Nailers cement their place at the top

The match kicked off 50 minutes late due to the non-arrival of the designated match officials but with a hastily arranged replacement referee in place, the Nailers got their noses in front within three minutes of the kick off.

A lofted ball over the Warrington defence allowed Scott Taylor to beat ‘keeper Singleton in a race for the ball and the Belper youngster coolly placed his shot into the far corner of the net.

After just 7 minutes, Belper increased their lead when a cross from the right was squeezed inside the near post by Ethan Camm, the ball squirming under Singleton.

Scott Taylor sent a looping shot against the Warrington crossbar as Belper continued to press the Yellows back into defence and the same player then saw his header cleared off the goal line by full back Woodward.

But the Nailers broke through again midway through the half when Dan Watson received the ball in his stride 18 yards out and fired in a peach of a goal via the underside of the crossbar.

Strong claims for a penalty when Taylor was pulled back by his shirt went unheeded.

And to rub salt into Belper’s wounds, Warrington were awarded a penalty of their own moments later when Sam Weston impeded Yellows danger man Euan Woods outside the box, only for the referee this time to point to the spot with the Belper players scratching their heads at the decision.

Woods dusted himself down and comprehensively beat Jack Repton with the resulting spot kick.

Belper restored their three-goal advantage when Dan Watson latched onto a through ball from Joel Cain and outmuscled a covering defender before slotting the ball low past the ‘keeper.

Warrington had the advantage of a strong wind at their backs in the second half and they made the most of it just after the interval when the impressive Woods raced through the Belper defence and clinically dispatched his shot beyond Repton.

But the Nailers went 5-2 ahead after 52 minutes when the referee gave them a soft looking penalty that substitute Josh Bullock struck confidently inside Singleton’s right hand post.

Dan Watson completed his second hat-trick in successive games when he delightfully glanced in a pinpoint low cross from Bullock to complete the Belper scoring.

Singleton then performed heroics to keep out goal bound shots from Owen Patrick and Scott Taylor as Belper continued to turn the screw on a beleaguered Warrington defence and substitute George Dronfield fired over when well placed.

Warrington Town: Singleton, Woodward, Stone, Kinsella, Dunne, Parkinson, Oakley, Shaw, McGrath, Woods, McQuillan, Emery-Woods. Subs: Ncube, Pratt

Belper Town: Repton, Rodgers, Patrick, Craddock, Weston, Hall, Bradbury, Cain, Camm, Watson, Taylor. Subs: Higton, Bullock, Dronfield, Walker, Rathband, Gandola, Mighty (GK)