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It had been a tough
week emotionally and physically for Belper Town and it showed against
Carlton in their last game of the season.
A play off place was still
a distant dream for the Nailers and if they could win by a two goal
margin and Grantham lose to Kidsgrove, then a play off place was a
possibility.
In the event it was a
disappointing afternoon at the Bill Stokeld Stadium but Grantham came from
behind to defeat Kidsgrove in their game at the South Kesteven Stadium to
confirm their place in the play offs.
The Nailers fielded a
full strength team in an attempt to get that all important victory but
the events of the last week had left them bereft of energy, and a sharper
Carlton outfit ran out worthy winners.
With hot shots Ross
Hannah and Darryl Thomas on the field, goals were always likely but
Belper rarely looked capable of getting one over a disciplined Millers
defensive line whereas Belper frequently were caught wrong footed at the
back.
Carlton striker Steve
Chaplin came close for Carlton in only the third minute when he headed
over from a corner kick, and he went even closer four minutes later when
he turned to hit a half chance goal bound, but Paul Pettinger was alert
enough to make the save.
A typically long
throw from Scott Lowe caused problems for the home side in the 12th
minute but Ross Hannah couldn’t quite get a shot in as the ball bounced
over to the far post.
Danny Hudson curled
over a good free kick two minutes later and Jon Hobson moved in
menacingly but Grant Brindley hooked the ball away before the Belper
captain could get his head to it.
Carlton caught Belper
napping in the 21st minute when ‘keeper Alessandro Barcherini claimed
a cross into the box and immediately sent Dean Gent away with a long
throw out.
So quick was the
break that Aidan Brady had crossed for Fabian Smith before the Nailers
could react but fortunately Smith couldn’t take advantage of the
situation.
Anthony Wilson nearly
capitalized on a high ball that managed to elude Carlton’s towering back
two but Barcherini came out quickly to snuff out the threat, then on 32
minutes the Belper striker found himself in a similar situation and
although the ‘keeper lost control of the ball he quickly regained it
before Wilson could capitalize.
Carlton had another
opportunity in the 34th minute when Martin Ball headed over
from a right wing corner, but Belper’s Richard Haigh was just close with
a far post header from a Danny Hudson corner minutes later.
Ross Hannah turned
well just outside the area in the 44th minute and sent a wild
shot over the top, and Krystof Kotylo was equally wide of the mark just
before the half time whistle.
The home side struck
less than two minutes into the second period after Chaplin ran through
unchallenged and hit a shot against the oncoming Paul Pettinger.
The Belper ‘keeper’s
good work was to no avail however as Fabian Smith stuck the
rebound away from 10 yards.
Chaplin nearly made
it two in the 50th minute when he looked set to score from 15
yards but James Colliver moved across to stop the ball from crossing the
line.
Hannah’s control let
him down when there was half a chance of getting a shot in on 58 minutes,
then Ben Walker missed Belper’s best opportunity of the game so far when
he inexplicably headed over the bar from Andy Rushbury’s thoughtful cross
to the far post.
Anthony Wilson also
headed over the target from a similar position seconds later but this was
a much more difficult opportunity, but the Nailers were undone by some
slick Carlton passing on 69 minutes and Fabian Smith had the easy
task of scoring from close range.
The Nailers never
looked like retrieving the deficit and their cause became hopeless when Darryl
Thomas scored a well taken goal with a run and shot into the far
corner with 15 minutes to go.
Ben Walker atoned for his earlier miss with a nice shot
from 22 yards that beat Barcherini just inside the post and brought the
score back to 3-1, but the hard working Steve Chaplin got his goal
on 83 minutes with a close range header and end Belper’s season with a
defeat.
Tim
Harrison’s Photo Gallery
Nigel Oldrini
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