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It was certainly a hectic
final week of the season for Belper Town and although they couldn’t quite
squeeze into a play off position, they have the considerable consolation
of picking up their first silverware for 12 years.
After taking the first leg of
the Derbyshire Senior Cup at the Impact Arena by the odd goal in five it
was all set up for an interesting second leg at Christchurch Meadow.
And what a night it turned out
to be.
Once Ross Hannah had cancelled
out Chris Walton’s opener for Alfreton in the 69th minute the
stage was set for a fantastic finale that culminated in Belper skipper
Jon Hobson receiving the Derbyshire Senior Cup in front of cheering
Nailers’ supporters.
A wait of 28 years had finally
come to an end and the disappointment of defeats in previous finals was
swept away as the Belper players and supporters soaked up the atmosphere
and revelled in their achievement.
Joint managers Andy Carney and
Danny Hudson can be very proud of bringing success back to Christchurch
Meadow and hopefully this is just the start of a very successful tenure
for the pair.
The players have played their
part too of course and they showed grit, determination and flair to
defeat a team that ply their trade two divisions higher, and this
difference in standard can’t be emphasised enough when assessing Belper’s
achievement.
Congratulations to everyone
who made this competition such a success for the club.
It was a shame, although
completely understandable under the circumstances that the Nailers
couldn’t quite make it into the play offs and this takes nothing away
from the fact that the team have performed very well this season.
After many seasons of
struggle, Carney and Hudson have installed belief in the squad they have
painstakingly put together and brought a sense of pride and self-respect
back to a club that had been ailing on the field.
To be fair the last thing that
was wanted in the final week of the campaign was the longest trip of the
season on a Thursday evening to Colwyn Bay.
But after the mental and
physical toll from last Tuesday this is precisely what Belper had to do
and it was a tall order to expect them to get three points from Llanelian
Road.
As it turned out the Nailers
could have come back to England victorious and after Ross Hannah notched
his 26th goal of the season, Bay came back to take the lead
before Andy Rushbury levelled the scores.
Then a final push in the dying
moments saw Lee Stevenson hit the bar with a shot, but even if they had
chalked up all three points and won at Carlton they would still have
failed to dislodge Grantham who did what they had to do against
Kidsgrove.
The Carlton game was
disappointing and to lose by 4-1 perhaps showed that there are some
weaknesses that Carney and Hudson need to address over the summer,
although fatigue was the prime reason for the below par performance.
At the time of writing all but
Ross Hannah have committed themselves to another campaign at Christchurch
Meadow.
Hannah wants to consider his
options before signing up for another season which his perfectly
understandable for a young player who has ambitions to play at a higher
standard.
His 26 goals will obviously
attract suitors from more senior clubs but the management at Belper will
try to convince him to stay and be part of what everyone hopes will be a
promotion winning team next season.
Joint manager Danny Hudson
summed up the campaign saying, “it’s been a good season for us and we now
have the nucleus of a good side, and with two or three additions we will
hope to hit the ground running in August.”
“We’ve been able to bring some
silverware to the club and we’ve had a good season in the league so
there’s plenty to build on, and the formation of a second team will help
us develop a youth policy which will hopefully pay
dividends”.
“We are in a much stronger
position than we were a year ago when it comes to attracting players and
we are already in talks with two or three who will strengthen us.”
“An experienced defender
another midfield player and wide player with pace are our targets, and of
course a replacement for Ross (Hannah) if he doesn’t stay.”
Now everyone connected with
the club can take a breather and look back with pride on a successful
season and now the foundation are solidly laid, the prospect of more
success next term is a very exciting one for the club and the town.
Nigel
Oldrini
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