2005/06 season match No.4
Nationwide North
Saturday, August 27th
Alfreton Town 2, Northwich 'Victoria 4
Match report by Gordon Foster (Mansfield CHAD). Pics by Phil Lucic.

ALFRETON were left with still only one point from their opening four matches as Ste Burr’s Northwich justified their status of Nationwide North title favourites at the Impact Arena on Saturday.
The Reds played their part in a pulsating encounter, but the Vics had a little too much in their armoury.
Twice the visitors led, and twice the Reds pulled it back, but to do so for a third time was one step to far, and any hopes were destroyed by a 90th minute goal which was a worthy finale to the afternoon’s entertainment.
Manager Gary Mills was in reflective mood afterwards.
“We’re very disappointed,” he conceded. “We’ve made a dreadful start to the season, got just one point out of 12, and it’s not enough.
“We’ve battled well but we need more quality – when we won the bal we gave it straight back again and to some extent we created our own problems.
“Northwich have been together for a while now, they looked a good unit, but we should not be conceding four at home, and we shouldn’t be looking to our defenders to score goals, I need my strikers to be looking likely to score more.
“We’re now at the stage where, regardless of performance levels, we badly need a win, and we’ve got to go out and get it.
“We know there are still areas where we need to improve, and individually some players need to do their jobs better.”
The overall man of the match Paul Brayson scored the first of his hat-trick midway through the first half.
Ryan Clarke cancelled that one out within four minutes, but Micahel Carr restored the Vics’ lead right at the end of a competitive first half in which there had been little to choose between the two sides.
The introduction of Carlos Roca for the second half gave Northwich a new dimension and he proved a real handful for the home defence, but Dave Robinson found a second equalizer 10 minutes in.
Robinson then turned villain, conceding two penalties of which Brayson scored the first but saw his second brilliantly saved by Greg Smith.
However Brayson had the last word, completing his treble a minute into stoppage time.
There were positives for Alfreton to take – in particular, wing backs Clarke and Lee Featherstone showed up well, and Matt Fisher put in a dynamic midfield showing.
Indeed, how it would have turned out if Alfreton had drawn first blood is anyone’s guess, but Neil Ross spurned a gilt-edged chance with less than two minutes gone, shooting tamely at Kris Rodgers after determinedly escaping the attentions of Steve Payne.
Chances fell in both goalmouths as play swung from end to end, but it was Northwich who broke the deadlock on 22. Stuart Elliott pounced on a loose ball in mid-park and farmed it out left to Brayson who cut in and hit a crisp shot past Smith.
Four minutes later the Reds were level, thanks to Clarke’s stunning volley onto Lee Featherstone’s lob from the left towards the far post.
But within seconds Vics almost scored again, as Smith just managed to get his fingertips onto Michael Byrne’s rising angled drive and, as the ball dropped, Mark Blount cleared from under the bar.
Smith reacted superbly to hold Brayson’s venomous close range volley onto Jon Allen’s cross, while at the opposite end, from a corner, Jon Stevenson’s downward header struck the foot of an unwitting defender and went to safety.
Brayson scuffed a clear chance as the half entered stoppage time, but seconds later, following a long throw in, his shot cannoned off a defender to Carr who fired through a packed defence and past the unsighted Smith.
Robinson rose high at the back post to head Alfreton level from Featherstone’s corner 10 minutes into the second half.
Fisher’s heart must have been in his mouth three minutes after that. He had already been booked along with the now withdrawn Byrne for a confrontation in the first half, but escaped a second yellow and received only a lecture for a foul on Danny Mayman.
Northwich won a controversial penalty in the 69th minute. Although Robinson appeared to have won the ball cleanly, Allen went down in the area. The referee waved play on, but his assistant indicated otherwise and, after a discussion, the penalty was awarded and Brayson sent Smith the wrong way.
Clarke made the best challenge of the match as Roca was almost sent clear by Brayson before, eight from time, the busy striker’s own shot was handled in the area by Robinson. This time Smith dived to his left and brilliantly pushed aside Brayson’s spot kick.
But as the game entered stoppage time Roca made another teasing run, leaving Mark Turner and Robinson in his wake, and although his shot rebounded off the near post, Brayson was there to stab home his hat-trick goal.
ALFRETON: Smith, Clarke, Featherstone (White 73), Robinson, Blount, Turner, Fisher, Blunt, Ross, Stevenson (Woolley 55), Duffield (Donovan 63). Subs not used: Nwadike, Powell.
NORTHWICH: Rodgers, McCarthy, Chapman (Handyside 72), Payne, Carr, Charnock, Mayman, Elliott, Allen, Brayson (Sale 90+1), Byrne (Roca h/t). Subs not used: Gagham, Connett.
REFEREE: Guy Stretton of Leicester.
ATTENDANCE: 385.
SCORERS: Alfreton – Clarke 26; Robinson 55. Northwich: Brayson 22, 69 pen, 90; Carr 45.
CAUTIONS: Alfreton – Fisher 30 (brawling with Byrne); Clarke 77 (foul on Carr); Robinson 82 (hands). Northwich: Byrne 30 (foul on Fisher/brawl)
REDS MAN OF THE MATCH: Ryan Clarke.