Nailers held to goalless draw

Belper went into the game off the back of an electrifying 3-1 win over 4th place Witton Albion, this result would have given the Nailers great confidence ahead of this fixture.

A win could have seen the Nailers claim to as high as 6th, just one place below the play off places, so the Belper Town players would certainly be desperate to get another win.

The first half proved difficult for both sides, with chances most certainly being at a premium.

The Nailers did have a number of early efforts from distance, however none of them were close to troubling Mason Springthorpe in the Northwich goal, with Jonathan Williams and Ruben Wiggins-Thomas firing their attempts over the crossbar.

Northwich came the closest to scoring in the first half through Michael Brewster, his curling free kick looked destined for the top corner, this before the outstretched hand of Belper shot stopper Danny Haystead spectacularly tipped his effort onto the crossbar to prevent Northwich from breaking the deadlock.

The only real chance for the Nailers came with only minutes left of the half, Jonathan Williams cross found Phil Watt inside the Northwich box, but he couldn't get a real connection on the ball as he nodded it out for a goal kick.

However, the biggest talking point of the half was the injury to Ruben Wiggins-Thomas just before the break, the striker had to be replaced by Jermaine Palmer as he hobbled to the treatment room.

Michael Brewster had yet another huge opportunity to put his side ahead. The Belper defence seemed to have fallen asleep as Brewster almost walked through for a one on one with Haystead, but his finish was extremely poor, giving the Nailers a huge let off.

Then came two huge chances in a row for the Nailers the first of which falling to Alex Steadman, Garnett made an excellent run into the box before squaring the ball across to Steadman, his chance was miraculously saved by the keeper and was put out for a corner.

This corner was whipped in well by Jonathan Williams was met by John Guy in the box, almost identical to the one which he had scored the game previous, Guys thunderous header crashed against the underside of the crossbar and somehow didn't end up crossing the line as Northwich cleared.

The draw sees the Nailers extend their unbeaten run to five consecutive games, the Nailers will next face Market Drayton, once again at the Marstons Stadium.