CONGLETON Town fought through a frustrating afternoon at Alfreton on Saturday but came away with nothing to show for their efforts.

The bears all had sore heads after losing 2-1, with the Alfreton keeper pulling off a string of quality saves to keep the visitors at bay.

Graham Dodd could have had a hat-trick in the first half and had Town's best chance as he turned and blasted a shot against the crossbar.

But the home side broke away towards the end of the half and took the lead as the Alfreton winger cut inside from the left and unleashed a diagonal shot into the net.

The lead was doubled ten minutes from the end when a low through-ball forced a one-on-one between the keeper and striker which the front man won to put the game out of reach.

Craig Murphy immediately dragged Congleton back into the game, forcing home an excellent Lee Ellis cross at the far post.

But it was too little too late for the Bears, who now face another week on the road, with matches in Gretna Green on Saturday and Trafford on Tuesday.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.