PHOTO | Joy unconfined as Tom Wilson fires the Nailers into a 2-1 lead (Pic: Mike Smith)

Whitchurch Alport who are ranked one league below Belper Town took a very early lead in the third minute. An out swinging corner lead to a scramble in the box which allowed Joe Minshall to volley home from six yards.

However, the Nailers fired back only four minutes later after Brodie Lichfield produced some wonderful footwork on the right wing, where he managed to find Belper skipper Danny South who put the ball on a plate for Tom Wilson who equalised for the hosts.

Belper continued to mount pressure onto Alport and were rewarded in the 13th minute, when Craig Nelthorpe's beautiful in swinging corner allowed Wilson to flick the ball home for his second of the game and the Nailers had completed the turnaround.

The game seemed to die down after an extremely hectic first fifteen minutes; until the final minute of the first half when Sam Wright produced a wonderful low driven cross which fell straight to Jonathon Margetts, who calmly passed the ball past Mason Springthorpe to put the hosts into a comfortable 3:1 lead.

Margetts was gifted an opportunity to double his goal tally in the 54th minute when he was carelessly brought down inside the area by Minshall, which left the referee with a very easy decision to point to the spot. And it was again Margetts who stepped up to take the penalty, but the spot kick lacked power allowing Springthorpe to produce a magnificent double save to deny Belper yet again.

Alport were certainly keen to keep Belper on their toes in the second half with several chances flying just wide of the Nailers’ goal. The best of which coming in the 61st minute when Alex Hughes produced some wonderful footwork on the wing which allowed him to find a pocket of space on the edge of the box and fire just wide of the goal thanks to a finger tip save from Myles Wright.

Overall, it was certainly a competitive contest at the Raygar stadium but it was clear to see who the higher ranked team was with certain moments of individual brilliance being the difference between the two sides in this FA Cup Preliminary tie.

Belper Town: Wright M, Woodcock, Nelthorpe (Jordan 58), Wright S, Bertram, Wilson, Lichfield, Gregory, South, Margetts (Sandhu 80), Curtis (Peterson 69). Unused subs: Rhodes, Johnson, Reeves, Overton

Whitchurch Alport: Springthorpe, Carpenter, Campbell (Bath 80), Griffiths, Simms, Minshall, Segundo, Urvantev, Lane, Ellis (Ajibola 69), Hughes (Farleigh 77). Unused subs: Jukes, Antonio, Street.

Referee: Martin Beard

Attendance: 337