2005/06 season match No.11
FA Cup, 3rd Qualifying round
Saturday, October 8th, 2005
Alfreton Town 2, Whitby Town 1
Match report by Gordon Foster (Mansfield CHAD). Pics by Phil Lucic.
THE STAYAWAYS who opted for the televised England game rather than a soaking in the rain on Saturday missed out on a pulsating FA Cup tie against renowned UniBond League cup fighters Whitby.
In the end it was a tight affair, but Alfreton must still be wondering how they did not sew the tie up inside the first half hour when it was a one-sided contest with Whitby barely getting out of their own half.

Two goals inside the first six minutes – the first after just 45 seconds – had the home fans anticipating a goal glut, but things rarely work out like that, and after a succession of missed chances the visitors were allowed back into the contest.
Whitby took control for the final 15 minutes of the first half and got one back three minutes before the break to set up an entertaining but, in the end, goalless second half.
Assistant manager Darron Gee commented: “For most of the first half we looked like running away with it, but funny things happen in football, and maybe sometimes you can score too early.
“When you’re 2-0 up inside the first six minutes as we were there can be a tendency to ease up, and we must hold our hands up in that we did so.
“We stopped doing what we were good at – passing quickly, getting the ball out wide, and getting men into their box.
“Fair play to Whitby, they had hung in there by their shirt tails, took the game to us before half time and got their goal.
“We had to say a few strong words at half time, but in the second half we didn’t give them a sniff of goal, while creating chances ourselves, and on another day we may have run out more emphatic winners than we did.”
Alfreton fans were soon cheering the opening goal. Lee Featherstone’s determination won him the ball on the left and worked it to Mick Godber on that side of the box, he laid it off, and the unmarked Jon Stevenson was left with an easy chance which he took with glee.
Then, with less than six minutes on the clock, it was 2-0. Chris Bettney crossed form the left, Godber flick-headed to the far post, and Jason Blunt rammed home his first goal for the club at the far post.
Alfreton continued to pour forward until the half-hour mark, with several chances being created and squandered, and really by then it could and should have been game over.
Nevertheless there were no complaints about the flair and the industry which set up those chances in the first place, with wingers Blunt and Bettney, and strikers Godber and Stevenson giving the Whitby defence a torrid afternoon.
Then Whitby, as if realizing that maybe they were not in for a mauling after all, began to play a bit themselves.
They sounded a warning in the 37th minute. Craig Veart’s 25-yard free kick was brilliantly saved by keeper Greg Smith, the ball broke loose to Scott Nicholson, and he curled a great shot against the Alfreton bar.
The warning went unheeded, and when Veart lined himself up for another long range free kick five minutes later, Smith could only parry it again, and this time David McTiernan was there to force the rebound over the line.
It took a superbly timed challenge by Ryan Clarke to prevent Tom Raw from equalizing in the 44th minute after Mark Turner unluckily slipped on the greasy surface, letting the Whitby striker in.
But Godber had a goal ruled out as the half entered stoppage time, heading in a Blunt cross at the near post but fouling Veart in the process.
Gary Mills made way for Emeka Nwadike as the second half got under way, and again the Reds had to sustain some early pressure by the visitors before forcing their way back into the tie.
Godber evaded Nicholson’s challenge as he cut in from the right, and elected to try a shot which beat the far post when a better option may have been the inrunning Bettney on the left.
Bettney volleyed Stevenson’s cross against the bar from the edge of the area on the hour, but Raw had a great chance for Whitby five minutes later. However, he succeeded only in chipping beyond the far post.
Mark Blount, who had formed an effective central defensive pairing with Turner, was maybe a touch fortunate to stay on the field 10 minutes from time when he was cautioned for deliberate hands as Whitby broke.
But although chances fell at both ends in the remaining 10 minutes it was Alfreton who went through to the final qualifying round for the second year in a row – the first time they had achieved that feat since 1973.
ALFRETON: Smith, Clarke, Featherstone, Bloutn, Turner, Mills (Nwadike h/t), Blunt, Fisher, Godber, Stevenson, Bettney. Subs not used: Woolley, Ross, Powell, Duffield.
WHITBY: Campbell, Brumwell (Hudson 90), Veart, Farthing, Nicholson, Richards, Ormerod, Scaife, Raw, Wilford, McTiernan. Subs not used: Barber, Batchelor, Robinson, Escritt.
REFEREE: Michael Naylor of Sheffield.
ATTENDANCE: 230.
SCORERS: Alfreton: Stevenson 1; Blunt 6. Whitby – McTiernan 42.
CAUTION: Alfreton – Blount 80 (deliberate hands).
MAN OF THE MATCH: Jason Blunt.