2005/06 season match No.5
Nationwide North
Monday, August 29th
Hyde United 2, Alfreton Town 3
Match report by Gordon Foster (Mansfield CHAD).
ALFRETON Town sealed their first win of the season at the fifth attempt at Ewen Fields on Monday night, and kept themselves off the bottom of the table as a result.
Chris White, restored to the starting line-up, scored in each half, but each time the goal weas cancelled out by the Tigers’ equaliser, before White turned creator to sete up Mark Blount for the winner three minutes into stoppage time.
Indeed all the goal action was at the end of each half.
Both sides went into the match with only one point to their names, but it was the newly promoted home side who threatened first when Greg Smith held Phil Salt’s snap shot.
Peter Duffield was just unable to make an effective contact when White’s free kick rebounded off a defender on the line, and the striker then sidestepped neatly to create space for a shot which Chris Lynch managed to block.
Alfreton were having more of the play at this stage, and when a corner was cleared Matt Fisher fired a strong shot which keeper Mark Westhead did well to hold.
Westhead did even better when Duffield ghosted in at the near post to meet White’s free kick, saving one handed despite not seeing the ball until the last moment.
As Hyde battled back, Smith stood his ground well in a one-on-one with Steve Brackenridge, and then produced another good save from Salt’s header.
Westhead almost carried another White free kick over his line in the 33rd minute - both feet were behind the line but the ball was held out.
However, he was beaten five minutes before the break when Duffield played an astute lay-off after Jason Blunt had pounced on a slip by Paul Armstrong, and White lashed the ball high into the net from wide left.
The lead, Alfreton’s first of the season, lasted only three minutes, before Salt scored direct from a free kick with Smith appearing to be impeded by Matty McNeil.
Four minutes into the re-start Smith pulled off a tremendous double save, blocking from Dale Johnson and then flinging himself low to his right to deny Craig Dudley’s follow-up.
Hyde had the greater share of attacking play during the first 15 minutes of the second half, but apart from that double save Smith was rarely extended.
Kevin Donovan showed signs of his class midway through the half with a couple of side-steps but his finish was too high, and Blunt dragged a 30-yarder wide.
But with 13 minutes to go Alfreton got their noses in front again. Duffield was again the supplier, and White’s 15-yard shot took a deflection that deceived Westhead and carried the ball into the net.
Again Hyde battled back, and Smith was forced into a full stretch save by Johnson.
The Tigers must have thought they had save a point in the 88th minute when Brackenridge drove home a 12-yard angled shot from the right that should have been cleared.
But Alfreton had the final word three minutes into overtime.
White embarked on a jinking run to the edge of the area, and his hat-trick attempt was deflected for a corner.
He took it himself, Westhead flapped and made poor contact, and Neil Ross’s stooping header fed Blount to nod home from close range.
HYDE UNITED: Westhead, Lynch, Armstrong, Jones, Milligan, O’Kane, Brackenridge, Salt, Dudley (Dean 78), Johnson, McNeil. Subs not used; Adams, Allen, Pilkington, Moore.
ALFRETON TOWN: G. Smith, Clarke, Turner, Robinson, Blount, donovan, Blunt, Fisher, Ross, duffield (Stevenson 83), White. Subs not used: Nwadike, Powell, Woolley, S. smith.
REFEREE: J. Taylor of Blackburn.
ATTENDANCE: 433.
SCORERS: Hyde United- Salt 42; Brackenridge 88. Alfreton Town - Chris White (40 and 77), Mark Blount (90+3).
MAN OF THE MATCH: Greg Smith.