New signing Coby Hewitson, who joins the Reds on loan from Sheffield United, was called into action early in the game after a misguided back pass directed the ball into the path of Radcliffe’s Rio Clegg in the 10th minute. The young goalkeeper was quick off his line to clear the ball and avert the danger.
Alfreton’s first real chance came in the 19th minute after they were awarded a freekick of their own just inside Radcliffe’s half. a lofted delivery into the box from Billy Fewster was met by Adam Lund who had his header blocked before Max Hunt’s pullback was intercepted to keep the game level.
Unfortunately for the Reds, it didn’t stay level for long as an inswinging cross from Radcliffe’s Micahel Afuye on the right wing forced an error from Hewitson, finding the back of the net and giving the Boro the lead in the 26thminute.
They then doubled their lead just three minutes later after a backheel from Clegg played Danny Greenfield through one-on-one for him to slot the ball past Hewitson and give Radcliffe a two-goal advantage.
Radcliffe nearly found themselves a third goal in the 35th minute, but Lund got a crucial foot in to redirect Clegg’s shot out for a corner. A goalmouth scramble two minutes later kept fans in attendance on the edge of their seats, with the Alfreton back line doing well to eventually clear the ball and keep the Reds in the game going into half time.
Alfreton started the second half a bit brighter and came close to a goal of their own in the 52nd minute. Abbey was fouled by Clegg to give the Reds a freekick, which Fewster delivered on a plate for Lund, who headed the ball just wide of the bottom left-hand corner and out for a goal kick.
However, Radcliffe added insult to injury when Greenfield’s corner was headed home by a towering Brad Roscoe to give the Boro a three-goal lead.
Although three down, Alfreton did manage to pull a goal back in the 69thminute as substitute Siya Ligendza found space out wide before crossing the ball into the box. The ball glided past everyone before falling into the feet of Abbey at the far post, who put the ball away cleanly to give the boys in Red a sliver of hope.
The Reds kept fighting until the final whistle, with substitute Terell Pennant pouncing on a mistake from the Radcliffe backline that no one could drive home in the 82nd minute, as well as a clever shot from Ligendza during the six minutes of added time at the end of the second half.
Despite this, it wasn’t to be for Alfreton, with the Reds still searching for their first away win in the league this season. The next game sees the boys travel to Cambridgeshire to take on Peterborough Sports following the postponement of the Spennymoor Town game, originally scheduled for Saturday 11thOctober.
