Nailers held to goalless draw

The Nailers went into the game having won two games in a row and recording their first home win of the season, so another game at the Marstons Stadium seemed to be the perfect fixture for Belper.

However, the Nailers were clearly in for a tough test as the visitors Lincoln United came into the game having won their last two games and their star striker Jordan Hempenstall having hit a purple patch where he scored seven goals in his last four games.

The game started as promisingly as possible for the Nailers, a good run by Laurence Constable lead to Alex Steadman receiving the ball in the box, Steadmans effort smacked against the post before going out of play, the start of what would become a frustrating afternoon for Steadman.

Then 20 minutes in, the Nailers were forced into making a change after Gerome Palmer suffered an injury which has since been identified as a problem with his hamstring, this saw Ben Watkis enter the field of play in his place.

Both teams were struggling to create chances, with the majority of the chances coming from set pieces. Lincoln almost made the most of one themselves as Michael Jacklin headed just wide from his sides corner.

Then came the biggest chance of the game for the Nailers, Ruben Wiggins-Thomas put in a low cross into the box which picked Alex Steadman out perfectly at the far post, it seemed as if he had the simplest of finishes with the goalkeeper franticly trying to get back into position, but Steadman dragged his shot wide to keep the game goalless going into half time.

Belper seemingly had the better of the first half despite not being able to take their chances, but Lincoln came out in the second half and showed that they were ready to fight to try and get a winner.

Gary King's audacious long range volley glided just over the crossbar after the forward shot from roughly 30 yards out to try and beat Mark Rathbone in the Belper Town goal.

Rathbone showed throughout the game that he does have what it takes to be Belper’s number 1 on a regular basis, with a coolness throughout as he was tested by a number Lincoln crosses and shots throughout the game.

The Nailers came close to finding a winner late on, Alex Steadmans effort from the edge of the box took a deflection on its path towards the goal, this seemed to catch out Phil McGann in the Lincoln goal, who tried to recover as fast as he could, unfortunately for the Nailers the effort went agonisingly wide, just before the referee blew for full time.

Belper have now collected seven points out of a possible nine in their last three games, and with them also picking up a clean sheet, there are clear positives to take forward for the Nailers.