ALTY extended their unbeaten run to eight games in all competitions on Tuesday night – but only just scraped into the third round of the Setanta Shield.

The Robins needed penalties to see off Blue Square North opponents Farsley Celtic at Moss Lane when the tie ended 1-1 after extra time.

True, Farsley only forced spot kicks after a 120th minute equalizer from Tom Penford but it’s also true that the visitors had the better of the chances throughout a pretty uninspired game.

This was not the same Alty that secured their fifth win in six Blue Square Premier games with an impressive performance against Oxford on Sunday.

They barely got out of first gear all evening and the match felt more like a friendly than a cup tie, just 256 fans turning up to watch.

Still, the Robins secured a £3,000 prize thanks to their eventual triumph and are safely through to the next round.

Both teams started slowly and the first half contained few real chances.

Chris Senior headed a Lee Elam cross straight at Farsley keeper Curtis Aspden, while Anthony Danylyk curled a left-foot shot over the bar.

But the best opening fell to Farsley. Jake Speight found space in the box after the high ball had eluded Greg Young but Andy Ralph made an excellent reaction stop.

The second half did little to lift the mood.

Speight again enjoyed the best opening, handed to him on a plate by Young and Mark McGregor.

The former miscontrolled a clearance from Ralph and the latter made a mess of his attempt to clean up, allowing Speight to steal the ball inside the area, only to shoot abysmally wide.

Half time substitute Dale Johnson fired a left-footed shot wide for Alty, while Andy Campbell had an effort saved by Ralph.

Extra time was inevitable and not long after it had got underway, Danylyk rattled the bar with a 25-yard shot.

But the deadlock was finally broken in the 112th minute, when Alty were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box and Warren Peyton stepped up to drill it into the bottom corner.

The Robins couldn’t protect their lead though and on the stroke of full time, Rory Prendergast’s beautiful cross from the left was headed home by Penford.

Then it was down to Ralph to provide the heroics.

He saved spot kicks from both James Knowles and Dominic Krief to hand Alty a 4-2 triumph, the hosts scoring through Peyton, Johnson - a controversially retaken effort - Doughty and Danylyk.