2009/2010 Season. Pre-season friendly match no. 1.
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009.

Stocksbridge Park Steels 3, ALFRETON TOWN 1

Match pictures by Dave Purseglove here

Alfreton Town were beaten by newly-promoted UniBond Premier outfit Stocksbridge Park Steels in their first pre-season friendly on Tuesday night, but manager Nicky Law may well have gleaned far more information from this performance than the facile 10-0 romp at Southwell City exactly 12 months earlier.
It had been pre-arranged to play an almost entirely different team in each half, with debutant defender Dominic Roma the only Reds' player to survive the full 90 minutes, while any encouragement from the defeat will have been fuelled by a positive display of attacking football prior to the change in personnel.
Just 3 minutes into the game Brian Cusworth went desperately close with a glancing header from Anthony Howell's teasing cross, before Ian Ross wasted two free-kicks from just outside the area.
Cusworth and Howell then impeded each other at the back post as Liam Hearn delivered a lethal cross, before a series of events led to the Steelers taking a 26th minute lead very much against the run of play.
2 minutes earlier Roma had induced a frantic save from home keeper Ben Scott, who was forced to stretch to paddle away a cheeky near-post chip with everyone expecting a cross.
Although Ross's delivery from the flag-kick was good Scott managed to claim the ball amid a ruck of players and immediately released Mark Ward with an astute throw, the former Belper Town marksman side-stepping Reds' keeper Craig Dootson before Roma somehow managed to scramble his angled drive off the line.
The second of the ensuing corners saw Ring open the scoring with a powerful header, but Alfreton's response was instantaneous with Matt Wilson sending a header thudding against the crossbar within moments of the restart from a Ross corner.
Hearn then forced a one-handed save from Scott on 35 minutes, then on the stroke of half-time amid a deluge of rain Josh Law unleashed a thunderbolt from 20 yards that lashed against the bar with the keeper well beaten.
With so many changes during the interval Alfreton were understandably slow out of the blocks as the second half commenced, and both Ward and Alvin Riley went close for Stocksbridge before Lewis Trimmer's close-range shot was blocked by the home side's changed keeper Dave Ratcliffe from a 50th minute Damien Reeves cross.
A long-range effort from Jordan Hall won a corner seconds later, but by the 52nd minute Stocksbridge had doubled their advantage when Ring easily found the back of the net with an uncontested shot 15 yards out from Riley's left-flank cross.
The margin stretched to three goals after 62 minutes when Anton Brown had been judged to have brought down Richard Stirrup from Ward's through-ball, with Riley easily converting the spot-kick.
A spirited rally by Alfeton produced a 75th minute consolation with Clayton and Hall combining to set up Reeves who slotted home from 12 yards, then Hall forced Ratcliffe into a defiant save on 77 minutes.
Alfreton's final opportunity of the game saw Clayton's glancing header from one of many useful deliveries by Tom Curtis cleared off the line by Andy Hirst with 8 minutes remaining.
STOCKSBRIDGE PARK STEELS: Ben Scott (Dave Ratcliffe h/t); Ryan Ludlam (Andy Hirst 65), Darren Schofield (Dave Cockerill 49), Kevin Dawson, Brett Lovell, Steve Hawes (Richard Stirrup 49), Andy Ring, Matt Telling (Steve Wilkinson 65), Vill Powell (Carl Fothergill 49), Mark Ward, Alvin Riley (Tom Jones 65).
ALFRETON TOWN: Craig Dootson, Dominic Roma, Kyle McFadzean, Matt Wilson, Aden Flint, Mattie Burke, Josh Law, Ian Ross, Brian Cusworth, Liam Hearn, Anthony Howell.
Substitutes used: Anton Brown, Richard Pell, Kris Bowler, Jordan Hall, tom Curtis, Gareth Davies, Lewis Trimmer, Paul Clayton, Damien Reeves and Lawrence Matthewson (GK, 75 minutes).
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REFEREE: Mr. Simeon Lucas (Sheffield)
ATTENDANCE: 121
BOOKINGS: none.
REDS MAN OF THE MATCH: Tom Curtis.