The Fleet came away empty-handed at the J.Davison Stadium as Altrincham got off to a blistering start as they had last season, scoring twice in the 9th and 10th minutes to leave the visitors with a mountain to climb.

The good news pre-match was that Rakish Bingham returned to starting line up following two months on the sidelines while Kwame Thomas was back on the bench. There was also a debut for Will Randall whose signing was announced an hour before kick-off.

And Randall was first into action in the opening five minutes with a run down the left wing that was promising but a crucial tackle halted that attack. 

And the hosts found the lead with just nine minutes on the clock when they broke on the counter, Regan Linney confident in carrying the ball forward before cutting inside and curling a shot around a Fleet defender and away from Mark Cousins.

That lead was doubled before the Fleet could regroup a minute later, Alex Newby this time on target. He dispatched a shot with his left foot from distance to see the ball rifle into the back of the net. 

Altrincham continued on the front foot and there were chances for Justin Amaluzor but his first touch was poor and he fired just over from a good position after Linney’s cross. Next up was Newby again and he rattled the woodwork with another shot before Elliot Osborne’s powerful drive was blocked.

The Fleet did settle after that but struggled to execute a threatening chance on goal. Ben Chapman tried to slot a ball into the path of Dominic Poleon but he was unable to bring that down while Giles Phillips found himself in the box in a good position but he opted to play in Poleon instead and Altrincham cleared the pass. 

Lewis Page overhit a free-kick to the far post as Fleet won the set-piece in a good position but for all the possession the visitors enjoyed at times, the home defence held their line.

The second half was under way for less than a minute when Altrincham extended their lead through Eddy Jones. Again it was a good shot from distance as the ball came back out of the Fleet box to Jones who made a good connection and it flew in for 3-0.

Altrincham were in control with the three-goal lead and Fleet had to introduce fresh legs to try to shake things up. Toby Edser and Jim Kellermann had a couple of efforts on goal, Poleon’s shot was blocked while Cousins had to dive low to keep out Osborne at the other end.

A fourth arrived for Altrincham late on when substitute Kahrel Reddin drove in from the right and rode a tackle to squeeze a shot inside the post.

EUFC: Cousins, Phillips (O’Neill, 65), Page (Domi 56), Cordner, Dallison, Wright (Thomas 65), Randall (Kellermann 58), Edser, Chapman, Bingham (Fonguck 58), Poleon. Subs: Olagunju, Berry
AFC: Ross, Banks, E Jones (Golden, 73), Cooper, Osborne, Linney (Thompson, 84), Newby (Kosylo 66), Amaluzor (Reddin 69), J Jones, Crawford, Bickerstaff (Humbles 63). Subs: Haygarth, Randle
Attendance: 2,074 (74 away)