ALTRINCHAM made four changes from their last outing for this visit to Cambridgeshire.

Goalkeeper Stuart Coburn returned after missing six matches through injury, midfielder Chris Lynch was absent due to a family illness, Nicky Clee was sidelined by a rib injury and striker Jack Redshaw had left to join Morecambe.

So, as so often this season, it was an unfamiliar Altrincham line-up which was trying to overcome the club's bad run at Histon, where they had not scored a goal in four previous visits.

But, after a quiet opening, Altrincham broke their duck with a goal from James Lawrie, whose cross from out on the left wing evaded both the incoming Damian Reeves and the Histon keeper, Stadelmann before nestling in the back of the net at the back post, with just 14 minutes elapsed. The lead was short as Histon scored a well-worked equaliser through Taaffe just nine minutes later.

However, Damian Reeves fired Altrincham into a 2-1 lead after 27 minutes when he turned well and held off a challenge to score his 35th goal of the league season.

And, when James Lawrie's well-struck volley from Reeves's feed made it 3-1, eleven minutes before the interval, the outcome of this game seemed to be clear. Indeed, Altrincham totally dominated the period up to the interval, but, after the break, it was to be a different story.

Histon went at Altrincham and got the score back to 2-3, just three minutes after the break, when Taaffe headed home at the back post from a right-wing cross. It took two huge slices of good fortune to maintain Alty's lead.

Firstly, Sparkes's superbly struck free kick from the right came back off the inside of the post into Coburn's arms. And then substitute Dowie saw his low shot strike the inside of the other Altrincham upright before being cleared.

Reeves saw a fine save from Stadelmann deny him at the other end as Altrincham clung on to the three points from a game in which they had seemed to be coasting at half-time.