STUART 'Clean Sheet' Coburn booked Altrincham's place in the FA Cup first round draw with a breathtaking display of goalkeeping against Nuneaton Borough on Saturday.

Coburn, a van driver by day, moved up a gear after an early penalty stop and never looked back.

He made half a dozen world-class saves to deny the high-flying Conference visitors, snatching the ball out of the goal from behind his head at one point.

One second-half stop from Borough's Warren Peyton saw Coburn react to a deflection with split-second timing to palm it away.

His counterparts at the other end of the pitch did their jobs just as well, with Hulme sandwiching his goal in between two more strikes from Rod Thornley.

The writing was on the wall for Nuneaton within two minutes of the start. Four corners in quick succession were dealt with perfectly - including one header off the line from Ian Craney.

Borough's marksman, the physical Marc McGregor, made his presence felt on all of them, but Coburn and his defence laid the foundations for another clean sheet.

Indeed, it was McGregor who went to ground to claim the first spot-kick of the match on 17 minutes. Under pressure - but not fouled - from Sertori and heading away from goal, McGregor could count himself lucky that the spot kick-was given by the obviously inexperienced whistler Steve Bratt, from Walsall.

His luck run out a minute later however, as Coburn guesed correctly at the well-hit shot, and kept it out.

Offside decisions that appeared to have little basis in fact angered the home crowd, while Coburn, who seemed to have grown a foot taller since the penalty save, stopped Terry Angus, Lee Charles and Alex Sykes in a stunning 15 minute period.

Cup ties have a habit of turning on one incident, and this one was no exception.

As the first half was coming to an end, Altrincham put together their most promising attacking move of the match so far, which saw Kevin Hulme - knee-strain, flu and kitchen sink in tow - battle his way through the defence.

Andy Thackeray ended Hulme's attack with a felling which, like before, seemed to be innocuous enough. However, no-one in the ground was really surprised when the referee decided to even up the 'dubious penalty' stakes, were they?

Michael Love showed little of his surname towards Bratt, earning himself a red-card with strenuous objections to the penalty award.

Thornley netted his seventh penalty of the season, and his fourteenth goal in fifteen starts. His customary cartwheeling celebrations were curtailed as Borough keeper Chris Mackenzie and later McGregor gave vigorous chase to register their disappointment with England's number one masseur.

Craney laid the foundations for Hulme's goal on 63 minutes, feeding the experienced midfielder and watching him beat one defender before netting with a sweet low shot.

The visitors were now reeling as they went from dominating the first half with several clear-cut chances to being two goals and a man down in the space of twenty minutes.

Another body blow was to come three minutes later as Thornely, undoubtedly the most natural striker seen at Moss Lane since Keith Russell, did what he does best.

The ex-Congleton man beat two defenders, coolly controlled the ball and rounded MacKenzie before filling the empty net with the ball. No-one could deny him his flip this time.

More confident saves from Coburn sewed up the man of the match award, and even the Chequers end post got a piece of the action denying a rasping twenty yarder from Nuneaton substitute Barry Williams.

After the match, Coburn admitted that he had a 'slightly good game'.

Speaking to SAM sport, he said, "That is, without a doubt, the best game I have ever played. Some times you get the feeling that you are not going to get beat, and the penalty save kicked it all off for me.

"You hear about the magic of the FA cup, but to be involved in it is simply unbelieveable. There is a great buzz around the place now and this could be Alty's year."

His manager Bernard Taylor said, "I'm not one to single players out for praise, but I do have to say 'Thanks Stuart.' We are in the first round proper of the FA cup for the first time in five years thanks to him."

Robins: Coburn, Scott, Adams, Maddox, Sertori, Hawes (captain), Hulme, Craney, Gallagher (sub Locke 69) Murphy (Poland 78).