RYAN Crowther continued to make up for lost time as Altrincham finally opened their account on the road with a 1-1 draw at Lincoln and 1-0 win at Boreham Wood.

After kicking his heels on the bench for much of the opening month of the season, the Alty winger pressed his claims for a starting berth with a string of impressive substitute appearances.

It was enough to earn him the nod from manager Lee Sinnott, and the show of faith proved fully justified, as Crowther fired home an equaliser at Lincoln and won a penalty that Michael Rankine despatched for the only goal at Boreham Wood.

"Ryan is a great example to anyone who is not in the team at the moment," enthused Sinnott.

"He has taken his opportunity and forced my hand, and that is exactly what you want from your players in those circumstances.

"He featured again at Boreham Wood with a good positive run into the box that tempted the challenge.

"If you look at the games he has contributed to, he has had a major hand in so many of our better moments. I am very pleased with him."

Midfielder Simon Richman also earned a glowing tribute from Sinnott after another show of perpetual motion in a hard- earned first away win.

"It was a case of getting over the line at Boreham Wood, but full credit to the players for putting in a shift and making sure we got the points," said the Alty boss, whose side are home to Barrow on Saturday. "We were a bit better on the ball in the second half, and I have to say the industry and energy Simon showed in the middle of the park caught my eye.

"You always get that from him, but it’s not to be under-estimated. He gets through a player-and-a-half’s workload, and that is important to us.

"It’s been a week where we have travelled away twice and come away with four points out of six, which is a very good return in anyone’s book."