Altrincham’s hopes in the Isuzu FA Trophy were crushed by a remarkable revival from Telford United in the third-round match at The SEAH Stadium on Saturday, writes Adhi Prasetya.
Neil Gibson’s side held the lead 3-1 until the 80th minute before the hosts stunned them with three late goals to make it 4-3 in front of 1,167 attendees. It was the worst result for Alty in the FA Trophy since 2021, when they were also out in the third-round.
This loss meant Alty would no longer play in the cup competition for the rest of the season. They previously lost on penalties to Winsford United in the Cheshire FA County Cup’s first round in October and were beaten by Slough Town in the FA Cup’s first round last month.
It seemed to be a perfect weekend for Alty as they already led in the sixth minute. Jimmy Knowles received the ball from Lucas Weaver with his back to the goal before turning to fire a shot into the bottom corner past Telford’s Josh Gracey.
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Alty extended the lead in the 36th minute as the number 11 scored his brace. He pounced on the loose ball right after Gracey parried Tylor Golden’s attempt.
The restart proved to be more intense as Telford started to fight back. Adan George ran onto the ball from the right side of the box after a superb through pass and lobbed it over Alty’s Luke Hutchinson to make it 1-2.
But Alty restored their two-goal lead in the 68th minute as Oliver Crankshaw ran down the left and cut inside the opponent’s box before firing a deflected shot past Gracey to the bottom right. It seemed like the games had been over for the hosts, but it didn’t turn out like that.
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Telford showed their persistence in the last 10 minutes of normal time. James Armson reduced the gap in the 80th minute as he headed home a corner to raise their fans’ hopes. And Matt Stenson scored the equalizer less than a minute later with his thunderbolt from the edge of the box after stealing Alty’s possession. And it wasn’t done yet.
Telford completed their comeback in the third minute of stoppage time as Stenson scored his brace with another super strike to the top of the left corner to seal a 4-3 victory and a place in the fourth round.
Alty will play their last game before Christmas on Friday evening (7:45 PM) as they host National League’s leaders Rochdale at the J. Davidson Stadium.
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