STRUGGLING Altrincham slipped to a 12th home defeat of the National League North season with a 1-0 reverse against FC Halifax Town.

There was relatively little between the two sides despite Halifax being in contention for a play-off place and the Robins being mired at the foot of the division.

After a fairly uneventful opening, Nicky Clee played in striker Andy Owens who was upended for a penalty eight minutes in.

Altrincham captain Jake Moult took the spot-kick but hit it straight at keeper Sam Johnson who beat the effort away.

The home side suffered a further blow when Owens was injured and had to be replaced after only 20 minutes.

The remainder of the first half was largely forgettable with the ball spending too much time in the air and players on both sides failing to put together any meaningful attacking moves.

The second half started little better in terms of quality but did marginally improve as the game wore on.

The winning goal came out of nothing, nine minutes from time, and was a deflected effort by Halifax's Liam King – a former Alty loanee.

Altrincham were unable to create a clear chance to equalise as the unimpressive visitors climbed to an unlikely sixth place in the division.

Altrincham travel to Darlington 1883 on Saturday with their next home match on February 18 against Harrogate Town.

ALTRINCHAM: Deasy, Heathcote, Cyrus, Moult, McWilliams, Newby, G Jones, Brownhill, Clee, Lawrie, Owens. Subs: Richman, Patterson, Reeves, Taylor, A Jones.