2006/2007 Season. Match no.34 - Conference North
Saturday, February 17th, 2007
ALFRETON TOWN 2, Vauxhall Motors 0

Match report by Gordon Foster (Mansfield CHAD). Pics by Phil Lucic.

THE two words are probably only being spoken in whispers around the Impact Arena yet, but being spoken they certainly are by some people.
Saturday’s victory over Vauxhall Motors not only completed the Reds’ second double of the season, but also kept them just four points away from the PLAY OFFS zone – the two words in question - with 13 matches in which to catch them up.
And, if they turn on the style on a regular basis as they did in the second half against the Motormen, who is to say they cannot get there?
Well, at this stage, player-manager Marcus Ebdon for one. It’s not so much that he thinks his side can’t do it, more a case of applying the cautious old footballing cliché of taking one game at a time.
It was perhaps a predictable response to the question posed in the post-patch interview but, as he said: “Neither I nor anyone else in the dressing room is mentioning them at the moment. We just concentrate on picking up the points from our next game, but after that it’s a case of wait and see.”
It was a tremendous showing by the Reds after a first half-hour in which the Motormen had driven hard at them.
And Ebdon added: “It took us over half an hour to get started after ploughing through the mud against Worksop on Tuesday.
“There were some heavy legs out there, but we rode their storm, then got ourselves going and did very well in the second half.
“The bonus was another clean sheet which is always good for any manager, but all the lads did well and by the end we could have had several more goals.
“It was great to get a second successive win under our belts to take to Harrogate on Tuesday.”
Alfreton were certainly under the cosh for the first third of the match, and but for some wayward finishing and two or three top drawer saves from the ever more confident Dale Roberts they could well have found themselves behind.
It was a slip by Ebdon himself in the 10th minute that created the first real chance. His under-hit pass on the heavy surface enabled Anthony Wright to intercept and set Thomas Rooney free. Fortunately for the Reds the striker showed none of his more famous cousin’s finishing prowess as he shot wide with only Roberts to beat.
Then an error by Mark Barnard let in Tom Field for a shot at goal, which Roberts brilliantly turned over the bar.
The young keeper was showing his prowess again and looking an early man of the match candidate four minutes later when he threw himself to his left to push away Joe McMahon’s goalbound header onto a long throw in from Alan Griffiths.
But from then onwards it was Roberts’ opposite number, Sean Lake, who was the busier of the two keepers as his own role decreased while Alfreton dug deep within themselves to find new reserves of strength and energy, and began to get on top.
Lake just won a race for possession with Mark Rawle when Ryan Clarke fed an incisive ball into the right of the area, then Emeka Nwadike and the inspirational Ashley Burbeary combined well to set up a chance for Tristram Whitman, who saw his effort deflected for a corner.
Burbeary’s flag kick was the first of many which were destined to cause concern for the Vauxhall rearguard, but Clarke’s downward header was smothered on the line by the keeper.
Another corner reached Whitman at the far post and Lake had to produce a superb double save to deny him.
But in the 44th minute yet another flag kick, this time from the left, was met by Lee Woodyatt’s attempted clearing header. It only reached Clarke who, from just outside the area, unleashed a rasping volley which was still rising as it bulged the net under Lake’s right hand angle.
They say that just before half time is a great time to take the lead, and the proof was there for every one of the disappointingly small crowd of 246 to see.
Rawle popped up on both flanks to tease the Motors defence inside the first five minutes, and Whitman looked likely to add a second goal when he robbed Lee Dames and raced forward. McMahon, Steve McNulty and the chasing Dames did just enough to put Whitman off his shot, which he scuffed wide.
There was controversy in the 57th minute when, from Clarke’s long free kick, virtually everyone in the ground but the referee saw a blatant push on Anton Brown in the penalty area. Brown still managed to get the flick-on to Rawle whose shot on the turn looked certain to go in, until Lake spread himself to grasp it on the line.
A minute later Rawle was even closer as he headed another pinpoint corner from Burbeary against the bar.
Vauxhall still looked to pose a threat on the break, but for the most part they were being pushed into reverse gear, and great work on the left by Brown carried him past McMahon. He seemed to have gone too wide, but his tight-angled shot beat Lake, only for Dames to get back and clear off the line.
The rampant Reds won three more corners in quick succession, and the third of these was returned to Burbeary, the taker. His crisp volley from the left was deflected by Brian Moogan, and Lake had to stretch up to tip it onto the bar and behind for a fourth flag kick.
But from this one Burbreay’s pinpoint kick from the right picked out Rawle who thumped home a close range header to make it 2-0 after 75 minutes.
There could, maybe should, have been more goals, but when Whitman went down in the area under a challenge from Dames the penalty appeals seemed more in hope than expectation, then Rawle headed Clarke’s angled cross onto the roof of the net.
Moogan had a half-chance to pull a goal back for the visitors in the 83rd minute but Roberts was equal to his 23-yard free kick and saved well at his right hand post.
That was the last threat from the Motormen as the confidence continued to surge through the home ranks to the final whistle.
Former manager Gary Mills did take some stick from a section of the Reds support for what they perceived to be a defensive approach.
But while Mills seems to have sparked at instant revival at Tamworth, his replacement looks to have injected an invigorating shot of attacking flair into the side.
They looked a really exciting outfit once they had got the measure of their opponents. Surely, if they continue to perform like this, the footballing public of the town cannot continue to turn their backs on their local side.

ALFRETON: Roberts, Clarke, Barnard, Hannigan, Winder, Nwadike, Burbeary, Ebdon (Sleath 90), Whitman, Rawle, Brown. Subs not used: Reeves, Glass, Hirst, Harcourt.
VAUXHALL: Lake, Woodyatt, Dames, McMahon, McNulty, Griffiths, Field, Moogan, Rooney, Wright (Garrity 69), Whittaker (Carrol 81). Subs not used: Longrigg, Macauley, Spellman.
REFEREE: Scott Ledger of Barnsley.
ATTENDANCE: 246.
GOALS: Alfreton – Clarke 44; Rawle 75.
CAUTION: Vauxhall – McNulty 45+1 (foul on Rawle).
MAN OF THE MATCH: Ashley Burbeary.