AT the sixth attempt Altrincham's FA Trophy second-round replay finally took place on a cold but dry afternoon at Leamington and the visitors needed extra time to triumph 2-1.

It was only Altrincham's second game in three weeks and the enforced lay-off seemed to have left them ring-rusty.

Nevertheless, Alty got just the start they wanted when, in the fourth minute, centre-back Jamie Hood brought down Michael Rankine to concede a penalty.

The big striker got up to drive a fierce spot-kick into the net, past the Leamington keeper, and captain, Tony Breeden.

Breeden's habit of advancing well off his line had been noted by the visitors and James Lawrie's audacious lob from his own half almost caught him out, soon afterwards.

But Altrincham failed to build on their early advantage. Too often a yawning gulf was left between the midfield and the isolated Rankine, which meant the visitors barely troubled Breeden after snatching their early lead.

Indeed, it was Alty who were the happier to get to the interval, having been indebted to goalkeeper Tim Deasy for several key saves and to the bar for keeping out Ben Mackey's header.

And it was Deasy who continued to be much the busier keeper in the second half.

Second-half changes saw teenager Sam Heathcote brought on to replace Ryan Crowther and this prompted a change of formation, which allowed Jordan Sinnott to move into midfield from his right-back berth.

For the hosts, Mackey was again denied by a superb stop from Deasy and then Luca Havern had to make a vital clearance off the line to keep Altrincham ahead.

The visitors seemed to have reached the finishing line but then conceded a 90th-minute corner from which Mackey levelled the scores with a close-range header.

But for another smart stop by Deasy in added time, it would have all been over for Altrincham before extra-time began.

Out of the blue, 10 minutes into extra time, a superb ball up the middle from Heathcote located Rankine in space and he hit a fierce 25-yard shot past Breeden to restore Altrincham's lead.

Despite further home pressure, Altrincham hung on for a victory which even their manager Lee Sinnott described as "fortunate".

He said: "As badly as we have played, we managed to drag ourselves over the line."

This victory earned Altrincham a 500-mile trip to Sussex club Bognor Regis Town in round two on Tuesday with two new loan signings – Josh Ginnelly from Burnley and Dylan Motley-Henry from Bradford City – both figuring in what turned out to be a narrow defeat.