Alfreton Town produce best performance of pre-season against Notts County - Billy Heath

A Nyle Blake goal in the first half gave the Reds a 1-0 win over Notts County at the Impact Arena on Friday night.

Heath said: “Really good performance - saved our best performance of pre-season until the last.

“From game one we’ve been good, but I thought today was really, really good - everyone was on their game.

“We weathered the storm first 10-15 minutes when they looked very sharp, but then we played really well.”

The season starts next Saturday (3rd August) with a tough away trip to Brackley Town.

“Brackley next week is going to be one of the toughest games of the season,” said Heath.

“They’re always in the mix and got some really good players and an experienced manager - it’s going to be tough.

“But tonight was really encouraging against a side a league above us.

“We know they’ve got problems, but they had some very good players and I think we were the better team.

“After the first 10 minutes we were good. We know our squad is small, 16 or 17 including the youth players, but we’ve got to produce that every week.”

And Heath added: “I was pleased with Ben Tomlinson’s first appearance after injury.

“He showed what he is capable of and when Dec Bacon came on he was absolutely magnificent.

“I had to ask him to play as a point man in midfield and he was fantastic.

“It just goes to show everyone’s busting a gut to get into the side - the team is working so hard.”