Nailers Disappointing In Defeat At Carlton

There’s no way to gloss over this performance which was way below the level supporters have come to expect, and a big opportunity was lost as the Nailers wasted their game in hand over the chasing pack.

That said, all credit to Carlton who applied themselves extremely well and cruelly exposed some of Belper’s defensive shortcoming which everyone thought had been corrected over the last two or three weeks.

The late withdrawal of Kieran Walker was a massive blow as this left the Nailers with a big gap to fill in the defence, and it wasn’t the best of nights for some other players who were not as prominent as usual.

The damage was done in the first 25 minutes after the Millers peppered the Nailers with long balls and quick passing. Alex Hardwick stabbed in the first goal in the 7th minute after a poor clearance fell invitingly to his feet, and the play was almost entirely in the Belper half.

Heads dropped when the second goal went in on 23 minutes, and again Hardwick was left all alone and beat Hedge with a shot from the outside of his foot. It took half an hour for the Nailers to meaningfully show up in the hosts penalty area.

Danny South’s header fell to Kevin Bastos whose effort was well saved , and for a couple of minutes or so the Belper fans saw something that they have been used to seeing emerge. On 33 minutes there was a valid shout for a penalty when Liam Bateman raised his arm aloft to nudge the ball away, but the referee wasn’t interested.

There was a marginal improvement after the break as the Nailers tried to make a quick impression, but Hardwick should have put the result beyond doubt when he sided footed a great chance wide on 49 minutes.

Revarnelle James lost the chase for a through ball 2 minutes later as Felix Annan beat him to the it, however the Nailers managed to pull a goal back on 58 minutes when Cameron Johnson finished well to get the ball over the line from a South headed assist.

A large contingent of Nailers supporters in the modest crowd genuinely thought that Belper would roar back into the game, but it just never happened.

Hedge made three fantastic saved in the 64th, 67th and 70th minute, opportunities that should have ended up in the back of the net from Carlton’s point of view.

Belper tried to find a way through for an equaliser, but the Millers’ defenders allowed the Nailers no room to play and were on to the Belper players in a flash to stamp out any potential opportunities.

Kevin Bastos, strangely anonymous in this game had a half chance on 78 minutes, but his first time shot went disappointingly to the ‘keeper.

It was a chastening experience for the Nailers and their supporters, and while this defeat isn’t going to define a whole season, Tuesday evening’s display left more questions than answers.

Victory at home to Newton Aycliffe on Saturday will put things right and help erase Tuesday evenings defeat from the memory.

The Nailers remained at the top of the table despite defeat.

Carlton Town: Annan, Bateman, Durow, Brown, Freeman, Sargent, Manneh (Adegbola 80), Davie, Hardwick (Nangle 80), Howes (Ford 90), Hylton. Unused subs: Thompson-Harris, Hill.

Belper Town: Hedge, Rhodes (Mackie 65), Warren, Dunn, South, Martin, James (Bessadi 72), Burrows, Johnson, Troke (Cadman 72), Bastos. Unused subs: Gregory, Rabone.

Att: 262