PERHAPS it was always going to happen.
Just a week after ending their unwanted 15-month-long winless league record on their travels, Alfreton were unable to defend the sequence they did want to preserve – that of being the only side in the division still to lose a league game at home.
But that is the sort of twist that sometimes happens when those two strange bedfellows, fate and football, combine.
The scoreline was worsened from Alfreton’s point of view by two very late goals from Nuneaton’s Gez Murphy, as the Reds pushed players forward in a last gasp bid to cancel out Rob Oddy’s first half goal.
But Alfreton could have no complaints, for press colleagues from Warwickshire were acclaiming Borough’s performance as their best away showing of the season.
“What a difference a week makes, but that’s life, it happens,” reflected Alfreton’s assistant manager Darron Gee afterwards.
“Obviously we’re disappointed to lose our record, but although it didn’t quite come off for us today, over the past few weeks we’ve been magnificent.
“Today, against a very physical, very strong side, we’ve come unstuck, but we can do nothing but praise the lads for the last few weeks.
“The manager reminded the players that a few weeks ago Forest lost 4-0, but after that they’ve gone on a 10-game unbeaten run, and that’s the sort of reaction we’ll be looking for.
“We gambled at the end, because you might as well lose 3-0 trying to get it back as accepting a 1-0 defeat.”
It was, in fact, the Reds’ last league action before Christmas, and the same starting 11 as that which did so well at Vauxhall took the field again, with acting skipper Emeka Nwadike making his 150th appearance.
And in fact the Reds did have the first chance, when Ashley Burbeary got away along the left to loft a cross to the far post, where Andy Tiday’s first time volley flashed wide.
Nuneaton went close in the 12th minute, when Nwadike failed to clear the impressive Connor Franklin’s corner, and when Murphy helped on Franklin’s return ball into the box, Darryl Burgess’ effort was also narrowly wide.
Nuneaton began to take a grip on the game, and Murphy’s cross was headed down by Oddy for Gary McPhee who, in trying to lift the ball over the diving body of Dale Roberts at point blank range, succeeded only in putting it over the bar too.
McPhee did have the ball in the net in the 19th minute, but not before an alert linesman had raised an offside flag.
However, the next time the ball went in, in the 37th minute, it did count. Oddy ran onto an incisive through pass by Mark Noon and beat Roberts with a crisp, low finish from just inside the area. On balance of play at that stage it was coming.
Nuneaton almost added a second while down to 10 men in the intervening period between the injured Burgess going off and substitute David Staff replacing him. Nathan Winder and Matt Glass got in each other’s way, and the ball broke for McPhee who squared for the unmarked Murphy to fire wide from the edge of the area.
On the restart former Mansfield defender Neil Moore did well to intercept Burbeary’s long free kick as Mark Rawle looked to finish.
But Alfreton had another let-off when Roberts miscued an attempted clearance of a back-pass to Murphy who shot wide of a gaping goal.
The keeper saved McPhee’s cross shot and punched clear a lob from Oddy, but it was not all one way traffic. However Ryan Clarke was too far underneath another free kick from Burbeary and headed over, Rawle clipped an effort over the bar, and Tiday’s 30-yard free kick was saved.
As Alfreton committed more to attack Oddy did well to stick out a leg to rob Glass, and when Tiday returned the ball to Glass his shot was also saved.
Tiday went close again in the 84th minute, but four minutes later the contest was effectively over when a rare and uncharacteristic error by Clarke enabled Murphy to steer in a cross from McPhee.
And two minutes into stoppage time the visitors were celebrating again when Murphy forced Jay Denny’s low pull back over the line at the second attempt, with Roberts grounded after doing well to block the first effort.
ALFRETON: Roberts, Clarke, Brown, Hannigan, Winder, Nwadike, Glass, Mills (Turner 64), Tiday, Rawle (Whitman 89), Burbeary (Reeves 70). Subs not used: Flanagan, Harcourt.
NUNEATON: Acton, Oddy, Franklin (Collins 78), Fitzpatrick, Moore, D. Burgess (Staff 45), Denny, Noon, McPhee, Murphy, Wilkin. Subs not used: Pritchard, O. Burgess.
REFEREE: Chris Akers of Doncaster.
ATTENDANCE: 333.
GOALS: Nuneaton – Oddy 37; Murphy 88, 90+2.
CAUTION: Nuneaton – Moore 66 (foul on Tiday).
REDS MAN OF THE MATCH: Andy Tiday.