Match Preview | Alfreton Town v Oxford City
The lowdown on the Alfreton clash.
Oxford City travel to Derbyshire for a clash with Alfreton Town on Saturday in the Vanarama National League North (3pm KO) which will be their first away trip since the journey to King's Lynn on 18th February.
City are coming off the back of a heavy defeat to Buxton but will be grateful for the week they've spent on the training ground as they prepare for the final few games of the season.
While City may be in some bad form, Alfreton are in an equally poor vein of form. They have lost 11 out of 14 games in 2025 and haven't come away with all three points since they travelled to Scarborough on 8th February.
City sit just above the relegation zone with a mere two points separating themselves and Needham Market. A victory would go a long way to providing some safety for the Hoops, particularly with a stretch of important games approaching.
The Hoops will be hoping to show some sort of fight back after last weekend's result. It's a big game for both sides.
FIXTURE DETAILS
Alfreton Town v Oxford City
The Impact Arena – Saturday 15th March – 3:00pm
Vanarama National League North
Referee: Lee Hible Assistant Referees: Martin Chester & Ian Ruddock | Fourth Official: Thomas Viles
Form (League Only)
ALFRETON TOWN- L L D L L
Alfreton have picked up just one point from the a possible 21 in their last seven games. That came against relegation battling Warrington Town as they drew 2-2.
After the impressive start the Reds made to the season, in recent months it seems the wheels have fallen off. They have managed just 4 goals in their last seven games and conceded at least two goals in all of those games.
They seem to be finding more form away from home than at The Impact Arena. At home, they average 1.12 points per game while on the road they muster 1.32 points per game.
Alfreton will be hoping to arrest their slide down the league. and steady the ship as the end of the season closes in.
OXFORD CITY - L L D D L
It hasn't been an easy couple of weeks for City with the devastating loss to Woking followed up with a day to forget against Buxton, but City have work to do as they battle the drop.
The Hoops have failed to score in the last three league games and it takes their winless run to seven.
Manager Ross Jenkins was able to get the squad on the training ground for a full week of training and is confident that the Buxton game has been processes and handled correctly and the side are ready to travel to Alfreton and take all the spoils.
THE MANAGER - BILLY HEATH
Heath is at the helm of the Reds for his seventh season and the last two campaigns have seen his side knocked out during the playoffs. After his side started this campaign so strongly it looked a certainty that they would be back there again but poor form has seen them plummet down the league.
He took charge of his 300th game in charge of Alfreton against Kidderminster Harriers. He is the second-longest serving manager in the history of Alfreton Town and the second-longest serving manager in the National League North behind Leamington Town's Paul Holleran.
He has guided Alfreton to their first piece of silverware in years as they won the Derbyshire County Cup in 2018/19 but have been knocked out by the eventual winners twice in the National League North.
The 53-year-old began his managerial career at Bridlington Town where he remained for six years before moving onto Frickley Athletic, then North Ferriby United before he moved to Halifax Town in 2016. Heath joined the Reds in 2018.
ONE TO WATCH - JED ABBEY
Division rivals South Shields released Abbey at the end of last season and he has come back to bite them. Abbey is currently the Reds' stop scorer in the league with nine.
Abbey has dual Netherlands and Ghana Nationality and was a product of the Wolverhampton Wanderers Academy.
After a spell at AFC Telford United including a loan at Stafford Rangers Abbey enjoyed breakout season in senior football at Alvechurch.
The 6 foot 4 box to box midfielder scored 19 goals for Alvechurch in the 2022/23 campaign as 'Church enjoyed a fairy tale run to the second round of the Emirates FA including a stunning dead ball freekick that levelled the scores against Forest Green Rovers before FGR went on to win the tie by a 2-1 scoreline.
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