2006/2007 season Match no.5 - Nationwide North
Saturday, August 26th, 2006
ALFRETON TOWN 1, Workington 1

Match report by Gordon Foster (Mansfield CHAD). Pics by Bill Wheatcroft.

ALFRETON substitute Jermaine Palmer lashed the ball into the Workington net with the last kick of the match to ensure that justice was done in a pulsating contest which neither side deserved to lose.
It was a great present for Palmer three days before his 20th birthday.
Workington thought they had the match won when Graham Anthony beat Dale Roberts from the penalty spot in the 80th minute following a handling offence.
Up to that point an end to end match was poised to go either way, and the only surprise was that it took until then for a goal to arrive.
But Alfreton have made a habit this season of showing a never say die spirit and, just as they did against Hyde on Tuesday, they conjured up a last gasp leveller.
The upper hand territorially changed hands constantly with Alfreton having the better of the first half and Workington the second.
While Reds boss Gary Mills praised his side’s new-found habit of coming back from behind, he was left to reflect on the fact that they did not turn their first half superiority into goals.
“Give credit to both teams, because this was a fantastic advertisement for football in our division,” he said afterwards.
“I’m delighted that the players have shown their character from the first minute of this season. They have kept going right to the final whistle and have got their reward.
“But it’s not something I want to keep on doing, because we ought to be scoring goals while we are dominating matches.
“Our first half performance was exceptional – we’ve had a lot of games to pull in but we’re still working hard and playing some great football, and I can’t ask any more of the players.”
Of the penalty incident, Mills added: “If every one of my defenders did what Lee Featherstone did throughout the season I won’t have any complaints.
“How a referee can give hands when a player lunges in for the ball as passionately as Lee did to stop a shot, is beyond me. It was ball to hand, but there’s no point in arguing – they got the penalty, scored, and went 1-0 up.”
Alfreton, without Mark Barnard whose wife had given birth during the morning, began well with Tristram Whitman having an early effort saved by Adam Collin at his near post following a precise crossfield ball by Gary Sucharewycz.
And when Whitman picked out Andy Tiday with a similar pass from the opposite flank it needed a stretching header behind by Darren Edmondson to divert the shot from goal.
Collin punched clear the corner and two further successive crosses by Marcus Ebdon, whose influence in midfield was immense for the home side.
But if he was calling the shots for Town, then so was livewire Matt Henney for the Cumbrians with some fine work along the right flank.
And when he found a way around the back of Steve Melton in the 15th minute Ryan Clarke made an eye-catching clearance of the centre.
Craig Mitchell showed his determination, winning the ball in the centre circle to release Tiday along the left, but when Emeka Nwadike’s header onto the cross went behind off a defender the referee awarded a goal kick.
From that, Henney broke clear again and once again Clarke’s headed clearance was spectacular from the ensuing centre.
A stretching Alan Gray header prevented Tiday’s ball in from reaching Mitchell as Alfreton moved up a gear, and the visitors were grateful to Collin when Tiday, put through by Mitchell, had a one-on-one, the keeper sticking out a leg to divert the shot away.
Collin then made a fine save from Melton’s vicious 20-yard drive, before chances fell at both ends in the last three minutes of the half.
Tony Hopper arrived late at the far post to meet Henney’s curling cross from the right and drilled his shot wide, then Collin’s attempted clearance struck Mitchell and could easily have rebounded into the empty net but went wide, to the keeper’s relief.
Three minutes into the restart Ebdon’s deep free kick was played back into the area by Nwadike to Mark Turner, who got the ball caught under his feet, the extra second allowing the defence to close him down before he could capitalise.
Dale Roberts had his first noteworthy save to make in the 52nd minute, a superb tip over from Hopper’s rising 20-yard drive after a rebound fell kindly for him.
Mitchell rose high to meet Whitman’s lofted centre in the 61st minute but headed just over, and Nwadike also headed behind from Ebdon’s accurate cross.
But in the 80th minute Workington substitute Tony Nicholson hit Alfreton on the break. He was crowded out but laid off to Edmondson on the edge of the area. Featherstone lunged in and, protecting his face from the shot, the ball hit his hand. He was booked, and Anthony gave Roberts no chance from the spot.
As the game entered stoppage time Clarke fell under Hopper’s challenge in the Workington area, but this time, despite loud appeals, Mr Smith didn’t want to know.
However, justice was done when Ebdon picked out Palmer on the right with a visionary pass, and the substitute striker fairly lashed the ball to bulge the roof of Collin’s net – a superb climax to an afternoon of superb entertainment.
ALFRETON: Roberts, Clarke, Featherstone, Sucharewycz, Turner, Melton, Nwadike, Ebdon, Mitchell (Palmer 74), Whitman (Glass 75), Tiday. Subs not used: Burbeary, Magee, Wall.
WORKINGTON: Collin, Gray, Cowan (Inglis 67), May, Edmondson, Henney, Anthony, Hopper, Tarrant, Gordon (Nicholson 71), Wright. Subs not used: Douglas, Arnison, Summersgill.
REFEREE: Ian Smith of Rotherham.
ATTENDANCE: 253.
SCORERS: Alfreton – Palmer 90+3. Workington – Anthony 80 pen.
CAUTIONS: Alfreton – Featherstone 80 (hands). Workington – Anthony 13 (late challenge on Ebdon); Wright 87 (high challenge on Sucharewycz).
REDS MAN OF THE MATCH: Marcus Ebdon.