The first chance for the Nailers fell to defender Phil Watt. Jermaine Hollis put in a good cross from the left to find the head of Watt, whose header drifted wide of the target.

Belper continued to control the game, with the ball spending the majority of the time in the South Normanton half of the pitch.

The main talking point of the opening period came just before the interval. Reuben Wiggins-Thomas was released through on goal only for the assistant referee to raise his flag to signal a questionable offside decision.

South Normanton hadn’t really caused any real problems for the Belper back line, with keeper Danny Haystead only involved by collecting a couple of routine crosses.

The Nailers continued to dominate the game after the break, maintaining possession much better than they did in the opening 45 minutes

The first clear opportunity came when Wiggins-Thomas raced through on goal following a great through ball from Alex Steadman that sliced open the South Normanton defence, but the South Normanton goalkeeper was out quickly and made a very good save to keep the scores level.

A fantastic ball across the box from Jermaine Hollis found its way to Nailers substitute Laurence Constable on the edge of the six yard box, but he couldn’t find a good connection and the ball was quickly cleared away to safety.

Belper continued to dominate for the remainder of the half, leading to a number of half chances, but they found it difficult to create anything clear cut and the game ended goalless.

Despite not managing the win, there was clear improvement from the opening match and they look to continue this progression going in their next friendly when the Nailers travel to Staveley Miners Welfare on Saturday.