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It may not be remotely enjoyable to watch, but what they do wins football matches, and given that not many people watch them the need to be watchable is lessened, and the temptation to prioritise doing whatever it takes to just about win games is understandable, I suppose.
That approach saw them finish fifth last season, and they’re going well again this time, sitting in sixth place, two points above Hereford with a game in hand. This, therefore, is something of a play-off six-pointer.
The Reds have an identical recent record to the Whites: W2 D1 L2. They lost at resurgent Spennymoor last Tuesday (with Moors now irritatingly close to suddenly parking their tanks all over the play-off lawn), before winning 3-2 at Farsley on Saturday, with the state of the Citadel pitch not really being an issue as they wouldn’t have used it much over the course of the match.
Striker Jordan Thewlis is proven at this level, and has twelve goals in 27 league games this season. Fellow front man Lewis Salmon isn’t getting a start currently, but could leap off the bench if they need additional striking options. He’s got eight goals.
At
the other end of the pitch goalkeeper George Willis is the Pele of timewasting in
this division, in what is quite a competitive field. Ex-Bull Kennedy Digie has
spent the season in front of Willis, patiently waiting a very long time for the goalie to do his OAP-with-a-bad-back act at every goal kick when they're winning, with skipper Dwayne Wiley, a key
player/brick wall for the hosts, alongside Ken at centre back. Why, why, why don't referees book early and send off later for such cynicism? Am I missing something in terms of how it all just seems to be tolerated?
Adam Lund’s throw-ins are what he’s most noted for, and you know what that means.
For a club of limited means, Alfreton do always seem to recruit shrewdly. Central defender Harry Perritt, for instance, was signed from Altrincham in the summer having played 21 times in the division above last season. Liam Waldock, brought in from Gainsborough, again last summer, has weighed in with 11 goals from midfield. He’s also their dead-ball specialist. And striker Jake Day, in his second spell with the club, is 6’ 4” and a former amateur boxer. He’s pitched in with eight goals. Day and Waldock both scored at Farsley on Saturday.
In October, they won the reverse fixture 3-1, with Jordan Lyden kicked out of the game, Yusifu Ceesay tightly marked, and the officiating baffling.
They go long and they also go down, very readily if the score is 0-0, and they stay down for longer if, shudder, it’s 1-0 to them. As ever with this approach, a streetwise ref, taking no nonsense from the start in not being afraid to dish out yellow cards early to nip it in the bud, would be good. One can but dream.
As for Hereford, Yusifu Ceesay goes up against his old club here, and now has the Chorley game in his legs, which will hopefully have sharpened his fitness after his recent absence. He shouldn’t lack motivation.
Lassana Mendes returns from suspension, and gives Paul Caddis another option at last in midfield.
With the side drawing a blank on Saturday, perhaps Kieran Phillips will be tried from the start up front here, although Jason Cowley would at least be sure to get among the defenders, and give the visitors a taste of their own medicine a little bit.
As so often seems to be the case, Hereford’s record in the head-to-heads between these clubs is improvable - they’ve won just one of the nine meetings.
Saturday’s somewhat flat performance was actually quite shrewd, as it keeps the play-off qualification situation on a knife edge, meaning that perhaps all of the remaining eight games of the season will be nail-biters, which might keep attendances high. Think how boring it would be to find yourself mathematically assured of a play-off spot with four games to go.
I
suppose that point of view may only find favour with those who see football as
an entertainment business rather than a results business, those who would
prefer to watch Andrea Pirlo for 90 minutes rather than Terry Butcher. It’s no
secret which side of that argument Alfreton Town are on. They may well have a
picture of Terry Butcher hanging up in their dressing room as inspiration, with
lit candles beneath it.
It would be lovely if passing football rather than agricultural flailing came out on top here, both morally and because it would be three more points in the play-off bag. Much will depend on the three central defensive amigos holding firm in the face of the aerial bombardment, allowing the rest of the team to assert themselves more elegantly elsewhere on the pitch.
PS – if you fancy an Edgar Street floodlight pylon in your garden as a little memento now’s probably the time to stake a claim. It would be a big trickier to carry off with you at the end of the season than the traditional square of turf though.
COYW