DEV’S BOYS AND ROBINS SETTLE ON A STALEMATE

MAIDENHEAD United boss Alan Devonshire conceded a point apiece was fair after this disappointing stalemate with Altrincham at York Road.

Nathan Blissett’s ninth-minute strike from distance – palmed out for a corner by Steven Drench – was as close as the Magpies got to a winner with chances at a premium, while Dan Mooney crashed a second-half effort off the underside of the crossbar for Altrincham.

“I don’t think either team did enough to win the game,” Devonshire said. “There were two tired teams out there today.

“But, listen, we’ve come a long way in a short period of time and it was imperative that we got a response from the loss earlier this week.

“We were poor, but we’ve managed to get a point, a clean sheet too, and we move on to the next game.”

Blissett’s early chance sparked a tense opening into life with Altrincham’s Dan Mooney attempting to lift it over Magpies keeper Dan Gyollai.

In-form Josh Kelly floated an effort narrowly wide for Maidenhead as he looked to nestle the ball in Steven Drench’s top right corner, while Will De Havilland headed just past the right hand post from Dan Sparkes’ free kick just before the half-hour mark.

Jordan Hulme got the away supporters’ hopes up soon after as, with great skill, the Robins’ skipper jinked his way past Alan Massey and into the box, but just as he was about to pull the trigger, the Magpies’ captain made a remarkable block at the expense of a corner.

Alty enjoyed the majority of possession in the latter stages of the half but goalscoring opportunities were at a minimum.

Maidenhead’s Ryan Upward registered the first effort aof the second half when the ball set up nicely for him on the edge of the area but he couldn’t keep his effort on target.

Altrincham very nearly made him pay on 57 minutes when Mooney rattled the underside of the crossbar with a longrange attempt with many believing the ball had crossed the line.

This led to a fiesty finale with three players from each team going into referee Scott Jackson’s book for strong challenges.

With time running out, Devonshire turned to his bench and elected to bring on Shawn McCoulsky Reece Smith and Shaun Donnellan and the added dimension to Maidenhead’s attacks led to a chance for Kelly on 84 minutes – his teasing cross threatening to catch Drench out but the Robins keeper was on his toes to claim.

Drench then beat McCoulsky to a loose ball to deny the Magpies striker but it was Altrincham who looked the more likely late on – referee Jackson waving away a couple of strong penalty appeals in the dying embers.

STAR MAN: Matty Kosylo (Altrincham)

ATT: 1,113

ENTERTAINMENT: ★★★☆☆

REFEREE: Scott Jackson