They were physical, but the desire, they had more quality on the ball, their decision making was better, it’s Evo-Stik, you get physical teams, but their desire outweighed ours

- Alex Peterson

The Nailers fell to back-to-back league defeats for the first time since November as Pickering’s physicality was too much for the hosts.

Skipper Peterson (pictured) had levelled the game after half an hour following Daniel Earl’s breakaway goal, before Joe Danby struck the winner for the Pikes eight minutes into the second half, and the goal scorer had strong words about the side’s performance.

“Not good enough. Nowhere near good enough for the standards we set in that changing room. We had a plan and we didn’t stick to it” said the captain.

Manager Grant Black had mentioned in his preview for the fixture how Pickering use their physical strength to their advantage, however the visitors’ intensity played a big part in where the points went.

Peterson said: “They were physical, but the desire, they had more quality on the ball, their decision making was better, it’s Evo-Stik, you get physical teams, but their desire outweighed ours.

Belper failed to capitalise on the momentum shift before half-time after they equalised, with Danny South’s acrobatic effort the closest for the hosts, before trailing again swiftly after half time.

The Nailers were without suspended Craig Nelthorpe and injured Alfred Thompson, however they will have to quickly adapt to life without the pair, as they’ll be missing Nelthorpe for three more games, and Thompson for the rest of the season.

“If they’d played today and played well, we still would’ve had seven or eight players who weren’t at it today” said Peterson. “We win as a team and lose as a team, the results gone that way because we didn’t want it enough”

With the play-offs a huge ask for Belper, the attention slowly begins to turn to next season, with the players eager to convince Black that they’re worthy of a place next season.

The skipper said “You’ve got to have some self-pride, every player will be playing for their shirt next year. We know how Evo-Stik is, people move around and you’re not just given a shirt you’ve got to earn it.”

However, despite recent disappointment, Peterson remains optimistic in keeping the Nailers’ faint promotion hopes alive.

“There’s still 15 points to play for, and you can never say never” says the captain, “There’s always one team that sneaks in, and there’s no reason why that can’t be us.”

Belper’s next fixture is the start of a two game away schedule, as they visit Cleethorpes Town, with a win a necessity to keep their fading play-off push alive.