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The
Nailers had to be satisfied with a point from The Hawthorns as old
adversaries Brigg Town pushed them all the way in this wind affected game
in North Lincolnshire.
Belper
made two changes from the team that got through to the Derbyshire Senior
Cup final in midweek, with goalkeeper Paul Pettinger making a return
between the posts while Krystof Kotylo made his first start after
returning from an injury lay off.
Anthony
Wilson was named on the team sheet but there was a last minute change
after he began to feel unwell and he swapped places with Richard Tracey
on the bench.
Scott
Helliwell immediately put Belper under pressure with a run on the left
and his cross eventually found John Borland although his shot went well
wide, but the Nailers shocked Brigg by taking the lead in the 5th
minute.
It
stemmed from Krystof’ Kotylo’s pass into the penalty area where Ross
Hannah touched it on to Richard Tracey, and the Belper striker hit
a great volley past Damian Steer.
The
Zebras counter attacked quickly in the 7th minute when
Hellewell streaked away again and with Belper out of position, they
failed to make the most of the opportunity.
In
the 16th minute Johnny Nicholls had time to make use of the
ball and he opted to give it Hellewell but he could only blast the ball
over the cross bar.
A
combination of tackling from Andy Rushbury and Haigh gave the Belper full
back an opportunity for a shot but the ball drifted beyond the far post.
The
experienced ex-professional John Borland got on the end of a 30 yard pass
from Tommy Spall and despite having plenty of time to shoot he whacked
the ball high and wide.
Haigh
thumped the ball from 40 yards and the wind took it safely into the arms
of Steer on 36 minutes and, to be fair, Belper had posed
little threat to the home side since they scored the goal and it was the
Zebras who picked up the pace in the last 10 minutes of the half.
Borland
hit the ball wide from the edge of the penalty area on 39 minutes then
Brigg cut the Nailers open with another direct move 3 minutes later and
Rick Day met Hellewell’s cross with a firm header.
Paul Pettinger made a
great save from close range and moments later he was sprawling to his
right to save Jack Muldoon’s follow up shot from 12 yards.
Brigg
pressure eventually paid off on in the 44th minute when Rick
Day met a right wing
cross at the near post and squeezed the ball in at the narrowest angles
for the equaliser.
The
Nailers could easily have gone behind on the stroke of half time after
Day took the ball past Pettinger but somehow he managed to put his angled
shot wide, and the half time whistle came of something as a relief for
Belper.
Belper
had a shaky start to the second period when confusion in the 49th
minute allowed Day the opportunity for a shot, but fortunately Pettinger
was wise to it and made a great save.
Following
a 52nd minute corner kick the Nailers had five attempts at
trying to get the ball over the line with goalkeeper, Damien Steer saving
twice from Richard Tracey and then Andy Rushbury's follow-up effort
shaving the crossbar.
Then
Ross Hannah ran on to Danny Hudson’s precision pass in the 53rd
minute and the Belper striker was desperately unlucky to see his shot
bounce on top of the cross bar.
Hannah
streaked away again 3 minutes later and although he managed to get the
ball across to the edge of the penalty area only for Tracey to put his
shot well over the target.
For
the next 20 minutes or so the game stalled as neither side could put
together any semblance of passing moves and the ball seemed to spend most
of the time in the air.
But
the last quarter of an hour saw both teams making genuine efforts to
claim all the points.
Borland
nearly caught Pettinger off his line with a wind assisted shot on 75
minutes but the Belper ‘keeper recovered to tip the ball over.
Hannah’s
pace took him clear on 79 minutes but a Brigg defender managed to get a
challenge in just as he was about to shoot, and Anthony Wilson came close
to scoring when he headed Krystof Kotylo’s free kick goal bound and
somehow Steer got across to make the save.
Almost
immediately Pettinger had to come out of his goal quickly to deny
Helliwell who was chasing the ball down the left, but the Nailers missed
a golden opportunity to grab a winner in added on time when Wilson took
the ball past the Brigg defence but couldn’t finish with only the ‘keeper
to beat.
The
blustery wind made life difficult for the players and both teams had
their moments in an otherwise disappointing game, and considering that
some of the Belper players had been suffering from a sickness bug
beforehand, a point from this game was not too disappointing.
Tim
Harrison’s Photo Gallery
Nigel Oldrini
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