Rain dampens Nailers’ momentum

Rain dampens Nailers’ momentum

Belper joint-manager Ant Danylyk was left frustrated by a late call-off on Saturday as Belper Town were denied the chance to earn a second win on the trot.

The visit to Cleethorpes Town saw the Nailers complete the two-and-a-half hour journey to Lincolnshire, only for the match to be postponed at 2.15pm due to a waterlogged pitch.

That left Danylyk lamenting an opportunity missed to build on the 2-1 win over high-flying Newcastle Town four days earlier.

He said: “When we got to Cleethorpes the surface was wet but it was still playable.

“There were two or three areas of concern but I’ve played on a lot worse.

“The groundstaff did their best but it then rained a bit more, and when the ref turned up he seemed intent on calling the game off.

“It’s frustrating, but that’s non-league football for you.

“It was a five-hour round trip wasted really but there’s not much you can do about it.”

Danylyk added that having beaten Newcastle during midweek, his players fancied going to Cleethorpes and beating another leading side in the division.

He said: “We were looking to carry on our momentum as the win over Newcastle was a big one for us.

“It was important to get our first victory at home as that’s a monkey off our backs, as well as needing to bounce back from the prior defeats.

“Those things can build the pressure up over time so it’s important to stop the rot.

”Belper now plan to head to Bedworth United tomorrow, the hosts unbeaten at home so far on their 3G surface.

Danylyk said: “Their pitch perhaps gives them an advantage but it gives us the chance to go there and play the ball around a bit as to be fair we’ve got some footballers in the squad.

“I’m a bit old school when it comes to pitches and feel the artificial ones take away a lot of the tackling from the game that you want to see kept as it’s a better reflection on football, but I’m confident we’ll be fine on their surface.”

Article courtesy of Belper News