SEMI FINAL SPOT SECURED FOR ALFRETON FOLLOWING JONES HAT TRICK

ALFRETON TOWN 6 V LONG EATON 0
DERBYSHIRE SENIOR CUP 1/4 FINAL AT THE IMPACT ARENA
19 JANUARY 2015 7.45PM

OVERVIEW OF THE IMPACT WITH FROST COVERS ROLLED BACK

Departing The Impact Arena to The Clash's 80's hit 'I Fought The Law and the Law won' blasting out over the pa system would certainly be music to the ears of boss Nicky Alfreton whose side had done him and the club proud over recent weeks including tonight's consistent performance.
Sam Jones carved out a quality hat trick for The Reds and added to that a brace from Jamie Jackson and a second half strike from Jordan Robertson it was a dominant evening for the re energised home side.  Midland Football League step 5 visitors Long Eaton found themselves under pressure from the first to the 90th minute and you had to feel a little sorry for them as they came up against a strong Alfreton side who are clearly 'up for' a bit of Derbyshire Senior Cup success this season.
One of the shortest blog trips saw arrival in Alfreton just over an hour before kick off and there was a little time to test out the Costa Coffee self service machine in the local Coop plus add a sausage roll to the diet!  As ever with county cup games there was not expected to be a big gate and so it proved with 153 loyal supporters turning out to encourage their respective teams. 
As ever there was a selection of local glitterati to say hi to with Tony from Heanor in attendance with Groundhop's Chris also their.

MR WHEATCROFT IN ACTION

Local photographer Bill Wheatcroft was there too and tonight he was on duty getting some snaps from the game, always good to catch up with these guys for the latest news.  Thankfully there was some time also to speak with Mark and Brian from the programme/badge shop and Mr Alfreton Bill Draper of pa and consecutive games fame.
Tonight's match was playable thanks to a thawing out of the frost and the excellent work of Alfretons volunteers in getting the pitch covered in frost protecting covers, well done guys!
Straight to the game and Alfreton were out of the traps like a champion greyhound and may have been two up before they found the back of the net after 5 minutes when Jones lashed home a cross goal effort from 14 yards out on the right hand side of the box.  Ten minutes before the break he had got his second a quality goal that saw his two footed shuffle with back to goal enough to get him invited onto the next season of Strictly Come Dancing, before turning and driving home a lovely strike into the bottom left hand corner of the goal.
The second half started apace with three goal in 5 minutes first on 59 minutes Jones completed an old fashioned hat trick with all goals in sequence when he weaved through the visitors defence to lash the ball home, to pick his best effort would have been difficult this was a quality triple.
Reds Robertson added the fourth when he fired home from the 8 yards on 61 minutes and then two minutes later it was 5-0 with substitute Jackson put away a confident finish.

FAN EYE VIEW OF A GOOD NIGHT FOR THE REDS

Alfreton continued to play some lovely football with final touches just denying them a bigger lead but they did score again after 78 minutes with a sweet move inflicting further damage on a tiring Long Eaton side, Cliff Moyo and Dan Bradley combined to cross off the right for Tom Allan to head back across goal from the back post and Jackson was there to fire home his second.
Following a weekend without a game the previous Saturday Alfreton would be grateful for this game which brought in two county cup rounds in 8 days with progression to the semi finals now achieved.  In recent years there has been some dour matches in this competition but with Alfreton heading towards a deserved improvement in the league they seem determined to give their supporters a little bit of glory as they eye up a final appearance at The Proact towards the end of the season.
Departure into an ever cooling evening saw a return to base not before a refreshment break was taken in the big 'T's'!

TIGHT BENCH WITH MANAGER NICKY LAW ON THE WALL