The campaign

corner kick straight against the crossbar.

And the visitors, who finished a place below The Hatters last campaign, were soon on the scoresheet themselves when Bradley raced clear to meet Niall Heaton’s diagonal pass which sprung County’s offside trap, before the winger rolled the ball across goal for Paul Clayton to reduce the arrears.

The strike came just moments before the halftime whistle, but remarkably there was still time before the break for Lloyd to race forward straight from the County restart, and cross onto the head of Odejayi, who’s header cannoned home off the underside of the crossbar.

Half-time was then signalled, and despite County’s defence being breached for a dubious Alfreton goal just seconds before Odejayi’s header, the general consensus appeared to be one of excitement at County’s slick attacking play, led by Lloyd and Marsden and supported by the lively Minihan.

But the second half would prove to be a complete change of pace, as Law’s side came out firing on all cylinders, once again reducing the deficit almost instantly, as Heaton’s long throw found Tom Allan who was able to deftly hook the ball home.

The Hatters’ back four came under pressure for almost the entirety of the second half, with Chris Smalley and Michael Clarke facing repeated aerial challenges against battering ram Clayton.

But despite Alfreton’s directness, it was a wonderful long range strike from Bradley which hauled the away side level just before the hour mark, ●●Jim Gannon and with the score tied at 3-3, Alfreton looked the more likely victors until County stepped it up with the assist of a mindless red card.

With the hosts rarely venturing forward in the second half, and when the first-half’s star performer Lloyd was replaced – to the disappointment of the forward, as well as a section of the home support – Alfreton would have fancied their chances of taking a seemingly unlikely three points.

But the introduction of Stopforth and big striker Josh Amis provided fresh impetus for Gannon’s promotion hopefuls, and half of the ground soon thought The Hatters were back in the lead when centre-back Clarke volleyed into the side netting from a Marsden cross.

With the tie finely balanced heading into the last ten minutes, the previously impressive Allan held onto the ball for too long as Stopforth sought to restart proceedings with a throw-in, and the Alfreton midfielder received his marching orders via a second yellow card.

Nicky Law shook his head from the dugout at the needless dismissal, and Allan’s baffling timewasting would prove to be costly. Two minutes into the allotted four of stoppage time, Marsden’s freekick was punched clear by Spiess and away from the packed penalty area – but the ball only dropped to the patiently waiting Stopforth, who met the dropping ball on the volley and calmly side-footed his effort home to the delight of Edgeley Park.

With full-time signalled shortly after, the resulting ‘pile-on’ celebration in the home dugout between players and management showed the relief at a dramatic opening day win for The Hatters. County were due to travel to Stalybridge as the Express went to print, with another anticipated local derby coming up at FC United this Friday night.