2005/06 season match No.19
FA Trophy, Third Qualifying Round
Saturday, November 26th, 2005
Fleetwood Town 1 , Alfreton Town 3
Match report by Gordon Foster (Mansfield CHAD). Pics by Phil Lucic.

Alfreton booked their place in the first round proper of the FA Trophy after a hard-earned but deserved win in an absolute rip-roarer of a match at Fleetwood on Saturday.
The Reds avoided slipping on what could have been a real banana skin in an incident-packed encounter, but the Fishermen, who ply their trade two divisions below in UniBond Division One, ensured that the Conference North visitors did not have it all their own way.
Indeed the outcome may well have been different had the referee not missed Town keeper Shaun Bodkin handling the ball outside his area in the 10th minute – a red card would have almost certainly been the outcome had it been seen by the official.
By then the score was already 1-1, Chris White’s 70-second opening strike cancelled out by Nathan Pond after eight minutes.
Ryan Clarke hit the Fleetwood bar before restoring the lead in the 34th minute, and Fleetwood were down to 10 men just before the break as Pond received his marching orders after two crunching and bookable tackles inside a minute.
Nevertheless, home skipper Steve Macauley hit Bodkin’s bar on the hour, before Jon Stevenson made the game safe with a third goal three minutes later.
Stevenson was then red-carded for a second bookable offence 17 minutes from time.
Alfreton were without keeper Greg Smith, skipper and centre-back David Robinson, midfield dynamo Matt Fisher and striker Mick Godber.
Bodkin and Liam Powell both made rare starts, Powell at right back with Ryan Clarke switching to central defence alongside Mark Turner. And with wingers White and Chris Bettney also included, Jason Blunt shared the central midfield role with Emeka Nwadike, new loan signing Callum Lloyd occupying the substitutes’ bench.
After a minute’s applause for the late George Best, Alfreton, in their change white strip, made a dream start. Clarke cut out a Kevin Barnes header and launched an attack along the left through White, whose tight-angled cross-cum-shot from the touchline eluded keeper Andy Banks and went in off the far post.
It was just the start Alfreton needed to calm the nerves, and only seconds later Stevenson’s clever chip over the advancing Banks also cleared the bar.
But Fleetwood were level after eight minutes. Lee Featherstone’s spectacular diving header cleared the danger from Matty Gilston’s cross at the expense of a corner, but when that was not cleared, the ball reached Michael Saunders wide on the left.
He immediately returned it into the six-yard box, where Pond arrived at the far post to sweep it in.
That was the sign for Fleetwood to mount waves of attacks which had Alfreton on the back foot.
And When Bodkin dashed out of his area to win a race for possession with Gilston he fell on the ball, quite clearly handled, and must have been a very relieved man with the referee and his assistant probably the only people in the ground not to see it.
Fleetwood, of course, were furious, but responded by putting even more pressure on the Alfreton rearguard.
Lenny Reid landed one shot onto the roof of the net and fired another straight at Bodkin.
And when the temporarily jittery keeper misplaced a clearance straight to Kevin Barnes, he was again relieved to see the Fleetwood man play it forward to Ian Stevens who had strayed offside.
That ended Fleetwood’s best spell of the afternoon, and on 17 minutes an Alfreton corner was cleared only to Clarke whose 20-yard effort beat Banks but hit the bar.
But Clarke had better luck in the 34th minute when Bettney, who was a thorn in the Fleetwood side all afternoon, won and took a corner which the defender ran in to meet and bury with a bullet header.
Bodkin, by now over his nervy spell, did very well a minute later to stretch up an arm and beat away Steven’s attempted chip over him, before the game entered an over-aggressive spell for the final 10 minutes of the half.
Nwadike was first into the book for a foul on Reid, but Pond followed him on 42 for a two-footed challenge on Blunt and was on his way to the dressing room a minute later after another bad foul on Bettney.
There was still time before the break for Fleetwood’s Phil Robinson to escape with only a lenient yellow after aiming a kick at White, and Stevenson to also be booked for retaliatory action.
Manager Gary Mills gave Lloyd a run out for the second half in place of Blunt, and the Mansfield Town youngster did enough to suggest that he will be a useful acquisition with some visionary passing of the ball.
Alfreton continued to have rather the better of the end to end action and should have stretched their lead in the 54th minute. The impressive Peter Duffield helped Bettney’s cross on for White who somehow contrived to head over a gaping goal from almost under the bar.
That miss might have been punished on the hour when Macauley let fly from 30 yards with a howitzer that beat Bodkin but rattled the bar.
But three minutes later Bettney played a sublime diagonal crossfield pass to White who curled his shot goalwards, and Stevenson met it inside the six-yard area and smashed it past the helpless Banks.
That should have been game over, but the little striker blotted his copybook in the 73rd minute, clattering into Robinson and, having already been booked, his dismissal restored numerical parity.
However, Alfreton kept their discipline and shape thereafter to ensure that the hosts were not given a sniff of a lifeline.
FLEETWOOD TOWN: Banks, Robinson, Pryers, Moran, Macauley, Pond, Reid, Gilston, Stevens (Catlow 68), Saunders, Barnes. Subs not used: Nay, Cook, Hales.
ALFRETON TOWN: Bodkin, Powell, Featherstone, Clarke, Turner, Nwadike, Bettney, Blunt (Lloyd ht), Duffield, Stevenson, White (Tasker 88). Subs not used: Ross, Mills, Harcourt.
REFEREE: Eddie Evans of Manchester.
ATTENDANCE: 552.
SCORERS: Fleetwood – Pond 8. Alfreton – White 2; Clarke 34; Stevenson 63.
CAUTIONS: Fleetwood – Pond 41 (two-footed challenge on Blunt); Robinson 44 (aiming kick at White). Alfreton – Nwadike 36 (foul on Reid); Stevenson 44 (retaliation); Lloyd 56 (kicking ball away).
DISMISSALS: Fleetwood – Pond 42 (second cautionable, foul on Bettney). Alfreton – Stevenson 73 (second cautionable – foul on Robinson).
MAN OF THE MATCH: Chris Bettney.

Reds players applaud the memory of the late, great, George Best