FA CUP: Alfreton cruise past local rivals

Report by Gordon Foster

FA Cup qualifying round II
Matlock Town 0
Alfreton Town 5 - Bettney 2, Nwadike 5, Knapper 19, Godber 40, Duffield 55

Alfreton handed old rivals Matlock Town a lesson in finishing at Causeway Lane on Saturday, and in so doing gave manager Dave Lloyd his first ever FA Cup win with the club.

Two goals inside the first five minutes, from Chris Bettney and Emeka Nwadike, set the Reds on their way, and John Knapper and Mick Godber doubled the lead by half time with goals in the 19th and 40th minutes.

With the job done, Alfreton eased off the gas in the second half, but Peter Duffield added one more to the tally to leave the Gladiators contemplating defeat by the Reds in each one of their last nine competitive meetings.

One has to go back to a UniBond League Cup tie in 1997-98 for the last Matlock victory over Alfreton, despite the fact that since then the Reds had plummeted to the depths of the Northern Counties East League for three seasons - in each of which they beat Matlock in the Derbyshire Senior Cup - before starting the long haul back.

Lloyd hailed his men's showing as 'a good, solid, professional performance'. He added: 'We deflated them in the first few minutes, then got in behind them and created more chances. We were clinical but did become a bit sloppy at times and allowed them a few chances.

'I would have taken 1-0 or even a replay back at Alfreton, so I'm especially pleased to have ended my personal cup hoodoo in this way. It was hard for us in the second half. We knew we had the game won, but a great strike from Peter Duffield kept things going for us.'

There were less than two minutes on the clock when the Reds fans in the Town End stand were celebrating the first goal. A bit of naïve defending by Chris James saw Godber fouled some 20 yards out, and Bettney's delightful free kick beat the defensive wall and dipped just under Kevin Tye's bar.

Three minutes later Bettney fed the ball along the left to Godber, who squared for Nwadike to thump in from close range.

A repair to the net was needed before the game could re-start, but Matlock, with a makeshift central defensive pairing of ex-Reds midfielder/full back Steve Circuit and youngster James, struggled to contain the visitors as they made their superior league status tell.

Another Bettney free kick conceded again by James brought a good save from Tye, and Circuit had to be at his best to tidy up as Godber sought to capitalise on Ben Chapman's through ball.

The home side strove to get back into contention, and Chapman had to clear a dangerous cross from Earl Alexander, before Phil Brown sent a shot skidding just wide after Steve Taylor had headed his namesake's free kick into the path of the Gladiators' player/joint manager. And Grant Brown had to head from under his own bar from Steve Taylor's cross-cum-shot after the former South Normanton striker had drawn keeper Lee Butler wide.

Having survived that flurry, Alfreton hit back, clinically as Lloyd had said, with the third goal. Matt Fisher instigated the move sending Duffield along the right, and Knapper was onto the end of the striker's low cross to thump it home from close range.

That was effectively 'game over' after 19 minutes, although Steve Taylor's 20-yard shot on the turn brought a fine save from Butler.

Matlock refused to lie down, though, and James had two bites at the cherry when his first attempt was blocked by Grant Brown and his follow-up was too high. Then Mark Blount and Grant Brown combined quickly and effectively to snuff out the threat after Steve Taylor had got round Butler and looked certain to pull a goal back.

Once again Alfreton had to show their hosts how to take their chances, and in the 40th minute Nwadike and Duffield worked a smart and incisive interchange from which Nwadike was sent away along the right. He delivered a driven cross, and Godber was on hand to hammer it into the net past the despairing dive of the exposed Tye.

Matlock almost scored soon before half time when Simon Barraclough pounced on Grant Brown's full-stretch clearance and ran through the inside left channel , but screwed his shot beyond the far post.

The Gladiators must have gone in for the break wondering what they had to do, for they had created almost as many chances as the Reds, but their profligacy had been in stark contrast to Alfreton's ice-cool finishing power. And ace marksman Duffield had not yet come up with his customary goal.

The second half was tame in comparison. Lloyd brought off Fisher who had suffered a kick, and sent on Chris Dolby, with Bettney switching flanks to the left and Nwadike moving into central midfield.

Phil Brown tried to lead his Matlock troops by example with a surging run half the length of the field before finishing low past the far post. And Steve Taylor should have scored when well placed, but completely missed the target. His failure was dealt instant punishment as play swept to the opposite end and Duffield lashed home a venomous strike from just outside the area.

The rest was academic. Butler saved at the feet of substitute Leroy Chambers, and Ian Robinson and Dolby both took a leaf out of Matlock's book and wasted excellent chances for Alfreton. But in the end, for all Matlock's brave efforts, they just did not have enough in their armoury to stand in the way of this excellent Alfreton side.

The Reds netted £3,750 for their progress into the penultimate qualifying round stage, and will hope to complete a run into the first round proper and, with it, the chance of a bit of financial security. And such a run could just awaken the people of the town to this rather special side that they currently have in their midst, seemingly without realising it.

Matlock: Tye, Hopkins, R. Taylor (Parker 59), Clarke, Circuit, James, Sisson (Webster 72), P. Brown, S. Taylor (Chambers 68), Barraclough, Alexander.
Subs not used: Williams, Crapper.
Bookings: P. Brown 58 (late challenge on Knapper).

Alfreton: Butler, Robinson, Chapman, Blount, G. Brown (Hume 72), Knapper, Bettney (Bradshaw 55), Fisher, (Dolby h/t), Godber, Duffield, Nwadike.
Subs not used: Holmes, Sale.

Referee: Chris Byrne of Stockport.
Attendance: 834.