2005/06 season match No.20
Nationwide North
Tuesday, December 6th, 2005
Alfreton Town 1, Kettering Town 1
Match report by Gordon Foster (Mansfield CHAD) and Pics by Phil Lucic.

THE MEDIA hype took a back seat at the Impact Arena on Tuesday night, as the fare on the field overshadowed all the pre-match speculation and activity over the arrival or otherwise of Paul Gascoigne.
The former England star, sacked as manager of Kettering on Monday after just 39 days in the job for alleged drink-related issues, had vowed to turn up at the ground nevertheless, but in the end he wisely stayed away, having spent several hours in police custody overnight and during the morning facing an assault charge in Liverpool.
The national media, including all the major television stations, were there in case Gascoigne should arrive for a showdown with returning boss Kevin Wilson, indeed BBC’s ‘East Midlands Today’ was presented from the ground, but many of them had packed up and gone home before the match got under way.
Those who did so missed a treat, as the two sides put behind them all the side issues to provide an evening of fantastic entertainment for a crowd almost double the Reds’ average this season.
Goals right at the end of each half ensured parity, but the next to bottom Reds were more than a match for their high-flying visitors and have every right to feel aggrieved that they did not take all three points, as manager Gary Mills pointed out afterwards.
“Kettering have had their own difficulties which I wouldn’t wish on anyone,” he said.
“But I just made sure my players were in the dressing room as soon as they arrived, and were focused on the jobs they are paid to do.
“After all, we’ve got problems of our own – we’re near the bottom and badly need a win, although we’ve only lost two of the last 14.
“But what we’ve seen tonight is what we’ve seen for several weeks, and when you are down there it takes something special to keep on coming up with that level of performance.
“We played some excellent football, thoroughly deserved our equaliser, and could have gone on to win it in stoppage time.
“We had a bigger crowd, and they recognised how we’ve played. They could see the players giving everything and got behind us right to the end.
“They’ve seen the brand of football we’re playing week in, week out, and I hope they’ll be back for more.
“But at the end of the season the only thing that counts is points gained, and we’ve got to go to Gainsborough on Saturday, certainly not lose, and hopefully come away with a win.”
Kettering had the better of the first 10 minutes, during which they forced four corners – but they won only three more for the rest of the match to Alfreton’s 14. However, that should not give the impression that the Reds were streets ahead on balance of play. Ahead they were, but by a nose.
The match was a tale of the two players wearing number seven – Chris Bettney for Alfreton, and Andy Hall for Kettering, who were the respective sides’ best players on the night.
When Bettney is on form, then so are Alfreton, and their entertainment level certainly matched that of their compelling FA Trophy tie at Fleetwood in their previous match.
Ryan Clarke, again in central defence, made a couple of good early clearances for the Reds as Kettering called the early shots.
As Alfreton got into their stride, Bettney set up a couple of chances for Jon Stevenson, both of which went wide, and the winger was then brought down just outside the area by Liam Nicell who was lucky to escape without a card.
There were potential problems at the back for the home side when Dave Robinson completely miskicked an attempted clearance of Hall’s driven cross – fortunately no forward got on the end of it and the ball ran untouched through the six-yard box.
Poppies keeper Mark Osborn did well to tip Liam Powell’s teasing cross away for a corner, but when he then dropped the flag kick the defence struggled to clear, and Bettney’s 25-yard bullet brought an excellent redeeming save out of the keeper.
Bettney fired across the face of goal after the referee had played a good advantage following a foul on Peter Duffield, and then Wayne Diuk cleared Robinson’s header onto another corner off the line.
That was on 36, and the Reds went even closer a minute later when Bettney won the ball and fed it forward to Duffield, who got the better of David Theobald before firing against the far post and seeing the rebound cleared for a corner.
James Gold whistled a 35-yard snap shot just wide at the other end, and it was Kettering’s turn to be denied by the goal frame seconds later when Hall’s cross shot hit the underside of the bar. It rebounded to Ollie Burgess, whose return looked on its way inside the far post until his team mate Christian Moore somehow turned it onto the post and away.
But Moore made amends right at the end of the half, firing the visitors into the lead as the defence stood off Burgess’ cross.
The second half was slow to get going, with Mick Godber, returning from suspension, on for Stevenson and Callum Lloyd replacing Chris White 10 minutes in.
But after 15 or so quiet minutes the game sprang back to life, with Robinson and Poppies skipper Derek Brown booked for a minor goalmouth fracas following Bettney’s 59th-minute free kick into the six yard area.
A minute later Brown was spoken to again after a showdown with Godber, but the skipper certainly should have walked on 62 for a professional foul on Duffield, as the Reds striker ran onto Shaun Bodkin’s long clearance on the edge of the visitors’ area.
Amazingly the referee waved play on, but returning Poppies manager Kevin Wilson had seen enough and withdrew his captain before the referee made the decision for him.
Alfreton continued to press for the equaliser they deserved, and the always impressive Mark Turner was close to it with a header onto Godber’s cross which hit the bar, while Clarke saw a header tipped over during a spell of three successive Alfreton corners.
But in the 90th minute Lloyd’s flag kick from the left was cleared wide to the opposite flank, from where Bettney played it back in, and Turner rose to head home from close range to the delight of the home crowd.
And in stoppage time it took a last gasp challenge by Craig McIlwain to deny Duffield the chance of steering home the winner from Lee Featherstone’s probing centre.
ALFRETON: Bodkin, Powell, Featherstone, Clarke, Turner, Nwadike, Bettney, Robinson (Blunt 77), Duffield, Stevenson, (Godber ht), White (Lloyd 55). Subs not used: Ross, Mills.
KETTERING: Osborn, Diuk, Nicell, Dixon, McIlwain, Brown (Solkhon 63), Hall (Difante 84), Theobald, Burgess, Moore, Gold. Subs not used: Morley, McKenzie, Zico-Black.
REFEREE: Gary Kellett of Bradford.
ATTENDANCE: 575.
SCORERS: Alfreton – Turner 90. Kettering – Moore 45.
CAUTIONS: Alfreton – Robinson 59 (unsporting conduct). Kettering – Brown 59 (unsporting conduct); Diuk 69 (dissent).
MAN OF THE MATCH: Chris Bettney.