Nailers impress in victory over Witton Albion

Evan Garnett's explosive debut helped his side gain their second home win of the season as the Nailers claimed to ninth in the table.

Belper went into the game in a spell of good form, with them being unbeaten in their last four games, three of which were wins.

However, the Nailers were seemingly facing some of the toughest opposition in the league, with Witton sitting in fourth place with three games in hand over all the teams around them.

Belper started extremely positively as they moved the ball around with great precision, but struggling to break through the Witton defence in the early minutes.

New signing Evan Garnett, who rejoined the club from Alfreton Town after leaving the Nailers last season to join Kidderminster Harriers, looked particularly impressive, with a superb first touch and blistering pace that gave Wittons full backs no end of trouble.

The Nailers managed to break through the Witton defence through an excellently delivered cross by Jonathan Williams, he picked John Guy out in the box superbly before Guy powered home his header into the Witton goal.

This lead was doubled just eight minutes later as Garnett opened his tally for Belper this season. An excellent first touch from Garnett off of a long ball forward bamboozled the Witton defenders, the striker then coolly slotted his shot under the keeper to announce his arrival in the loudest way possible.

In the second half, Witton looked much more capable of getting a goal, with them keeping possession much better and attacking at will, however some superb defending from the likes of John Guy and Ben Watkis prevented Witton creating any real clear cut chances.

However, Witton did come extremely close to pulling one back midway through the second half, Robert Hopley rounded Danny Haystead in the Belper goal for what looked like a certain goal, but a piece of sheer bravery from Michael Armstrong saw the forwards shot cleared off the line.

It was apparent that Alex Steadman had put the final nail in the coffin as he got the third goal for the Nailers, an incredible through ball from Williams put Steadman through one on one with the keeper, Steadman buried the chance to give his side an unassailable lead.

Steadman's glory was momentarily halted as he seemingly fouled a Witton attacker in his own penalty area, forcing the referee to award a penalty.

Paul Williams converted the penalty to give Witton a consolation, but this simply couldn't ruin the mood on what was an electrifying night for the Nailers.