Altrincham turned on the flair for Footy for a Fiver night at a mist-shrouded J.Davidson Stadium, with Alex Newby scoring three goals in the first half alone.
Alty’s attacking midfielder, who is usually the playmaker but was the predator on this occasion, startled Maidenhead with three of the cleanest and most powerfully struck finishes you will see all season.
With Regan Linney’s 16th goal of the season from the penalty spot, the Robins gained momentum on the play-off standings and are currently only one point behind seventh place.
In fact, Alty weren’t quite at their free-flowing best throughout the 90 minutes, but there was a clinical edge to their first-half effort in and around the penalty box that bodes well for the future.
Alty pierced the developing gloom with a goal worth celebrating just eight minutes in.
Most people found it difficult to see from one half of the pitch to the other due to the mist in the air, but Elliot Osborne didn’t.
The Alty midfielder glanced up from the left flank and pinged a precise pass across the pitch to Tylor Golden, who controlled it with one touch before transferring it deep into the box with another.
Newby charged in to meet it beyond the far post, making a first-time contact that sent the ball flying past goalie Craig Ross and into the far corner of the Golf Road End net.
Four minutes later, Reece Smith set up Tyrese Dyce for an angled drive that went just wide of the right post.
Smith came near with a similar effort in the 24th minute, but Alty quickly relieved any concerns with a second goal in the 26th minute.
Tom Crawford pulled the ball back from near the bye-line on the right, and Newby again shown his love for the precisely executed first-time finish with a swing of the right boot that carried the ball past Ross nearly before the keeper could move.
The Robins were 3-0 up in the 33rd minute.
Kacper Pasiek started the move by smartly retrieving control after briefly losing it and clipping a ball to Newby, who quickly sent Linney free down the left.
Linney was brought down after cutting inside a defender and poking the ball past the lunging Ross, as the keeper’s hands only managed to wrap around the Alty striker’s ankles.
Referee Andrew Miller awarded a penalty without hesitation, and Linney sprang to his feet to force the ball past the diving goalie.
A flick by Shaun McCoulsky that shaved the outside of an upright in the 38th minute served as a reminder that, while Alty’s lead was dominating, there was no time to rest on it.
It was properly heard when, in the 45th minute, Linney latched on to a pass down the left touchline and cut in with his usual pace and purpose before passing the ball into the path of Newby, who completed a notable first-half hat-trick with another confident finish.
Crawford’s sweeping shot sailed just past of the right post in first-half extra time, making it nearly 5-0 at the break.
What an opening 45 minutes for the Robins, and it appeared to be more of the same at the start of the second half when a fifth goal almost materialised in the 51st minute.
Osborne swung in a corner from the left, and half-time substitute Joe Nuttall met it with a header that beat the keeper but was cleared by a covering defender.
Even then, the danger was not gone for Maidenhead, as Linney pounced on the rebound but fired wide.
To their credit, the visitors persisted rather than accepting defeat, but Ethan Ross was not about to give up his clean sheet, as the Alty keeper reacted quickly to deny Smith in a one-on-one with the Maidenhead striker.
With the swirling mist making conditions tricky, there were few more clear-cut chances, but it was a matter of job done and value supplied on Footy for as Fiver night, resulting in a solid win that will serve the Robins well ahead of the hectic schedule.
