All square in six-goal thriller

The Nailers made one change from the side that won so impressively at Rushall four days previously with Like Fedorenko starting ahead of Dean Oliver who suffered a knock to his suspect ankle and was deemed not fully fit.

Asa Ingall was available for selection again after recovering from an ankle injury and Danny Hudson was also named on the bench for the second game running.

Ricky Miller gave the Nailers an anxious moment in the 5th minute when he executed a smart turn and hit a low shot just past the far post, and Tony Battersby then sent a long far post cross beyond the Belper defenders and Miller headed wide of the upright.

Lee Stevenson (pictured) responded with a wild shot over the crossbar in the 12th minute and Luke Fedorenko actually had the ball in the net shortly afterwards but the referee had spotted an earlier infringement on the Stamford keeper.

But Belper took the lead with a superbly worked goal in the 18th minute beginning with a precise Mickey Harcourt pass that was knocked wide by Ben Walker to Anthony Wilson.

Walker continued his run into the penalty area and was in the right place to send a stooping header past Chris Wright from Wilson’s perfect cross.

The Nailers began to play some attractive football and put the Stamford defenders under pressure, but the Daniels also fought back with some enterprising moves that reminded Belper not to be complacent.

And sure enough in the 37th minute Stamford equalised when Paul Malone jumped higher than everyone else to head a corner kick past Adam Ogden’s who couldn’t grasp the ball as it bounced on the goal line.

Andy Rushbury was a whisker away from regaining the lead for the Nailers with a left footed shot from 22 yards that sped just past the post on 42 minutes.

Anthony Wilson could have scored for Belper in the 50th minute after Luke Fedorenko crossed from the left but the Belper striker miskicked and the chance was gone.

Phil Stebbings put the ball into the net for Stamford in the 52nd minute but the referee’s assistant spotted an offside then the game exploded when Lee Stevenson hit two magnificent goals in the space of 90 seconds.

In the 53rd minute a quickly taken corner kick reached Stevenson who drilled a 20 yard shot just inside the near post and if that wasn’t impressive enough, he let fly moments later with a tremendous effort that was still rising when the ball hit the far corner of the net.

Nailers’ supporters’ cheers had barely died down when Stamford hit back with a great strike from Lee Beeson in the 56th minute and the game was back on an exiting knife edge.

Anthony Wilson tested the ‘keeper with a tremendous effort that Wright touched over the bar, but in the 70th minute Stamford broke away quickly and Ricky Miller tucked the ball away after Adam Ogden saved brilliantly from his first effort.

Both teams pressed forward believing that they could win the game and the Nailers had the lions share of the ball in the last few minutes, but neither side could find a winner and had to be satisfied with a share of the spoils which, in the final analysis was a fair result.

Belper Town: Ogden, Harcourt, Haigh, Naylor, Colliver, Adams, Fedorenko (Oliver 76), Stevenson, Walker, Wilson, Rushbury. Other subs: Ingall, Hudson, Kearney.

Stamford: Wright, Burton-Jones, Watson, Chamberlain, Malone, Weston, Beeson, Sedgemore (Stevenson M 70), Battersby, Stebbing (Cotton 70), Miller. Other subs: Matson, Burkett, Bircham.

Referee: A Smith (Castleford)

Attendance: 195

Nigel Oldrini

Photo Gallery courtesy of Tim Harrison Photography: http://www.timharrisonphotography.com/NailersAction/StmfrdH0910/index.html