Lee has amassed 15 goals so far during this campaign, already having past the halfway point against last season’s total of 29, and now looks set to surpass that figure, injuries permitting.

The pleasing aspect of last Saturday’s 7-1 drubbing of Loughborough Dynamo was that Dean Oliver and Ben Walker scored well taken goals, and certainly in Oliver’s case it represents a return to goal scoring form after having only bagged two all season, until he registered his third at the Moat Ground in midweek.

Oliver likes to score the spectacular and his well directed lob for the second goal at Gresley in the Derbyshire Senior Cup was followed by two excellently taken goals in the space of five minutes against Dynamo.

It’s five years since the Nailers hit seven goals in the League and that was when they scored eight against Ossett Albion in October 2004.

However better finishing in the first half and some excellent goal keeping from Adam Ogden meant that Belper led 3-1 at half time, when 3-3 might have been a fairer reflection of play, but the second half was almost complete domination and the final total could have easily reached double figures.

“We weren’t at our best in the first half,” agreed joint manager Danny Hudson, “but we gelled really well after the break and we could have won by a lot more.”

Former Stocksbridge midfielder Matt Telling made a scoring debut at Gresley in midweek, and impressed in his home debut last Saturday.

Telling’s presence in midfield allows Lee Stevenson more freedom to go forward and this can only be good for the Nailers all round, as he clearly enjoys creating and taking chances.

“Matt’s a very good player and we are very happy to have him on board,” said Hudson, “with Tom (Naylor) doing so well just in front of the back four, and with Matt in there also, it gives Stevo much more freedom to go forward, and he’s relishing the opportunity.”

Belper’s midweek visit to the Moat Ground was just as difficult as it always is, and even though Gresley play three levels lower than the Nailers, the East Midlands Counties side made Belper work very hard.

A missed Gresley penalty in the first half was probably the turning point and when Matt Telling’s quickly taken free kick surprised ‘keeper Simon Baldwin just before half time, the initiative swung back to Belper.

Even so it wasn’t until Dean Oliver and Lee Stevenson scored on the break late in the game that the tie could be considered safe, and the Nailers’ extra quality was sufficient to take them through.

“It certainly wasn’t pretty,” commented Hudson, “but sometimes you have to just battle it out and it’s always like that at their place, and to be honest they would be doing OK at our level with the squad they have.”

Asa Ingall has moved on from Christchurch Meadow and joined Glapwell after failing to get back in the starting line up after recovering from injury.

Asa, always a favourite with Belper supporters no doubt saw the writing on the wall when Tom Naylor successfully moved into a similar role in the meantime, and the signing of Matt Telling and Simon Mirfin made it look even less likely that he would regain his place in the short term.

Danny Simpson’s tenure at Christchurch Meadow has also it seems, has come to an end. After showing his electrifying pace in his debut at Goole, his opportunities were limited and when he did get a chance to impress he wasn’t able to make the most of it.

Adam Burley, another player to have fallen out of favour has gone to Worksop on a month’s loan.

The Nailers face Goole AFC at Christchurch Meadow this coming Saturday and the Vikings’ results have improved since Karl Rose took over the manager’s responsibilities earlier this season, and they now lie in a respectable mid-table position.

Belper supporters can expect to see some familiar names in the Goole squad, with Lee Stratford, Gavin Allott and Jimmy Ghaichem all having had spells at Christchurch Meadow in the recent past.

Next Tuesday evening one time league leaders Leek Town travel to Belper for a league fixture, and at the time of writing the Nailers had a one point advantage over the Staffordshire side making this a very desirable game to win.

Nigel Oldrini