2005/06 season match No.32
Nationwide North
Saturday, January 28th, 2006
Northwich Victoria 1, Alfreton Town 1
Match report by Gordon foster (Mansfield CHAD). Pics by Phil Lucic.

PLAYER-MANAGER Gary Mills led his battling Alfreton troops off the field with necks extended and heads proudly erect after they gained a deserved point at title favourites Northwich on Saturday.
The Reds had to run the gauntlet of furious home fans after a pitched battle between the two sides following the final whistle.
Northwich were angry that Mills did not return the ball to home keeper Kris Rogers after he had booted it out of play, Ryan Clarke equalised as a result, and the Vics were so incensed at the end that home manager Steve Burr and the rest of the bench stormed onto the pitch to join in, if not instigate, the unsavoury scenes which followed, and which led to post-match red cards for Mark Hume and Jonny Allan.
Burr slammed his counterpart Mills’ actions as ‘the worst sportsmanship I have seen anywhere.’ But the former Hucknall boss’s own actions themselves were subsequently condemned by a Northwich director who was heard to say that Burr had let the club down badly.
Mills, for his part, saw nothing wrong, and maintained that he did what he thought was right at the time.
He said: “Mark Turner had gone down briefly, but by the time the ball was played back to the keeper he was up again and running around. The keeper had no need to boot it out of play.
“I looked at the referee and shrugged my shoulders, in an unspoken question ‘what’s going off?’ and he made no response.
“I took it that the keeper had either sliced the ball out of play or was blatantly time-wasting. In those circumstances, to return the ball to him would have wasted a few more seconds and played into his hands – so I got on with the game.
“People will of course take that how they want to take it, but people who know Gary Mills know that I am not the sort of person to instigate trouble, and I’m saddened that some did come onto the field at the end and started it off.”
Assistant manager Darron Gee added; “Gary always plays within the spirit of the game, and everyone knows that if he thought a man was down he would have returned the ball.”
On the match itself – easily forgotton in the aftermath – Gee added: “We deserved the equaliser and it would have been a travesty if we had come away with nothing. We conducted ourselves well, played some good stuff at times, and all credit to the lads for keeping going when they fell behind so late in the game.”
And maybe those angry Northwich fans and their players may wish to reflect that, earlier, they had continued to attack when Mick Godber was lying injured, and they may well have scored – they did not put the ball out of play until it had been cleared to safety. Pots, kettles and black come to mind.
Oh yes, the match! Alfreton were forced into a late change of shape when Paul Smith notified the club during the morning that he was unavailable through personal problems.
The revised formation saw the versatile Turner installed as sweeper, while the absence of an out and out left winger meant the impressive Lee Featherstone spent more time on the overlap, and to excellent effect too.
There was an interesting duel between Chris Bettney and Ben Chapman – ironically both players out of favour with former boss Dave Lloyd in their turn last season. It was a duel from which Bettney emerged the victor.
But one man, aged 44, stood head and shoulders above everyone else on the field. Mills lost possession just once throughout the match, made some excellent ball-winning challenges, and the quality of his distribution was behind so much that his side mounted.
That was epitomised by a dream of a 50-yard pass to Bettney who won the first corner of the match midway through the opening half.
That first period belied the respective league positions of the two sides as Alfreton were by far the more creative, and it was a pity that they had nothing to show for it by half time.
Most of the opening 10 to 15 minutes had been played in the Reds’ half, but the home side never mustered a shot at goal in that time as they were kept out be a well-drilled defence.
It was 15 minutes before any worthwhile chance arrived, and that fell to Alfreton who thereafter controlled the half. But Godber saw his far post header well saved after Bettney had left Chapman chasing his shadow and crossed.
Thereafter Featherstone twice saw angled shots clear the bar, while Michael Rankine somehow contrived to turn the ball wide at the far post from Matt Fisher’s driven cross. It would have been easier to score.
Northwich had just one real chance before half time, when Paul Brayson sent Allan into the area. Simon Rayner clawed the ball off the striker’s feet but couldn’t keep hold. However, Allan was quickly surrounded by a posse of defenders before he could regain possession.
Northwich had somewhat optimistic penalty appeals turned down early in the second half – Allan looked to have fallen over his own legs under Fisher’s challenge.
The Vics steped up a gear, and Mills’ only error was redeemed by Rayner, who saved with his body to deny Brayson.
Then Clarke’s outstretched leg prevented a shot from Carlos Roca, who had inspired Northwich to an early-season 4-2 win at the Impact Arena.
Home skipper Steve Payne was booked for a ‘professional’ trip on Featherstone who had broken along the left and cut in.
But the turning point came when Burr went for broke, replacing defender Chapman with his former Reds colleague Mark Sale.
Everyone at Alfreton recalls Sale’s prowess as a ‘super-sub’ and his introduction marked a step-up in the Vics’ attacking play, which had Alfreton defending for dear life.
Reds’ own substitute Peter Duffield brought a sprawling save out of Rogers, but three times Sale was unlucky, having one effort saved, glancing another header wide, and finally heading Roca’s cross agonisingly against the near post.
Northwich had a better case for a penalty when Bettney appeared to handle in the area, but again their appeals fell on deaf ears.
Such was the pressure by this stage that it seemed inconceivable that Northwich would not score, and they did so in the 84th minute when Allan rocketed an unstoppable header into the net after being set up by Stuart Elliott.
Alfreton were not finished though, and three minutes later Rogers booted the ball out, Mills’ throw-in was returned to him by Duffield, and another wonderful pass to the 18-yard line saw Clarke arrive to bury a tremendous drive past the keeper and into the bottom corner – a marvellously taken goal whatever the circumstances, but one which, sadly, sparked the subsequent unpleasantness.
NORTHWICH: Rogers, McCarthy, Chapman (Sale 69), Handyside, Devlin (Carr 63), Charnock, Payne, Elliott, Allan, Brayson, Roca. Subs not used: Byrne, Mayman, Connett.
ALFRETON: Rayner, Clarke, Featherstone, Robinson, Hume, Turner, Bettney, Fisher, Godber (Stevenson 84), Rankine (Duffield 64), Mills. Subs not used: Blunt, Nwadike, Powell.
REFEREE: Jason Tyas of Holmfirth.
ATTENDANCE: 1,017.
SCORERS: Northwich – Allan 84. Alfreton – Clarke 87.
CAUTIONS: Northwich – Payne 67 (‘professional’ foul on Featherstone); Carr 90+3 (foul on Featherstone).
DISMISSALS: Northwich – Allan (post-match, striking an opponent). Alfreton – Hume (post-match, striking an opponent).
MAN OF THE MATCH: Gary Mills.