George Cantrill’s superb 84th-minute half volley broke Oxford City's hearts this weekend at the Impact Arena in what may be considered a relegation six-pointer come the end of the season.

In what has been a rotten run of form for The Reds it was an unlikely hero in George Cantrill, who scored his first goal of the season to cancel out Zac McEachran’s early goal.

Alfreton were in the ascendancy for large portions of the game but the dismissal of Jalen Jones for Oxford City is what allowed the home side to tighten the screw and finally take one of the many chances they had created in the game.

This result will be seen as two points dropped for by both though, as each side had plenty of chances to put the game to bed.

Everyone in attendance also seemed to agree on the inconsistencies in the referees' decisions, which both sets of fans, and especially Billy Heath, made apparent.

This result still leaves Alfreton searching for their first home victory of 2025, with only eight points secured from the last possible 48. A stark drop off from the once-promotion hopefuls.

Both sides come out of the match still looking over their shoulder at the relegation places, especially with Needham Market picking up three points.

The game started off with a moment's silence for Alfreton Towns recently passed coach driver before the action got underway.

It would be Oxford City who started the quicker of the two sides and took the early lead through McEachran, as poor defending from Alfreton was pinished with 10 minutes elapsed.

The half only got worse for The Reds as new signing David Solademi was forced off early into the first half, where he was replaced by the returning Dwayne Wiley.

As the half came to a close Alfreton began to show some of their early season form, with penalty claims for a handball waived away.

As well as a Sam Osbourne's free-kick finding Jake Day in the box who could only head over what was definitely the home sides best chance of the game thus far.

Going into half-time with his side losing yet again Billy Heath must have had some strong words for his players.

Coming out strong for the second half, Alfreton again worked into the box and had another claim for a penalty for a foul on Liam Waldock, but the decision went in favour of Oxford.

The theme of this second half was a lot of Alfreton pressure but struggling to create anything substantial, while Oxford City kept a threat on the counter.

This was evident when Josh Parker struck the post from only six yards out on one such threatening Oxford City counters.

Alfreton were given a lifeline to finally break through the Oxford City back line when centre-half Jalen Jones was sent off for handling the ball with 10 minutes to go.

This gave Jed Abbey a free kick in which he struck the crossbar, in what was a fantastic effort.

Alfreton were finally able to make their pressure pay as a Lewis Salmon cross came loose and fell to George Cantrill who smashed home the equaliser on the half-volley.

Despite seven additional minutes, neither side were able to break the deadlock as the final whistle was blown with the score 1-1.

This result leaves The Reds 18th with just 9 points between them and the drop with nine games to play. Next up is the visit of Darlington to the Impact on Tuesday night

Attendance 409