Altrincham made their mark on and off the pitch on the final weekend before the start of another season after recording an outstanding win against Manchester United Under-21s and welcoming Broadheath-based Atlantic Timber as new sponsors of the main stand at The J.Davidson Stadium.

At an open day at the ground on Saturday, Atlantic Timber managing director Martin Buckle, whose grandad played for Manchester United and Everton, was on hand for the unveiling of a smart new sign along with Alty director of partnerships and sponsors ,Sam Mackenzie, who hailed the partnership as ‘a perfect fit’ for both parties.

Twenty four hours later, the Robins rounded off their pre-season programme with a highly-impressive 2-0 victory over a talent-packed United side in front of a bumper crowd of 1,740.

Manager Phil Parkinson described it as the ideal final workout before the launch of another National League campaign against Dagenham and Redbridge at The J.Davidson Stadium on Saturday.

He said: “When your next game is the first one of a new season, you want a really good performance, with the lads putting into practice what you’ve worked on in training, and that is exactly what we got.

“It was great to see the new lads stepping up and showing an understanding of what we are trying to do and exactly why we signed them.

“Chris Conn-Clarke is getting his fitness levels to where they should be, Lewis Banks, in particular, was outstanding and Justin Amaluzor demonstrated what he has to offer in terms of athleticism, pace and a goal threat.

“It has been the toughest pre-season we’ve had against high-calibre opposition, but we’ve had positive performances, with players getting minutes in their legs, and it feels like there are positive signs, going into the opening game.

“It’s a feather in their caps to have played so well against a United team with some top prospects, but it will mean nothing if we don’t hit the ground running on Saturday. We’ve got to be on the money from the first whistle.”