AFC Telford United 0 Alfreton Town 1 - Report and pictures

This wasn’t exactly a Halloween horror show from the home side, but manager Gavin Cowan admitted afterwards that in the opening 45 minutes his side “couldn’t get going”. Alfreton manager Billy Heath has forged a reputation for building teams who are hard to beat, and Cowan had been clear that he expected his team to have to match the visitors physically as a minimum, and so it proved.

The Derbyshire side had marginally the better of the opening 45 minutes; Dan Bradley skidded a shot from 25 yards wide of Russ Griffiths goal in the 14 th minute, some neat play from Bobby Johnson playing him into space to advance on goal.

The Bucks responded; Henry Cowans did terrifically well to spin through a couple of shuddering challenges and when Lee Vaughan joined in the ball ran clear for James Hardy, but with the defence backing off Hardy chose to shoot and cleared the crossbar from 25 yards.

Alfreton’s next goal-bound effort was the closest they came to scoring, and it arrived when the ball sat up nicely for Johnson’s opportunistic shot from 25 yards, the ball coming back off the base of Griffiths’ left post.

Johnson was combining well with Bradley, Clarke and Elliot Reeves, and should have done better when, from a corner, the ball dropped to the creative midfielder, but his finish lacked composure and went wide.

The Bucks’ Vaughan saw a low free-kick saved by George Willis and then as half-time approached, Alfreton defender James Jones would have breathed a sigh of relief as Jack Byrne’s low cross struck him and was almost diverted past Willis, the ball rebounding off the post.

Goalless at the interval, Cowan’s words to the Bucks in the dressing room looked to have set his side back onto the right path. They opened the second half more brightly, with Aaron Williams’ shot from 20 yards bringing a smart save from Willis. The Reds continued to stand firm as wing-back Cowans and team-mate Byrne shared three rapid-fire shots that Alfreton managed to block.

The Reds though they had a penalty in the 55 th minute, when Griffiths brought down former Buck Dom Smith; however, the assistant’s flag for an offside before the foul denied them a chance to open the scoring.

The Bucks were soon back at it and when the ball ran for Hardy in the box his shot was deflected wide for a corner kick. Searching for more width, Cowan withdrew left wing-back Vaughan for the naturally left-footed Brendon Daniels, a former Alfreton player; however, before he’d had any impact Alfreton took the lead. The Reds made progress down the Bucks right-hand side and when the ball was played inside to Reeves he managed to turn and shoot. His effort didn’t look to be on target but it travelled into the path of Clarke and he stabbed it home from a matter of a few yards out.

The Bucks immediately introduced substitute Jordan Davies for Williams, soon supplemented by the addition of Dom McHale also. Each tested Willis in quick succession, but the keeper was equal to their efforts. With time not on their side, the Bucks tried what they could to rescue a point, and they came closest when, from a corner the Reds didn’t deal with, Hardy avoided a challenge but directed his side-footed shot wide of Willis’s left post from close range.

Four minutes of added time were spent mostly in the Bucks half as Alfreton managed the game out to leave the Bucks downcast in defeat.

Teams

AFC Telford United: Griffiths, Vaughan (Daniels 68), Streete, White, Sutton, Walker (McHale 75), Cowans, Hardy, Williams (Davies 71), Oswell, Byrne.

Unused substitutes: Lilly, Barnes-Homer.

Cautions: Streete, Oswell.

Alfreton Town: Willis, Atkinson, Fox, Branson, Jones, Lees, Smith, Bradley, Clarke, Reeves (Walker 90), Johnson (Williams 84).

Unused substitutes: Lund, Unwin-Marris, Day.

Cautions: None.

Referee: Ed Duckworth.

Assistants: Luis Griffiths, Harry Warner.