Alty are a coming!

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Hope they defend like this again!
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Amazed at that result on Saturday, but it won't mean anything on Tuesday. Its still gonna be a tough game, still, wouldn't it be great to start with two straight wins.

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Bringing a few with them still!
Could be a tricky crowd to predict for the predictions league!
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Seems a really tough game to call, us being at home and considering their 4-1 home defeat, they'll be desperate to bounce back, I honestly don't know what to expect! Very excited to see the sulphurites play back on Wetherby Road, ought to be a cracker of a match! Let's have a good attendance, I'll be bringing plenty of mates, and I've been hearing advertising on stray FM too! Come on Town!

The worst thing we could do is under estimate Alty..they will have a good following and the fans will be very vocal so the best thing Harrogate could do is get out of the blocks really quick and put pressure on them. Hopefully that will quieten their fans and get the Alty players arguing.

I was at the game on Saturday, we looked solid at the back and really good in midfield, just need to be more clinical upfront. The main difference for me is that everyone wanted the ball to feet and looked confident on it and there seems to be a fab team spirit.....I'm really looking forward to tomorrow, bring it on!!

It worked out the opposite really. Altrincham came flying out the blocks and were ahead in the first five minutes through an absolute screamer that Veiga could have reached in my opinion. I was not convinced with Veiga the whole game, he seemed to be a bit shaky and got several of his kicks wrong.

We then got back into the game with some brilliant passing and movement on and off the ball. After the first quarter of an hour, it was all Harrogate and we had several chances to level, but didnt take the opportunities.

Second half, Harrogate came flying out the blocks and were level due to a Chib Chilaka screamer, giving the Altrincham goalie no chance. We then let Alrincham get back into the game and establish a foothold and they regained the lead with about 15 minutes to go.

That was the way it remained. A 2-1 defeat. Alhough we were defeated, I was very pleased with several elements of the performance, and certainly did not deserve to leave that game empty handed.

The majority of the team performed really well, and it was just one of those nights. We really need to bounce back against BPA on Saturday. It is still early days, but the signs look very promising for the club this season.

Yep I agree, I guess they got their own back on us from last season. Quite a hard one to swallow but if we play like this all season we should do pretty well.

The keeper was an obvious concern, but having seen him on Saturday and a couple of the pre-season friendlies it could have been a blip (perhaps needs to work on the kicking)...my major concern was Beesley and as much as I like the guy in roughly 6 or 7 games, including a couple from last season, I have only seen him have one shot and I genuinely don't think he is good enough at this standard YET... We either have to start with Meecham or sign someone quickly.

All in all though, despite the result, I think we have a special group of players, and I am very very optimistic.

I agree with almost all that was written the previous 2 postings. This was my first view of Town this season and I'm thinking that we'll finish lower mid table at best.

However a few observations (particularly after having read the brief summary on the Club site).

Veiga is weak. On this showing his kicking is very poor as is his throwing. The Alty keeper is a different class

Having effectively marked Chib out of the game (which to be honest didn't seem that difficult), we had no threat up front AT ALL. Chib got loose once and scored (I wouldn't call it a screamer, but that's just semantics). For the last 20 minutes of the first half we were so much on top it was embarrassing for the Alty Management. Yet we never looked able to get the ball in the net for all that pressure.

In defence, Dwayne Samuels was a total waste of skin. When he went forward, his crosses seemed to be aimed more at the corner flag than towards the 6 yard box. Good at stealing a few yards at throw-ins though (until the ref was alerted by the Alty fans that is). I hope this too was a blip.

Our defence was ripped apart for both their goals and to be fair they SHOULD have had a least one more in the second half, if not 2 - so the scoreline flattered us somewhat.

Once we scored, we went home. Interesting to see the difference in the 2 managers at that point. The gurning Lee Sinnott was telling his players what to do and where to go. Simon Weaver was asking his........

