2005/06 season match No.31
Derbyshire Senior Cup, semi-final
Tuesday, January 24th, 2006
Ilkeston Town 4, Alfreton Town 3
Match report by Clive Edwards. Pics by Phil Lucic.

At half-time on this bitterly cold evening Alfreton fans were left wondering whether the right choice had been made. An evening in the warmth, in front of the television watching Celebrity Big Brother to witness people being paid to do virtually nothing for long periods, or an evening in similar circumstances without the benefit of central heating.
At least in Celebrity Big Brother, the ponderous, awkward, inactivity of the men is punctuated by the occasional appearance of a ravishing, scantily clad female. All we got was Doug Kyle, Alfreton's physio, dressed true to form in mini-tee-shirt, daring the temperature to drop a few degrees more as he carried his bucket threateningly along the sideline.
Alfreton were a goal down after 79 seconds. To add insult to injury, the scorer was Mick Goddard. And worse... he played really well – a constant threat. A neat through ball and the fair-haired striker streaked past the Reds defence before coolly side-footing the ball past the advancing Smith. It was Thierry Henry without the gloves.
Throughout the first half it was like old times watching him gather an awkward pass in his midriff, back to goal, then turn in an instant and shoot.
He could have scored a couple more. Sadly, for Ilkeston, he was injured just before half time and took no further part. But he'd made his point, and the travelling Alfreton fans reminisced, and sighed knowingly.
It wasn't difficult to predict the comments being constructed by the razor-sharp critics on the fans' website forum.”We should never have let him go...” etc.
Alfreton's first-half performance was inept. Michael Rankine roused the Ilkeston keeper from his slumbers with a tame shot on 45 minutes, but apart from that, not much.
As entertainment, it made Celebrity Big Brother look like a Bond movie. Ryan Clarke had a couple of runs that came to nothing, but the best chances all fell to Ilkeston.
On 26 minutes, Craig Gaunt saw his flying header from a corner kick flash just wide of a post, and Holmes 25 yard free kick was deflected away for a corner by Mark Hume.
To their credit, the Unibond side showed their neighbours from the higher league how to construct attacks.
The battle of midfield was being won quite comfortably by Ilkeston, for whom Clifford, Lyons and Holmes were all effective.
Gary Mills must have learned his angry half-time speech off by heart by now. He's had plenty of practice. One feels sympathy for the Reds' boss.
Being manager of Alfreton Town must be a lot like being in charge of the Liberal Democrat Party. You don't have many big names to choose from, you need more supporters, and just when you think you've solved one problem , whoosh, in comes another from a completely unexpected area.
Alfreton have recently managed to net a few goals; their defence has been pretty tough all season. But the second-half problem was that each time Alfreton got back into the game, they gifted an opportunity to the home side, who were not shy of showing their opportunist skills. Alfreton's usually steady defence was beginning to look about as reliable as Britney Spears' wedding vows.
In attack, at least, Alfreton started to play better. Turner, Hume and Robinson held the back line, leaving Featherstone and Clarke to venture further forward. This is a tactic that has worked for the Reds before, and it seemed to be paying dividends again, until, against the run of play, Fisher brought down Adam Muller in the box for a clear penalty. From the spot-kick, Muller calmly side-footed the ball into the net.
Nevertheless, Alfreton have proved time and time again this season that they will fight when they are down. Straight from the restart, Fisher, in penance for his earlier sin, surged forward and was fouled 30 yards from goal. Bettney fired the free kick goalwards, and Mark Hume intercepted to deflect the ball deftly into the net to put Alfreton back in with a chance.
In a spirited period of play, Godber equalised on 61 minutes, barely a minute after he had forced Ben Scott in the home goal to pull off a terrific save. This time, Godber gave the keeper no chance as he swooped to hook in a header from Hume after it had rebounded from the crossbar.
At 2-2 it really looked as though Alfreton were going to ease ahead, either before or after extra-time. Ilkeston started to look like a tired and beaten team.
Then, in another breakaway move involving Clifford and Carruthers, Adam Muller scored his second of the game, driving a low shot past Smith from 15 yards.
Once again, Alfreton stood up for the fight. With less than ten minutes to go, Dave Robinson sent Mick Godber down the right wing with a searching pass. Godber crossed hard and low, and his veteran partner Peter Duffield met the ball inside the six-yard box to level the scores again.
The crowd shivered in anticipation of extra-time, a prospect denied to all by Ilkeston's full back Ryan Ludlam who finished off a fine move for the Robins by firing past Smith from an angle, 15 yards from goal. Another breakaway. And their best.
Alfreton may consider that this defeat relieves them of some possible fixture congestion at a key stage in the season. But they may also consider that, as the temperatures dropped to minus three degrees by the final whistle, they had been outplayed for much of this match by a team who are struggling at the wrong end of a division below them.
Ilkeston Town: Scott, Knowles (c), Ludlam, Gaunt, Hoyle, Brewer, Clifford (Hodgkinson 83), Lyons, Goddard (Carruthers 44),Muller, Holmes. Sub not used : Burns
Alfreton Town: Smith, Clarke, Featherstone, Robinson ( c), Hume, Blunt (Powell 78), Bettney, Fisher, Godber, Turner, Rankine (Duffield 56). Sub not used: Stevenson.
Referee: Mr Glenn Turner.
Attendance: 375.
Scorers: Ilkeston Town - Goddard (79 secs); Muller (pen 54 mins); Muller (72 mins); Ludlam (85 mins)
Alfreton - Hume (55 mins); Godber (61 mins); Duffield (81 mins).
Yellow card: Ilkeston: Hoyle (dissent).
Alfreton Man of the match: Lee Featherstone.