“To play 300 games for one club is a real achievement.”
Those were the words of Altrincham manager Jim Harvey, following striker Damian Reeves’ 300th Robins appearance in the 3-0 FA Cup win over Morpeth Town on Saturday.
Reeves, 30, made his record breaking appearance in what is his sixth season at Moss Lane and it was only fitting that the prolific striker marked the occasion with a goal.
The strike was Reeves’ fifth of the season and it came in the 40th minute as Reeves lost his marker to head home a looping effort after latching onto a superb cross from Greg Wilkinson.
Reeves said of the goal, which was his 164th for the club: “It was great to score but I had a couple of chances before so maybe I could have had a couple more goals.”
Reeves has a remarkable record which has seen him finish as Altrincham’s top scorer in all but one of his previous seasons, scoring 40+ goals in 2011-12 and 2012-13.
Despite this, however, the former Histon and Northwich striker admitted he was unaware he was close to the milestone.
“I wasn’t actually aware of it (the 300th appearance) until last week,” he noted.
“It’s not something I kept count of or knew much about until I was told it’ll be your 300th appearance on Saturday.
“To play 300 games at this level for one particular club is quite rare.”
Reeves was a graduate of the Leeds United academy before playing for several non-league clubs such as Farsley Celtic, Histon, Northwich Victoria and Alfreton Town throughout his career.
He signed for Altrincham in the summer of 2010, and he has called Moss Lane home ever since.
“I’ve enjoyed every second of being here and it’s a good club which has never done me wrong.”
Prior to the start of the match on Saturday, Reeves was presented with a special number 300 shirt, and upon being substituted in the 75th minute all of Moss Lane spontaneously burst into rapturous applause to acknowledge the talisman’s contribution in recent years.
By Matt Bullin
@matt_bullin01
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