Of the performance against Cammell Laird, joint manager Danny Hudson was pleased with the overall result, even though the scoreline failed to reflect Belper’s dominance of the game.

Hudson explained, “It was a typical end of season game. Although Lairds had a shot that that struck the cross-bar, Adam Ogden didn’t really have a save to make. I think 3-0 was a realistic scoreline and in the end it could have been more.

The Nailers final two league games clearly demonstrated the inconsistencies that have been evident throughout the season. Saturday’s performance against Cammell Laird was not vintage Belper Town by any means but they were able to dominate, out-perform and then beat a resilient side, with the visitors fortunate perhaps only to concede three goals.

The pattern of the previous weekend’s game against Loughborough Dynamo was very similar to that of the Lairds game although the result was very different.

“Today we saw exactly the same type of game as the one at Loughborough. We dominated both games and at 1-0 we thought is it going to be one of those days but once we got the second goal it made it comfortable - and that would have been the case last week,” Hudson explained.

A level of inconsistency has plagued Belper throughout the season. Outstanding performances against Sheffield FC, Chasetown, Mickleover Sports, Ilkeston Town and Stamford in the President’s Cup have been dampened by unexpected losses to Holbrook Miners Welfare in the FA Cup, and Spalding United, Lincoln United, Brigg Town, Market Drayton Town and Loughborough Dynamo in the league.

“If you are going to do anything in this league, you have to be able to go away from home and get your points. It might not be a pretty game, but it might be a 0-0 or a 1-1 and you can pick up the points”

“The problem this season is we have not killed teams off. When you analyse the points we have dropped, we have only ourselves to blame” Hudson explained.

Tuesday’s Derbyshire Cup Final match against Matlock was another disappointment, with Belper offering a tired performance.

“There were no arguments from us. We were beaten by the better side on the day. Their two centre halves were big and strong and on that pitch we needed someone who could get hold of the ball such as Anthony Wilson and because of that it was all Matlock pressure”

Part of Belper’s failure centred on the occasion itself, with Hudson arguing that some of the players “were really nervous for the first fifteen minutes” during which time Matlock took the lead.
However, after overcoming their stage fright, Hudson felt that “the team eventually settled but we ran out of ideas particularly in the second half and were not good enough on the day”.

Despite the negatives that are obviously going to be drawn from the season, there are positives.

Belper Town’s reserve team is currently top of their league and recently won the Phoenix Trophies League Cup, with several players who are beginning to feature for the first team.

Against Cammell Laird, Ollie Warren and Aaron Pride (oictured) both performed well and Hudson was optimistic for both players for the future:

“Next season we expect them to be much more involved and perhaps the same with one or two of the other reserves. Reserves manager, John Boyle has done a good job and has some good lads coming through”

As with any close season the future of players for next season is uncertain, but both Hudson and Andy Carney are confident that with the right amount of home-grown youth and more experienced players, there is no reason why next season cannot be as successful, if not more, than this season:

“I am actually looking forward to next season, as I think there is a lot to build on, if we can keep the core of the team” Hudson concluded.