2007/2008 Season. Game no. 36. Blue Square Conference North
Saturday, February 2nd, 2008
Burscough 1, ALFRETON TOWN 1

Report by Frank Bridges.

STRIKER Paul Clayton emerged from the bench to rescue a point with a 76^th-minute equaliser for Alfreton at Burscough on Saturday.
It was a game which the Reds could and maybe should have won, but they fell into a ninth-minute deficit and it took them 68 minutes to pull level, after which both sides appeared content to settle for a point.
Mark Barnard was handed a starting shirt at left back enabling Anton Brown to push forward into midfield. Meanwhile Danny Reet started up front alongside Brian Cusworth, with Paul Clayton and Peter Knox on the bench.
The Reds were the first to show in the fourth minute when Brown’s through ball picked out Barnard on the left. Barnard rode Adam Flynn’s challenge well but keeper Tony McMillan claimed the cross with Cusworth closing in menacingly.
Alfreton continued to show the brighter start, and after McMillan had won a race with Reet to clear, the keeper then hacked away when Reet’s pull-back from the by-line skimmed Cusworth’s head.
The Reds won a seventh-minute corner from which Cusworth’s header was cleared off the line by Matty McGinn, and Burscough swept forward to score from their first attack.
Ciaran Kilheeny found space on the right to send over a pinpoint centre which Allan Smart volleyed home from 15 yards.
It was an unexpected setback for the visitors who set about trying to undo the damage, with McMillan blocking a shot from Cusworth after a strong run into the area, and Flynn clearing off the line from Josh Law from a chance engineered by Cusworth and Reet.
There was an anxious moment for the Reds midway through the half when Smart’s awkward 20-yard effort deflected off Barnard, but Kyle Sutcliffe was able to hold the ball as Craig Noone ran in for the kill.
Barnard’s 25^th-minute corner led to a frantic melee in the home goalmouth in which McGinn cleared off the line from Kyle McFadzean.
A brief spell of Burscough pressure on the half hour saw Brian Moogan just wide from a direct free kick and, a minute later, Sutcliffe dealing competently with a difficult cross from Ciaran Kilheeney under pressure from Smart.
As the first half entered stoppage time Law’s 40-yard dipper from deep on the right almost caught McMillan napping, but he was able to stretch and hold it under the bar.
But in overtime Sutcliffe also had to extend himself to catch McFadzean’s miskick.
Another miskick five minutes into the restart, this time by Tony Butler, gave Smart a sniff at goal, but he fired over the bar from 22 yards.
The home side were more than a little miffed two minutes later when Smart, on a dangerous break, tangled with McFadzean on the edge of the area, and both went down in a heap.
Reds’ hearts were in mouths, but the referee awarded the free kick to Alfreton, and booked Smart, to the anger of the home bench and fans.
Sutcliffe needed two attempts to hold Alan Moogan’s shot as Dave Roberts closed in, and at the other end McMillan held on to Laurie Wilson’s 20-yard low snap shot.
Smart should have doubled Burscough’s lead in the 63^rd minute. McGinn’s cross from the right was miskicked by Brian Moogan but fell kindly for the well-placed striker who could only fire straight at Sutcliffe.
Law’s free kick led to pin-ball in the home area with Clayton’s shot blocked and Brown hitting the rebound into the side netting.
Alfreton had loud penalty appeals rejected when McFadzean was flattened in the area from Law’s corner in the 70^th minute.
A minute later the arrival of Knox gave Alfreton a three-pronged attack, and it paid off within five minutes.
A good build up led to Brown stabbing the ball away from a defender on the edge of the area and squaring to Cusworth. He played a delightful pass inside Sean Clancy for Clayton to run on to and slot home from 12 yards.
Thereafter opportunities at both ends were few and far between as the two sides seemed content to settle for a share of the spoils.

BURSCOUGH: McMillan, Tomlinson (Fitzhenry ht), Clancy, Flynn, Roberts, B. Moogan, McGinn, A. Moogan, Smart (Dunn 69), Kilheeney, Noone (Parry ht).
ALFRETON: Sutcliffe, McFadzean, Barnard, L. Wilson, Butler, M. Wilson (Bowler 89), Law (Knox 71), Warne, Cusworth, Brown, Reet (Clayton 54).
REFEREE: R. Bartlett of Manchester.
ATTENDANCE: 293.GOALS: Burscough – Smart 8. Alfreton – Clayton 76.
CAUTIONS: Burscough – Smart 52 (foul on McFadzean); Fitzhenry 65 (foul on Law); McGinn 90 (foul on Clayton); A. Moogan 90+3 (foul on Warne).

REDS MAN OF THE MATCH: Kyle McFadzean