Nailers stop the rot

The Nailers really needed a win at the Dovecote but past history shows that they have a poor record there so to come home with a point could be considered as something of an achievement.

Barnard’s long road to recovery from cruciate ligament surgery looked to be complete after he played a full 90 minutes, and his quality at left back was every bit as evident as it was before the injury struck at Grantham towards the end of last season.

Barnard’s inclusion saw James Colliver switch to right back and Mickey Harcourt move forward into a right hand side midfield role, while Luke Fedorenko’s (pictured) impressive performances as a substitute in recent games earned him a rare start.

Mark Barnard quickly made an important contribution as early as the 2nd minute when he fed the ball through the middle to Lee Stevenson, but ‘keeper Nick Jupp managed to deflect the ball away for a corner kick.

James Colliver nearly produced the opener from the corner kick but Jupp got his finger tips to the Belper skipper’s header to see the ball safely over the cross bar.

Luke Fedorenko repaid the confidence that the management had shown by selecting him from the start by scoring what proved to be Belper’s only goal of the evening in the 8th minute.

He fooled Jupp with a dipping shot from 22 yards and the ball had hit the back of the net with the ‘keeper flapping at thin air.

But Belper’s early joy was short lived as Shepshed equalised two minutes later when the Nailers’ defence opened up for Luke Barlone to strike a stunning volley just inside the post giving Adam Ogden absolutely no chance.

Fedorenko hit another great effort from a similar distance to his first, but this time Jupp threw himself full length to divert the ball away, and in the 34th minute he supplied an accurate free kick for Lee Stevenson to head just wide.

The Nailers were denied the opportunity to regain the lead two minutes into the second half when Barnard sent over a cross for Lee Stevenson to meet with a header, but the Dynamo ‘keeper somehow got a hand to the ball and pushed it over the cross bar.

Tom Naylor put a 53rd minute header straight at Jupp as the Nailers tried to maintain their momentum, but they couldn’t capitalise on a number of breaks when they had the Shepshed defenders stretched.

It was an even second half with both teams threatening to add to their scores and the Nailers had a few anxious moments as the game wore on as they defended a number of crosses and corner kicks.

Fedorenko’s 69th minute overhead kick was just too high, and then the Belper winger put a free kick inches wide before being replaced by Dean Oliver on 83 minutes.

The Nailers defended solidly as a unit in the latter stages and might have sneaked a win if Tom Naylor had managed to keep down his shot from 18 yards with virtually the last kick of the game.

Shepshed Dynamo: Jupp, Connolly, Koriya P, Cummins, Goodby, Allen, Civzelis, Sheppard, Barlone, Ulker Fitzharris 53), Robinson (Agbor 71). Unused subs: Atkin, Koriya R, Harding.

Belper Town: Ogden, Colliver, Barnard, Naylor, Adams, Haigh, Telling, Stevenson (Ryan 61), Froggatt (Wilson 74), Harcourt, Fedorenko (Oliver 83). Unused subs: Hudson, Hindley.

Referee: A Sheffield (Walsall)

Attendance: 104

Match Action:
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