Boston United 2-1 Alfreton Town

Robbins struck in the 76th minute to hand the Pilgrims victory after Sam Jones had earlier equalised Grant Roberts' opener for United.

The Pilgrims lost the services of impressive debutant Richard Jones midway through the second half and were forced to hold on for the remainder of the match and almost eight minutes of stoppage time with various players out of position.

It was the Pilgrims' third straight win and lifted them to sixth in the Vanarama National League North standings, a third of the way into the season.

Alfreton bossed the game early on and could have taken the lead in the 14th minute when centre-half Tom Allan blasted through a crowded penalty area, only for Henrich Ravas to make the first of three world-class saves during the afternoon.

Andi Thanoj's low drive then took a deflection and threatened to wrong-foot Ravas but the keeper saved well.

United took the lead on 31 minutes when Southwell motored down the United left and his cutback was slammed home by a composed ROBERTS from inside the penalty area.

Dan Bradley's thunderbolt from 20 yards rattled Ravas' crossbar in response after Thanoj had delivered a square ball from a short corner.

Town did level a minute before the break with a great finish from JONES, holding off Liam Marrs, to smash a rising effort beyond Ravas.

Alfreton resumed their offensive after the break and Ravas was called upon to superbly claw Jones' header to safety, with Scott Garner completing the clearance off the line.

United centre-half Jones saw his debut cut short and left the pitch on a stretcher after collapsing in a heap clutching his knee. Cameron Johnson deputised from the bench and would ultimately have a hand in winning United the game.

Thanoj curled a free-kick wide from 20 yards for Town, with Jordan Richards now playing centre-half for United, and Ravas made his third wonder save by tipping Todd Jordan's header tipped on to the bar following another Alfreton set-piece.

United were hanging on for dear life but delivered the classic sucker-punch to their visitors with Johnson freeing ROBBINS with a terrific pass and the former Stamford AFC man did the rest by holding off ex-Pilgrim Stefan Galinski and finishing with aplomb at Matt Duke's near post.

Town's woes were compounded two minutes later when full-back Cliff Moyo received a second yellow card and subsequently his marching orders.

Alfreton threw absolutely everything at United in the closing stages, but the clearer chances actually fell to Robbins and Southwell in the dying embers, although Duke saved routinely on both occasions.

Boston (4-3-3): Henrich Ravas; Liam Marrs, Richard Jones (Cameron Johnson 69), Scott Garner, Dylan McEvoy; Kyle Dixon (Lartey Sarpong 53), Jordan Richards, Grant Roberts; Mark Jones (Nicky Walker 53), Dayle Southwell, Ryan Robbins. Sub (not used): Jason Alexander (gk).

Alfreton (4-1-3-2): Matt Duke; Cliff Moyo, Stefan Galinski (Sam Berry 83), Tom Allan, Ryan Wilson; Todd Jordan; Sam Jones (Joe Ironside 82), Andi Thanoj (Niall Heaton 82), Joe Leesley; Jordan Robertson, Dan Bradley. Sub (not used): Nick Draper (gk).

Referee: Anthony Tankard.

Attendance: 1,126 (80 visitors).