AFC Telford United 2 Alfreton Town 3 - Report

From being 2-0 ahead and seemingly set for victory, they collapsed as Alfreton staged a smash and grab that contained a fair amount of smash, and a lot more grab, to steal all three points.

The visitors were winless in four matches, failing to score in any of them, but were literally handed a route back into this game and took it with relish.

Theo Streete’s back injury meant just one change to the side that recorded a solid 2-1 victory over Curzon Ashton in midweek; Zak Lilly replaced Streete, but hopes that their victory over Curzon marked a real sea change for the Bucks were to prove ill-founded.

That didn’t appear the way of things in the game’s early stages. The Bucks were out of their blocks much more quickly than the visitors, and a number of half-chances fell their way.

Mace Goodridge profited from good work by Jason Oswell and Byron Moore to spin inside the penalty area but dragged his shot wide of George Willis’s near post. The Alfreton keeper was busy again soon afterwards; Ryan Burke’s low cross through his six-yard box went unclaimed, and Willis had to be alert to catch Moore’s return cross from the left.

Under Billy Heath, Alfreton carry a reputation as a no-nonsense team at the very least, and at their worst are a side who purposely operate close to and occasionally beyond what the laws of the game allow. Their robust approach certainly wouldn’t have been a surprise to Carden, but as the zeal shown by the Bucks began to wane a little, the Reds began to put their well-established game plan and style into action.

Former Buck Dom Smith, the Reds skipper, clattered into Luke Pilling as the keeper caught a free-kick hoisted into the penalty area, and was deservedly booked, and having set the tone, his team followed suit.

Oswell isn’t a player who is averse to a physical contest, and by carrying the fight back at Alfreton he proved to be the man most likely to succeed. He got behind the defence, running onto a ball over the top, but faced with a defender his shot was deflected, looping into the arms of Willis.

Both teams exchanged hopeful, rather than purposeful, goal attempts, before Oswell was again the man on the spot; Moore’s cross evaded anyone in white, but Ryan Burke’s cross back into the area was chested down by Oswell before his close-range shot, lacking power, was held by Willis.

Just before the half-hour, Brendon Daniels stepped in as Moore took a route across the face of the penalty area, firing a shot in from 25 yards that skidded inches wide of Willis’s left post as the keeper scrambled.

The Reds keeper took an injury time-out, slowing the game down, and then from the restart there was a moment of controversy. Matt Rhead, who is both huge but hugely effective, appeared to strike Lilly in the face as they challenged for a header, and although the Reds missed the target with a resulting shot, many home fans felt referee Jamie O’Connor has missed a clear foul.

Bucks’ fans were belligerent in their protests barely a minute later; a Josh Clackstone cross fell nicely for Rhead to direct a weak shot at the target, one which Pilling pushed aside, but as Burke completed the clearance, Connor Branson slid in unnecessarily with his leg raised, catching Burke painfully. Again, referee O’Connor saw fit to award only the foul, but no yellow card.

Branson directed a header wide as the Bucks failed to fully clear a corner, and then Oswell found the ball trapped under his feet as he pivoted in the penalty area but couldn’t find a clean strike at the target.

Right on the stroke of half-time came the break through. Josh Wilde, who had seconds earlier rebuked the assistant referee with some choice words, hauled down Moore 35 yards from goal. Brendon Daniels’ left foot delivered an inswinging free-kick from close to the touchline, and through a sea of players Oswell rose highest to direct a header into the net, Willis having come off his line to no great effect.

Having fought their way into a half-time lead, the Bucks would need to deliver another 45 minutes of graft and grit to secure a second win in succession, and a fourth game without defeat. Those outcomes moved closer within two minutes of the restart; Dwayne Wiley’s foul on Oswell gave Daniels the opportunity to send in another testing free-kick, and his delivery to the near post was met by Oswell, and once both stooping and twisting to head powerfully past Willis.

Could the Bucks drive home their advantage? The answer, simply, was no.

Within a minute, Mr O’Connor awarded Alfreton a penalty kick, as the ball struck Liam Nolan’s arm as he tried to head clear on the edge of his penalty area. Few players appealed for it, but the man in black seemed in little doubt, and from the spot-kick Rhead rolled the ball down the middle as Pilling dived to his left, halving the deficit.

The Bucks responded. From a corner won by a determined run from Burke, Oswell peeled away at the far post; the ball fell over a crowd of players and an unmarked Oswell took a touch, but could only strike his low shot across Willis and wide of the far post.

Within a minute, Willis produced a save of real quality to deny Daniels; the Bucks man had a run at goal but as two defenders covered, he still got his shot away. Willis must have seen Daniels’ deflected shot late but still got down to get fingertips on the ball, touching it wide of the base of his right post.

From the resulting corner, Nolan rose to direct a header just over the angle of post and bar, and there was a sense that the Bucks could soon add to their tally, but few people saw the next goal coming.

On 61 minutes, as the Bucks tried to clear an attack down the Reds left-hand side, Daniels couldn’t get distance on a header and succeeded in nudging the ball to Bailey Hobson. The Reds youngster is a hot property, and with barely a though he fired a shot at goal that went like an arrow into Pilling’s top-right hand corner, the keeper powerless to stop it.

From nowhere, the Reds were level, and the Bucks were in a street-fight. Nolan brought another fine save from Willis, the keeper pushing Nolan’s downward header from a free-kick over his bar as the ball bounced upwards. Midfielder Keaton Ward then showed great footwork to create a shooting chance from around the penalty spot, but fired his effort just over the angle of the goal to Willis’s left.

With a quarter of the game remaining, the Reds completed the turnaround. Some loose play from Burke conceded possession and from a right-wing cross, the 37 years old man-mountain Rhead scored the sort of goal he’s built a career on, making sure nothing stood in his way as he crashed in a close-range header at the far post.

The Bucks seemed staggered by the blow, and it took them a few minutes before they gathered themselves to try and salvage a point. Alfreton, unsurprisingly, took every opportunity to slow the game down, and their man-handling of Oswell reached almost farcical levels.

On 83 minutes, the Bucks worked the ball to Moore on the right, and with players in the middle Moore struck a cross-shot that rebounded to safety off the angle of post and bar, Willis unable to cover his near post.

Their attempts to build pressure couldn’t find a path through a wall of red shirts, and as Alfreton tried to counter-attack Daniels scythed Dayle Southwell down in frustration, earning booking.

There was to be one final chance. Jordan Piggott, the Bucks captain on the day, had a shot deflected for a corner, and from the delivery, Oswell again rose highest but couldn’t keep his effort down, clearing the bar rather than burying a header for a hat-trick.

At the final whistle, Paul Carden had the body language of a man who’d returned home to find his house had been burgled, almost a sense of disbelief. His team still haven’t corrected their annoying habit of getting in their own way, and are only making the end of the season a lot more tense than needs to be the case.

Referee: Jamie O’Connor.

Assistants: Matthew Bacon, Ashley Royston.

Attendance: 1,342.

Telford: Pilling, Melhado, Burke, Lilly, Piggott, Nolan, Ward (Baker 90), Goodridge (Wright 73), Daniels, Oswell, Moore.

Subs not used: White, Sherif, Shaw.

Scorer: Oswell (45, 47).

Cautioned: Daniels.

Alfreton Town: Willis, Clackstone, Wilde, Branson, Smith, Wiley (Sutton 69), Reeves, Lund (Butterfield 56), Rhead, Southwell, Hobson (Preston 75).

Subs not used: Smith-Eccles, Johnson.

Scorers: (Rhead 51 pen, 68, Hobson 63)

Cautioned: Smith, Butterfield.