ALTRINCHAM claimed a place in the last 16 of the FA Trophy with a gritty performance against Weymouth on Saturday.

Goals from Stuart Wright and Niell Hardy proved to be too much for Weymouth and player/manager Steve Claridge, who found the limelight stolen from him by a gutsy Alty defence, who never once fluffed their lines.

Many critics were predicting a great show from Weymouth with under- achieveing Alty playing the understudy's role as the Terras marched on to a league and cup treble.

Also Weymouth's dress rehearsals in the lead up to the FA Trophy fourth round match had put the fear of God into some Alty followers, but Robins boss Graham Heathcote had researched his side's role perfectly.

Former Moss Lane assistant manager Dalton Steele watched Weymouth play Hednesford Town and returned with a detailed report, while Heathcote made the lengthy trip to Dover's Hoverspeed Stadium to see them for himself.

The sneak previews gained from these trips gave Altrincham the confidence to stick to their script and hit Weymouth on the break. This they did, capitalising on Weymouth's defensive weakness.

The Wessex Stadium pitch survived three inspections before being passed as playable late on Saturday morning.

Claridge restored himself to a starting place in the home side's line-up after serving a three match ban, splitting up strike partnership Lee Phillips and Stuart Yetton in the process, while Rod Thornley claimed a place on the Alty bench after recovering from knee surgery and Mark Maddox did the same following a three week layoff with an ear infection.

Wright opened the scoring on nine minutes with a diving header, knocking Gary Scott's hanging cross past Jason Matthews.

The game seemed to level out after that, as both sides got to grips with the difficult conditions. A heavy pitch was not helped by a strong wind which made the destination of any high balls impossible to predict.

Both sides exerted a degree of pressure but Alty centre-back pairing Peter and Gary Talbot kept the tricky Claridge and Phillips at bay.

It was real 'backs-to-the-wall' stuff for Robins in the second half but Alty defended in numbers - something it appeared they always planned to do - and kept Weymouth at bay.

Phillips missed a sitter for the home side ten minutes into the second half when Claridge found him with a pin-point pass as Coburn advanced.

Phillips found himself with an empty net to shoot at, but placed his shot a mere three or four inches wide.

It was Weymouth's best chance of the match, but still they drew a blank.

Craney was the creator of Alty's second goal on 72 minutes as he found space for himself 30 yards out.

He knocked in a defence-splitting pass to Niell Hardy, who took his time and added a peach of a finish.

Again, Weymouth came back in full force, but Coburn was on hand to push Lee Philpott's strike over the bar.

Robins: Coburn, Aspinall, Adams, Band, Talbot, Rose, Scott, Craney, Hallows (sub Holt 73), Hardy (Thornley 80), Wright (Shuttleworth 54). Subs not used: Maddox, Acton.