After the frustrating defeat by Chorley at Edgar Street on Saturday, the Bulls now face another play-off chasing side Alfreton Town. Once again a difficult one-dimensional side to play against. Another side well drilled in the darts arts.
However, this is an Alfreton side without the well-rounded Matt Rhead. The striker has missed the entire season and at 39, it is hard to imagine him squeezing into a football shirt again. In a way, that’s a pity because I would pay money to see him up against Tamworth’s equally generously proportioned Dolman. Probably not a surprise that when the two clubs actually did meet, there wasn’t a lot of goals. Alfreton won 1-0 at Tamworth and drew 0-0 at home. I endured the 6 minutes of highlights for the goalless draw and fair to say Tamworth were out-Tamworthed. I imagine that’s something like being Tango’ed .. but worse.
In Rhead’s absence, three other strikers have netted 27 between them. The majority of them (12) were put away by Jordan Thewlis, who always seems to score against the Bulls, regardless of what shirt he is wearing. Starting to feel like a vendetta…
Expect our visitors to start with 6 foot 4 Jake Day up front and at least 3 giant central defenders who would probably be comfortable in a rugby scrum. One of them will be ex Bull and ex-everyone else Kenny Digie. Alongside him will surely be Adam Lund, a one-man round missile launcher. Admittedly, not all our visitors are huge. Do look out for average sized Liam Waldock, who’s chipped in with 9 goals from midfield. That’s the sort of record that gets you noticed. Overall, Alfreton are close to being top scorers in the Division which is not a great thought.
Tonight is yet another battle against fellow play-off hopefuls. Alfreton reached the play-offs last season lasting precisely 3 days. At this level, they’ve reached the end of season shoot-out 3 times without winning any of them. Alfreton are in form, having won 3 of the last 4. Their away record is reasonable. Apart from beating Tamworth on their own plastic, they’ve also defeated most of the struggling sides. Combine that with a strong home record and the pair are usually good enough for a play-off spot. They’ll fancy their chances against the Bulls. We’ve not beaten them anywhere since December 2018 and even then, we needed a James Roberts penalty in the 92nd minute to secure a 2-1 win.
Despite being poorly supported, they are financially sound. Their 2023 balance sheet shows an in-the-black figure north of £200,000. That’s one of the most impressive accounts I’ve seen at this level, even if it was created largely as a result of called-up share reserves. If the owner met a premature end tomorrow– and obviously I wouldn’t wish that on anybody – the club would continue.
Let’s hope for a good turnout – remember we’re at the business end of the season and there are only 3 more regular League home games to come. Every point matters.
Alfreton Town FC (ticketco.events)
Simon Wright
