ALTRINCHAM welcomed in the New Year with their biggest win of the season in an entertaining match against their Cheshire neighbours.

The Robins were without James Lawrie but had captain Shaun Densmore and midfielders Simon Richman and Peter Cavanagh back in the side after illness and injury.

Having beaten Chester away on Boxing Day, Altrincham started well in the return fixture and took an early lead when Chester keeper Worsnop kicked the ball clear of the chasing Damian Reeves and it fell to Nick Clee who scored a brilliant opportunist goal with a superb looping shot from 40 yards into the unguarded net.

Six minutes later Reeves doubled the home side's lead with a left-foot shot following an excellent run through the middle by Richman.

John Rooney, brother of England's Wayne, halved Alty's lead when he drove home a 28th-minute free-kick.

Altrincham always looked dangerous going forward and 11 minutes into the second half, Chester's Touray was shown a red card for a challenge on Clee.

Five minutes later the home side increased their lead when a cross from the right was missed by a Chester defender, leaving Reeves with a straightforward task to slot home his 14th goal of the season.

Midway through the second half, Clee grabbed his second goal of the match with a shot from the edge of the box which the keeper could not hold. Chester used all three subs but, apart from a Mahon shot over the bar and a Heneghan piledriver which went narrowly wide, they did not look like scoring.

Altrincham: Coburn, Densmore (capt), Havern, Marshall, Griffin, Cavanagh, Crowther, Moult, Richman, Clee, Reeves. Subs: Parton, Gillespie, Leather, williams and Perry.