Alfreton enjoyed their best season in the Conference Premier but still were left rather deflated and disappointed at the end of it. The Reds took the step to become part-time club during the close season but that left them room in terms of wage bill and they constructed a pretty impressive squad before the start of the campaign. Seasoned campaigners like Nick Fenton and Chris Westwood boosted the defence whole John McGrath and Tom Shaw added guile in midfield. Yet, the biggest coup proved to be John Akinde as the bustling striker showed the sort of form that constantly terrorised opposition defences and provided outlet and goal threat for the team. The team made a flying start of the campaign with a superb 3:1 win over a strong Kidderminster side in only their second game of the season. The impressive manner of the display gave the players a real platform to build on and they maintained their strong level of results and performances over the coming months. Their away form left a lot to be desired but they were always hard to beat at home and the superb industry and effort of the players was definitely commendable. They really stepped up their form at the end of 2013 and actually claimed nine wins from a run of 12 games in the league. That lifted them into a comfortable play-off position and Nicky Law started to openly talk about promotion. However, they lost their momentum during a long run without a game in January, due to the bad weather, and failed to reach the same heights after that. Shaun Harrad was signed to share the goal burgeon with Akinde and the team kept on digging deep and getting great results occasionally. They did beat Cambridge 1:0 in February and seemed certain to finish in the top-five back then but that proved their only significant win against a strong side from New Year’s Day until the end of the season. The loss of McGrath and Michael Wylde to injuries proved a real blow while a three-points deduction for fielding an ineligible player heaped the pressure as the chasing pack closed in. Law and his players failed to deal with the satiation well enough and the run of eight games without a win in the final six weeks of the season saw their campaign fizzle out on a whimper. Defeats to the likes of Aldershot and Halifax really ended their challenge and the manager could not hide his disappointment at the end as he felt that this was a great opportunity to make the step up and they missed it. That was still a pretty good season overall and the team did better than expected. Yet, they face a struggle in terms of boasting the same calibre of squad next season and it may be a tougher campaign ahead.
