Nailers Eliminated From FA Trophy

PHOTO: Danny Haystead leaps to collect the ball (Pic: Tim Harrison)

Belper Town would have gone into this cup game looking to get that monkey off their backs, as they have only gained one point from home this season in four games.

The visitors were also looking to give themselves a boost, with them currently sitting 20th in the
northern equivalent of Belpers league.

The first half played out much like the game against Leek Town the week previous to this fixture, with both sides struggling to create chances and truly test each other's goalkeepers.

Jonathan Williams had the best chance of the half by far, he made a great into run the box as he breezed past a number of Goole defenders. However, he struggled to get the shot off and the keeper easily palmed it away. This sparked a major goalmouth scramble, with the Belper players desperately trying to force the ball into the back of the net, but Goole managed to get the ball away and end the attack.

Goole created very few chances in the first half, mainly due to a superb defensive display from Will Dennis at right back, he made a number of outstanding challenges to end several promising Goole attacks that could have created real opportunities.

The Nailers had the better of the first half and would certainly be looking to turn this early control into goals in the second half, but more importantly a victory.

This game would come down to the tactical moves from the men in the dug outs, with the substitutions clearly playing a major part in changing the game, with the introductions of Matt Richards and Ryan King seeming to liven the Belper Town attack up and Bobby Johnson adding an extra spark to the Goole team.

With 10 minutes to go, Ruben Wiggins-Thomas broke the deadlock for the Nailers. Ryan King put in a superb cross towards the feet of Wiggins-Thomas in the six yard box, Wiggins-Thomas simply couldn’t miss as he drilled his shot into the bottom right corner.

But this Belper Town joy was short lived, as just 5 minutes later the game was all square. Belper failed to properly clear a corner as it fell to the feet of Goole skipper Derry Robson who struck the ball superbly in to the top right hand corner, seemingly setting up a replay at Goole.

The Belper players had not given up on getting a win late on, with them getting a corner deep into added time. However, Goole quickly cleared this and began to break instantly through Nathan Modest, he picked out Bobby Johnson who had plenty of time with the ball on the edge of the box. He composed himself before firing his shot into the bottom left, and firing Belper Town out of the FA Trophy.