Alfreton Town boss Billy Heath unhappy with referee after Darlington draw

Reds goalkeeper George Willis saved two first-half penalties to preserve the point, leaving Alfreton six points off the play-off places with seven games still to play.

And while Heath praised his number one for his efforts, referee Matt Corlett incurred his wrath for not producing a red card when Yusifu Ceesay was brought down by last man Alex Storey during the first-half, Storey only booked in an incident about which Darlington boss Alun Armstrong admitted afterwards: “Maybe we got away with one there.”

Heath said: “George has made two great saves. I’m not convinced by either of the penalty decisions, certainly not the first one, but we’re pleased to get the point.

"The biggest disappointment we’ve got is the lack of red card for their lad when we were on top as I can’t see how it could have been any other decision than a red card.

"But down here we get very little. We’ve gone past the point now where you’re just unlucky with decisions, when we play at home we don’t get anything – none of the big decisions, anything.

"That was a huge decision in the game and you can watch it from every angle you want and the lad has to go.

"Saying that, the second-half was tough and there were a lot of tired legs – I think the two away games and the travelling etc has taken its toll but credit to the boys for keeping a clean sheet and showing great character late on.”

Alfreton go to Chorley on Good Friday and then host York City on Monday.