Altrincham 2
Linney 44′, Goodson 90′ pen
United 2
Hall (60′, 69′)
There was heartbreak for United on Saturday, as a late penalty saw The Gulls held to a 2-2 draw at Altrincham.
After Regan Linney gave the hosts a first-half advantage, two goals from returning captain Asa Hall turned the match on its head, only before a last-gasp spot-kick from Zak Goodson denied Gary Johnson’s side of the win they so richly deserved, and so crucially needed.
The Gaffer made two changes to the side that went down to defeat against Chesterfield in midweek, with Hall returning in the place of Kieron Evans, whilst the late withdrawal of Dean Moxey saw Ben Wyatt take his spot.
A closely-fought but scrappy first 45 minutes saw clear-cut chances at a premium, although a diving header from Frank Nouble nearly brought the breakthrough, however it sadly went the wrong side of the post.
The longer the half wore on, the more Johnson’s side began to dominate, and having begun to start picking a few holes in the Alty backline, it was therefore disappointing when the home side took the lead a minute before the break.
Reduced to playing no more than a supporting role in proceedings, Aaron Bennett strode into Torquay territory with intent, before slipping the ball into the path of the advancing Linney to his left, with the striker drilling his shot past the advancing Mark Halstead to make it 1-0 at the break.
Charged with finding two goals in the second period, it took The Gulls a little while to impose themselves once more, however once they did, this time their pressure paid dividends handsomely.
With leading scorer Aaron Jarvis seeing his shot on the turn tipped over the crossbar moments earlier, it looked as though a spot of pinball inside a packed penalty area may have seen The Robins survive once more, however, with the ball eventually steered into the path of Hall eight yards out, United’s skipper lashed the ball home to level up the scores with half an hour to play.
Nine minutes later, the Yellow Army were in dreamland as Captain Fantastic struck again.
With calls for a penalty falling on deaf ears, Jack Stobbs corner was only half-cleared, before the ball landed perfectly for Hall to slam home a beautiful 22-yard volley into the net and put his side in front.
It was to their credit that the men in yellow never really looked like giving that lead up.
A dangerous cross into the box, deflected onto the crossbar by a United head, was a rare heart-in-mouth moment, as Torquay began to see the clock down, until disaster struck in the final minute of normal time.
A ball over the needed dealing with, and with Goodson wriggling free of defensive attentions on the right of the penalty area, Hall’s challenge forced the referee into making a decision, and he duly point straight to the spot.
Goodson picked himself up and sent Halstead the wrong way to restore parity, and with it, break the hearts of the 354 loyal travelling United supporters.
When a late late free-kick from Brett McGavin dipped the wrong side of the post with seconds to spare, the game was effectively up, with United now requiring proverbial ‘snookers’ in order to beat the drop.
ALTRINCHAM: 21. Matt Gould, 2. Eddy Jones, 4. Issac Marriot, 5. Kyle Ferguson, 6. Lewis Baines, 8. Josh Lundstram, 9. Jordan Hulme (32. Zak Goodson, 84′), 10. Elliot Osborne (18. Ben Pringle, 78′), 27. Aaron Bennett (11. Luke Burgess, 72′), 29. Regan Linney, 30. Harry Perritt
SUBS NOT USED: 24. Ryan Forde, 25. Harlan Rodgers-Harris.
Yellow Cards: Linney 56′, Lundstrum 62′, Hulme 70′
UNITED: 1. Mark Halstead, 4. Tom Lapslie (11. Kieron Evans 83′), 8. Asa Hall (c), 9. Aaron Jarvis, 15. Ben Wyatt (14. Brett McGavin, 90′), 16. Shaun Donnellan, 19. Nico Lawrence, 27. Jack Stobbs, 28. Kevin Dawson, 31. Lewis Collins, 45. Frank Nouble
SUBS NOT USED: 2. Dylan Crowe, 5. Ali Omar, 22. Rhys Lovett
Yellow Cards: Wyatt 57′
Attendance: 2,480 (354 away)