Altrincham's recent winning streak came to a crashing halt with a 5-1 defeat away to Woking. The heavy loss at the Laithwaite Community Stadium on Saturday saw the Robins drop to 11th place in the National League, now with nine points from six games.
Early promise fades
The visitors started brightly and dominated the opening quarter of an hour. Will Jaaskelainen in the Woking goal was forced into two excellent saves to deny Aidan Barlow. The momentum shifted decisively when Matt Turner put the hosts ahead in the 21st minute. John Marquis doubled the lead five minutes later and then converted a penalty just before the break to complete a first-half hat-trick. Barlow pulled one back for Alty in the 44th minute, finishing from a Matty Kosylo assist to make the half-time score 3-1.
Second-half collapse
Any hopes of a comeback were extinguished early in the second period. Timmy Akinola made it four for Woking on the hour mark, and Roy Syla added a fifth with 19 minutes remaining. Altrincham manager Phil Parkinson made a flurry of changes, bringing on Dior Angus, Justin Donawa, and Eddy Jones, but the damage was done. The club's official match report noted the team was "second best all over the pitch" after the opening spell.
Disciplinary notes
The game was officiated by Daniel Blades, who showed yellow cards to Altrincham's Matty Kosylo and Reagan Ogle. Woking's Will Jaaskelainen was also booked. No players were sent off. A crowd of 2,226 watched the match, including 58 travelling Altrincham supporters.
Looking ahead
The result leaves Altrincham with a recent form record of three wins and two losses from their last five outings. They must now regroup quickly for a midweek fixture at The J.Davidson Stadium. Phil Parkinson's side host Hartlepool United on Wednesday evening, with kick-off at 7:45pm under the lights. General admission and hospitality tickets for that match are now on sale. Fans can check the full schedule of upcoming games on the club's fixtures page and view the current standings.
