into a good save. Latics countered with a flowing five man move that ended with O’Rourke flashing a shot wide of the goal.

Steward, the ex-Manchester United stopper, was displaying his excellent handling skills as he denied O’Rourke and O’Dell in quick succession. On the hour mark the home side regained the lead, Chesters found Carless with an accurate cross and the Altrincham man fired a first time shot against the upright, the rebound fell nicely for NIXON who placed his shot into the bottom corner. Wigan tried to respond and neat inter-play between Jones and Cowper looked promising until the winger was crudely hacked down. Latics were awarded a free kick that came to nothing and as frustrations grew Spencer saw his name taken by the referee Mr Aspinall.

Latics had a lucky escape when a cross by Clacher deflected just beyond the far post with Caunce beaten, then another unsavoury challenge saw Jones squaring up to Chesters and Heywood, and when Spencer added his weight to the argument the Latics skipper was sent from the field of play.

On 75 minutes the home side made their numerical advantage pay when Clacher and Carless combined well before Carless broke into the area and fired in a strong shot that Caunce could only pal away to NIXON who completed the scoring by slotting his shot past Robinson who tried to block the effort on the goal-line.

Wigan had a strong penalty appeal waved away as they tried bravely to rally and tempers flared again as a mass brawl broke out on the halfway line with punches being thrown and at least one player being floored. It was an unseemly end to the game that had seen some fine football played by both sides but it was the Robins who progressed to the next round.

Full Time; Altrincham 3-1 Wigan Athletic.

Scorers; Bate (7), Nixon (60), (75); Jones (20);

Attendance; 5,212

Team; WIGAN---Caunce; Robinson, O’Dell; Kavanagh, Spencer, Robson; Cowper, Felton, Jones, O’Rourke, Scott;

ALTRINCHAM---Steward; Haywood, Roscoe; Clacher, Newnes, Pybus; Chesters, Carless, Nixon, Beech, Bate;

Referee; Mr. R. Aspinall (Rochdale).