2005/06 season match No.33
Nationwide North
Tuesday, January 31st , 2006
Nuneaton Borough 1, Alfreton Town 0
Match report by Clive Edwards. Pics by Phil Lucic.

If the Alfreton team coach had been held up on the way back from Nuneaton, by a horseman brandishing pistols and wearing a black cape and face mask, the players might well have shrugged their shoulders and said: “ You're too late, mate. We've been done once tonight already.”
A refereeing decision in the 91st minute of this game turned the match on its head.
Alfreton had played well – one of their best performances of the season- against the team second in the league and heading for top spot. Alfreton had made them look ordinary all night.
The Reds should have sewn the game up, in either half. But poor finishing enabled Nuneaton to hang on in there by a thread.
In the final ten-minutes, Nuneaton came at Alfreton strongly, but it looked as though the Reds would hold on comfortably to a point that they deserved so thoroughly.
Then, tragedy struck. It started with an off-the ball incident, involving Mark Hume and Nuneaton striker Gez Murphy.
In fact, both players went down, but Murphy felt that he had been impeded. The ball was nowhere near either of them. Murphy retaliated against Hume, and the Alfreton defender, whose inclination is never to turn away from trouble, replied in kind.
Hume had more to lose – he was in his own penalty area. But,in a scene reminiscent of the post match fracas at Northwich on Saturday, the initial fight developed into an all-out brawl, involving 20 players at its peak.
Some acted as peacemakers, waving their arms and dragging players away with such vigour that it was impossible to see who was fighting and who was not.
The referee had lost control for a couple of minutes. He took Hume and Murphy to one side, but, within seconds the fight resumed a few yards away from him, between other players.
In all, it took the referee four minutes to sort out the problem at the end of which he showed the red card to Hume and the yellow to Murphy.
This was clearly a mistake. Murphy deserved red. But that decision was nothing compared to the injustice of the penalty award. Nuneaton fans gasped in disbelief and joy. They had been wondering how many Nuneaton players would be red-carded for the incident. But instead of a smacked wrist, they were given a stick of candy floss.
Murphy, cool as ice, stepped up to take the spot-kick, and sent Rayner the wrong way.
At no other time in the evening did they look like beating the Reds' keeper.
It was a sickening moment for Alfreton.
The referee explained after the match that Hume had been red-carded for violent conduct “striking a player when he was down”, and that Murphy had received yellow for ”pushing.”
A primary school classroom teacher who has lost control of the whole class might pick on a few and punish them to make an example. As a tactic, it works, but it leaves a sour taste, a sense of confusion and injustice, and ultimately reflects badly on the teacher.
After demanding a post-match explanation, Alfreton boss Gary Mills said:” The referee has got to make the decision on the initial incident. Hume and Murphy went down together, and they were having a little scrap, handbags, and so on, and that's when you've got to make the decision.
Not after, because you could have sent about six or seven players off in that incident, there were so many punches going on.
To award a penalty after that was wrong. And the sad thing for me is that the ref agrees with me. The correct decision is to have a bounce up, because they're both at it.
They are both having a scrap on the floor. You make the decision on the first incident, not the one after. It's not the second incident that should be punished. It's the first one.”
Nuneaton Manager Roger Ashby said after the game: “It was a questionable decision, but I'm happy with the points. On the whole, it was an even game. Defences dominated, and it was difficult to score.
All credit to Alfreton; they are a well-organised side. But we have five key players missing, and we coped well, considering.”
Ashby had a smile on his face as he spoke these words, but he clearly felt sympathy for Mills and his team. Even one of the Nuneaton stewards who stood strategically on duty outside the referee's room after the matched scratched his head and confessed:”Alfreton deserved to win.”
The penalty incident overshadowed an otherwise sporting contest in which Alfreton had the better chances in both halves.
Michael Rankine squandered a handful of goalscoring opportunities, and his partner Mick Godber should have made better use of a couple of golden chances in the first half.
Rankine has proved in his short time to date with the Reds that he knows how to score. But in this match, the words “barn” and “door” kept coming to mind.
For Nuneaton, Noon played a fine game in midfield, while Taylor posed problems to the Alfreton defence at times. But Nuneaton fans were left frustrated with a performance that lacked the quality expected of a high-flying side.
For Alfreton, this selection of players seemed like their strongest possible team.
A number of players excelled themselves. The back line looked solid, Fisher and Mills played well in midfield, Chris Bettney threatened down the right flank throughout the game, and full backs Clarke and Featherstone frequently breached the home defence.
In one dazzling run down the centre, Bettney body-swerved and side-stepped his way past three home defenders in a manner that would have drawn applause from Welsh rugby wizard Gareth Williams. Bettney's display was a joy to watch. But Alfreton lacked the finishing touch in the 18-yard box to make the most of their chances.
The result increases Alfreton's gloom at the foot of the table, and strengthens Nuneaton's push for promotion.
Gary Mills, though clearly outraged by the controversial decision, knew that the Reds had squandered their opportunities prior to this incident.
”How many chances have we had tonight. If you can't score a goal you're going to win nothing,” said the Reds' boss, in a comment that must have taken all his self-restraint not to point the finger specifically.
The Northwich fans who claimed that Mills cheated on Saturday will hear of this incident with glee.
“Revenge is a kind of wild justice,” said the philosopher Francis Bacon. This was wild. But it was not justice.

Nuneaton Borough - Brush, Oddy, Love, Fitzpatrick, Moore,Angus, Foster (Frew 71), Noon, Quailey,Murphy,Taylor(Wilkin 83). Sub not used : Breward, Rea,Holmes
Alfreton Town - Rayner, Clarke, Featherstone, Robinson ( c), Hume, Turner , Bettney, Fisher, Godber (Stevenson 83), Rankine (Duffield 79), Mills
Sub not used: Powell, Blunt, Nwadike
Scorer: Nuneaton: Murphy (pen 90+5)
Referee: Mr J R Hubbard
Attendance 1108
Red card: Hume (Alfreton: violent conduct)
Yellow card: Murphy (Nuneaton: pushing)
Man of the match: Chris Bettney (Alfreton)