Alfreton Town Football Club

2007/2008 Season. Blue Square Conference North. Game no. 2
Tuesday, August 14th, 2007
ALFRETON TOWN 1, Nuneaton Borough 3

Report by Kev Miles.

BACK TO BACK defeats to the start of the season is usually the sign for the natives to get restless.
However, there were plenty of plus points from Tuesday night’s first home game of the campaign.
The visitors were certainly flattered by the final winning margin despite perhaps some obvious superiority at times in the first half.
But, in an entertaining, often end to end encounter, the Reds had their good spells too and had Boro’ on the rack for the last 15 minutes of the game following a change in approach up front.
Manager Nicky Law took off Andy White and debutant Scott Rickards on 63 minutes and sent on Matt Glass and Mark Nangle to form a trio with Daniel Douglas-Pringle up front.
The visiting defence survived several near misses with Pringle landing a lob on top of the net with keeper Darren Acton stranded before Glass brought two superb saves from Acton in the last few minutes.
A draw would perhaps have been a fair result but you don’t always get what you deserve in football.
Reds manager Nicky Law made three changes with Scott Rickards being handed a debut up front, Anton Brown earning a starting place in midfield and Daniel Douglas-Pringle given a starting shirt in a wide right position.
Rested to the bench were Matt Glass, Kris Bowler and Matt Outram.
The visitors began strongly and home keepr James Lindley had a let off on four minutes when he came for a deep Rob Oddy cross and punched fresh air. Fortunately, the ball ricocheted off Boro’s Andy Brown and out.
Alfreton responded with Rickards hitting a 25-yarder which deflected off a defender for the game’s first corner from which Walton’s delivery picked out winder who glanced a header wide.
Nuneaton had the ball in the net on nine minutes but Brown’s finish from Oddy’s through ball was rightly chalked off for offside.
The midfield exchanges were keenly fought and there were bookings on either side as superiority was fought for.
After Kyle McFadzean had seen a shot blocked at the far post from a Walton free kick, Pringle skipped past three challenges but saw his shot drift a yard wide.
The same player followed up with another run down the right but he couldn’t find a team mate from the bye-line.
The visitors responded with Ricketts producing a sharp knock down for Andy Brown whose angled shot flew straight at Lindley.
Rickards was denied a shooting chance when the ball just wouldn’t sit right for him in the centre of the penalty area but Nuneaton were getting closer and Ricketts had a glancing header kicked away from a post by Lindley who then smothered a cross at the feet of Collins.
Boro’s opening goal saw a towering header from centre back Gavin Cowan cleared off the line by Mark Barnard and the clearance struck NEIL MOORE at close range with the rebound bouncing back over the line on 36 minutes.
McFadzean was booked for bringing down Palmer as he tried to burst through the middle.
The last action of the first half saw Rickards shoot straight at Acton from a tight angle.
Five minutes into the second period Nathan Winder’s powered header from a Walton free kick thumped into the floor and bounced up and over the bar and visiting keeper Acton then snatched the ball away from both Pringle and Anton Brown after Andy White had held the ball up well.
Alfreton had big shouts for a penalty waived away when Pringle appeared to be bundled over by Cowan after latching onto Walton’s excellent ball over the top.
At the other end Lindley kept the Reds in it with a great double stop at close range from Andy Brown.
A good start to the second half by Alfreton was snatched away within seconds of the double substitution when Travis was allowed to get to the byline despite appearing to handle the ball and Gary Ricketts turned his low cross in at the near post on 64 minutes.
Daniel Douglas-Pringle got Alfreton’s first goal of the season when he finished a 12-yarder with aplomb on 75 minutes but with the Reds pressing hard they were caught out on 89 minutes when Carl Palmer burst clear down the left and netted with a neat side-footed shot past the advancing James Lindley in the home goal.
Four minutes of added time saw Matt Glass’s 20-yarder force Acton to tip over from under the bar and after Glass had robbed Moore, his curling shot brought an even better flying save from Acton.
The Reds had produced some good football in the second half and can consider themselves somewhat unfortunate not to have gained any points reward.

With a bit more cohesion, perhaps some shorter range passing and most importantly, some luck, things will soon turn around.
MATCH STATS:
ALFRETON TOWN: James Lindley, Terry Henshaw, Mark Barnard (Dave Cockerill 84), Kyle McFadzean, Nathan Winder, Laurie Wilson, Daniel Douglas-Pringle, Chris Walton, Andy White (Mark Nangle 63), Scott Rickards (Matt Glass 63), Anton Brown. Subs not used: Kris Bowler, Matt Outram.
NUNEATON BOROUGH: Darren Acton, Robert Oddy, Connor Franklin, Tom Curtis, Neil Moore, Gavin Cowan, Simon Travis, Carl Palmer, Gary Ricketts (Brian Quailey, 79), Andy Brown, Matty Collins (Bradley Pritchard, 88). Subs not used: Jamie Towers, Danny Williams, Kevin Wilkin.
REFEREE: M Griffiths (Doncaster).
ATTENDANCE: 342.
SCORERS: Alfreton - Daniel Douglas-Pringle (75). Nuneaton - Neil Moore (36), Gary Ricketts (64), Carl Palmer (89).
CAUTIONS: Alfreton – Douglas-Pringle (foul on Franklin, 18); McFadzean (foul on Palmer, 42); Andy White (foul on Curtis, 56); Barnard (dissent, 65). Nuneaton - Connor Franklin (foul on Walton, 16); Curtis (foul on Wilson, 67).
REDS MAN OF THE MATCH: Daniel Douglas-Pringle.