2005/06 season match No.13
Nationwide North
Tuesday, October 18th, 2005
Alfreton Town 1, Leigh RMI 1
Match report by Clive Edwards. Pics by Phil Lucic.
An entertaining first half with two goals and plenty of chances , mostly for a positive and lively Alfreton team, will be largely forgotten by the spectators, incensed at some second-half refereeing decisions that saw Mick Godber red-carded..
The pre-match chatter had mainly centred on Adam Legzdins (pictured left) , the 18-year-old debutant goalkeeper on loan from Birmingham City.
With deputy keeper Shaun Bodkin still sidelined by injury, and Greg Smith nursing a swollen hand after Saturday’s encounter with Stalybridge, the young Blues Academy player made a decent start
“He did very well; I’m pleased with him,” said Gary Mills after the game.
Certainly no blame can be attached to the young keeper for the Leigh goal. On the half hour and against the run of play, Leigh’s giant centre-back Liam Coyne outjumped all and sundry to bullet home a thunderous header from a Sillito corner. Foolishly, he leapt over the wall to share his joy with the handful of travelling fans.
He had time to shake hands with all three of them before the referee booked him for his celebratory antics. It took the shine off a pretty good goal.
For their part, Alfreton knew that they should have been ahead of their visitors by this time. In the 18th minute, Featherstone, Woolley and Godber combined superbly to create a chance at the far post for Jason Blunt who met the ball a fraction of a second too late. It flashed inches wide.
Then, on 26 minutes, a goal mouth scramble saw Godber’s shot blocked, and Stevenson’s final drive tipped just wide, quite brilliantly, by Lamb in the visitor’s goal.
Four minutes later, in a typically surging run, Ryan Clarke outpaced the Leigh midfield before driving a 25 yard shot inches over the bar. It was enjoyable stuff, and great to see the Reds creating chances.
Not dismayed by the setback of the goal, Alfreton always looked like equalising. Five minutes before the break, Woolley’s free kick was headed onto the bar by Robinson, and the little poacher Jon Stevenson slipped in to head the rebound for his seventh goal of the season.
The second half began a little scrappily, and on 67 minutes came the incident that started the change in the game’s complexion.
Referee Mr P Canadine came to the touchline for treatment from Alfreton’s physiotherapist, and the man in black decided to withdrawal from the game. A tannoy plea for a local ref to take the assistants flag, and Victor Marchant hastily changed, with the speed of Batman, into his heroic black attire.
The assistant, John Abey from Sheffield, took the whistle, and prepared for what was to be the longest 20 minutes of his refereeing career. Tackles flew, arguments grew.
On 83 minutes, Mick Godber tangled with Leigh’s Steve Smith in the centre circle. It was clumsy, and quickly became unpleasant. Within seconds, sixteen or more players got involved, a few as peacemakers, some as assailants.
The worst offender was surely the Leigh goalkeeper John Lamb , who ran 50 yards to make his contribution. He displayed diplomacy skills reminiscent of Mike Tyson in a bar room brawl. Arms flew, elbows jabbed, faces were clutched.
The poor referee, no longer an assistant, called on his colleagues to help him adjudicate
As Godber was being shown the red card, goalkeeper Lamb sheepishly skulked back to his line. The ref called him over. The crowd expected a Lamb chop. He was merely lightly grilled, with a yellow. The wolvish Alfreton fans snarled their disapproval.
To add insult to injury, in the fourteen minutes of added on time, Lamb pulled off a blinding save to stop Mark Blount from snatching the winner with a terrific header. And in the final seconds, Mark Turner glanced a header from a free kick agonisingly wide. In those last few minutes, Gary Mills and Darron Gee yelled at their team to get themselves forward. They knew that the win was there for the taking, despite having only ten men.
Gary Mils said after the game:” I’m disappointed to have got only two points from our last two games. It should have been six. We created plenty of chances in the first half, and it was unbelievable to go a goal down. In the second half, we didn’t keep the ball well.”
As for the Godber dismissal, Mills commented: “Micky was clumsy. It was a yellow card offence, but Dave Robinson was punched twice in that incident. Their keeper should have gone.”
The referee after the game said that Godber was given the red card for “violently pushing an opponent’s face.”
The Leigh keeper was given a yellow card for “adopting an aggressive attitude.”
It was an incident that one would like to forget. But the match will be remembered for it.
Sadly, it overshadowed another excellent performance from Alfreton’s man of the match, central defender Mark Turner. He is an exemplary professional. Tidy, efficient, excellent in the air, sensible with the ball at his feet, and strong in the tackle.
His no nonsense, no fuss style often means that his unspectacular but efficient performances go unappreciated. In a few days, the Reds visit Hereford in the F A Cup.
Their manager, Graham Turner, has graced the game of football as manager and ambassador for Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and in recent years, Hereford United. No matter what the result on Saturday, if Graham Turner watches his son play this well against his own team, he’ll be smiling proudly.

ALFRETON TOWN - A Legzdins, R Clarke, L Featherstone, M Blount, M Turner, D Robinson (capt), J Blunt, M Fisher, M Godber, J Stevenson, S Woolley (N Ross 89).
Subs not used: P Duffield, L Powell, M Harbottle, E Nwadike
LEIGH RMI - J Lamb, M Drew, A Roscoe, R McDowall, L Coyne, N Smith,G Tench, S Smith, L Shillito, L Depasois-Mike (L Thompson 53), I Taylor.
Subs not used: L Atherton, J Warmington, D Conlon, J Mann.
ATTENDANCE: 224.
GOALS: Liam Coyne (Leigh RMI ) 30 mins 0-1; Jon Stevenson (Alfreton) 40 mins 1-1.
YELLOW CARDS :
D Robinson (Alfreton) 78 mins – foul tackle
J Stevenson (Alfreton) 82 mins- foul tackle
L Coyne (Leigh RMI) 30 mins – unsporting behaviour
Neil Smith (Leigh RMI) 70 mins – unsporting behaviour
J Lamb (Leigh RMI) 83 mins - aggressive behaviour
RED CARD: M Godber (Alfreton) 83 mins –violent conduct
Man of the Match: Mark Turner (Alfreton).