A brace of Kevin Bastos penalties in the first half was enough help the Nailers return to winning ways although the hosts made them fight every inch of the way particularly in the second half.

With James Cadman and Curtis Burrows unavailable for this trip to the West Riding of Yorkshire, Kieron Walker came into the side while Cameron Johnson returned after a one game suspension.

The Nailers spent much of the 90 minutes on the front foot with Walker’s long throws an important part of the Nailers’ armoury. From one of Walker’s early launched efforts in the 6th minute Danny South turned and hit the ball at the near post but Jamie Hassall was alert enough to steer it away for a corner kick.

South went close again on 15 minutes with a header that sailed over the cross bar, however Brighouse demonstrated their ability to catch Belper on the break when Myron Gibbons streaked away to force a good save from Jonathan Hedge.

It was probably the hosts’ only shot on target, but they were there again on 22 minutes when Jack Normanton was on the end of a good Brighouse move and saw his shot deflected for a corner kick.

Jack Dando leaned too heavily on Bastos as he got the better of the Town defender and both referee and his assistant worked in unison to award the Nailers a spot kick. Bastos stepped up to drill the ball past the Brighouse ‘keeper with supreme confidence.

Bastos was in the thick of it again on 42 minutes when he went for a corner kick and went down in a heap after a challenge from a defender and the ‘keeper, and once again the referee and assistant's thoughts were on the same lines and the Nailers were awarded a second spot kick.

Despite long protestations from home team Bastos stuck his penalty in the same area of the goal, and although Hassall got nearer to it, the result was the same.

The feeling as the players came out for the second half was that the Nailers would have a battle on their hands to keep their 2-0 lead intact, and so it proved to be.

After a strong start to the half, Town dug deep into their resolve and started to make life much more difficult for Belper.

Dando had a low drive take a slight deflection away from its target on 60 minutes, although Bastos might have sealed the points if he had managed to get his effort on target after a sensational run at the Town defence which left players in his wake.

Belper had to dig in and show character and resolve as the hosts tried everything to get back into the game. Every player had to pitch in to nullify the efforts of the hosts. Free kicks and corners came and went with Belper defenders dealing heroically with everything that came their way.

Belper had one opportunity in the last 20 minutes of the game, and this was a shot on the turn from Rev James that went wide, and then it was back to the grindstone and with every player doing their bit to keep the lead intact.

A second yellow and a subsequent red for Alexander Phillipson took the sting out of Brighouse’s ambition and helped the Nailers see out the remaining time and record a very worthy three points achieved in a professional manner.

A collection on behalf of the Belper Town Flood Fund was carried out by Brighouse and yielded well in excess of £200. It was a generous gesture by the Yorkshire club and much appreciated by everyone at Belper Town.

Brighouse Town: Hassall, Smith, Webster, Phillipson, Nebard, Dando, Drake, Grant (Bentley 78), Normanton (De Santis 66), Calligan (Butterworth 66), Gibbons. Unused subs: Carman, Allsopp.

Belper Town: Hedge, Rhodes, Dolan, Dunn, South, Watt, Bastos, Warren, James, Johnson (Troke 66), Walker. Unused subs: Bessadi, Martin, Mackie, Gregory.

Referee: Samuel Ross

Att: 226