Overall, the difference between the teams was in fitness, organisation and understanding in my opinion. Skill wise there wasn't too much in it. I'm also wondering if the new pitch was a bit of a leveller in that effectively BOTH teams were playing on an unfamiliar surface.

There aint no justice! I have to say that the first 45 minutes was the best I have seen Town play during Simon Weaver's time in charge. Some of the passing and movement was brilliant: totally disagree about Samuels he was the best Town player by a mile and fully deserved his Man of the Match award. Do agree about Viega however. On the plus side his throwing out was superb, he was almost acting like an 11th outfield player at times, set up lots of promising movements. Cook was great as a stopper but he always kicked, never threw out. But I worry about Viega as a keeper (his main job!). We had got used to having total confidence in Cook, back to anxiety re: the keeper. Also have to agree about Beesley: his is a great story, from park player to BSN in a couple of years, but I think this level is beyond him. I do have to question the logic of Town not putting the money in to sign a quality striker, after all we have developed a strong team, but the onus is really on one player to score (Chib), and thats a tough ask.
We did seem to run out of steam after we scored, you felt we would have taken 1-1 as a kind of victory. Still felt gutted however.
Talking bout strikers look at Guiseley: 11 goals in two matches (ouch!), they went and got Josh Wilson from VM and he banged two in last night.

So PLEASE Simon (and Irving!) re-consider the second striker option...we need one. Otherwise we have the makings of a really good team.

We must have seen a different match Paul (as always happens with footy fans ). I like to scribble down a few notes while I'm watching - Before the match I wrote that the Alty no7 looked about 12 and we'd have no problem with him. 4 minutes after kick off it was he who scored that stunning goal.................

Back on subject, I thought Samuels was frequently out of position, slow to track back and the crosses were generally directly to areas WITHOUT a Town player anywhere near them, making them easy fodder for the Alty defence. And both of the chances they missed and the one they scored in the second half were from players who had come from behind him.

The MOM thing passed me by as I was wandering around the ground at the time. I heard it announced, but not who had got it. I remember that during Bill and Alan's reign, the MOM award was shared around evenly regardless of performance to try and make sure that everyone one the squad got at least one bottle a season (and DON'T tell me I'm wrong )

I also stand by my Viega comment concerning his throwing. He needs to work on aspects of his game imho.

I'd have given MOM to either Chib (simply for trying all the time) or Dave Merris (for the number of times he was standing in acres of space but no-one passed to him).

But when I read my write up again, it appears more negative than I felt. I thoroughly enjoyed the match and if Alty are one of the favourites for promotion, then we can't really be far off a team to do the same. However work is still needed - on the training pitch and in the transfer/loan market (that second striker problem).

Couldn't believe Beesley started over Meecham, and stayed on as long as he did. Don't get me wrong, I like Beesley, but I just didn't see much threat in him and I don't think he is ready to compete at such a demanding leaue like the blue square north. Agreeing with what's been said, if we aren't seeing results from forwards like Meecham, Allan, and Beesley, then a loan striker is certainly something we need to consider. We also need to work on progressing from the back, quite a few times the ball was just hoofed up with wishful thinking, but we have to praise the performance. We gave league contenders a close game, and we can only imporve here on in. Let's have a good match on saturday, need to take the 3 points

Allen replaced Beesley at the right time. However, Simon should have replaced Chib and Adam with Alex and Robbie with at least 15 minutes to go. Adam was exhausted and out on his feet. He had stopped making any runs and then he gets a knock on the head. Remember Adam spent most of last season out with a really bad injury. He needs to be introduced carefully as the games progress. It was obvious Adam needed replacing and Robbie was chomping at the bit. But once again not getting a fair run out. Chib was also floundering due to being tired. Simon should start against Bradford with a fresh front line and give Chib and Adam a rest. They would be useful to come on later when the others have given their all. Their needs to be more rotation due to fitness levels, tiredness late in the game as well keeping those on the bench involved.