Nailers Earn Point In Boxing Day Clash At Sheffield F C

Skipper Phil Watt returned to the heart of the defence and with Lee Attenborough having a surfeit of defenders in his squad opted to put Danny South as centre forward and function as a target man.

The Sheffield team had two ex-Belper strikers in their line up with Cameron Johnson having just switched a couple of weeks ago and Luke Mangham who started in last season’s Premier Division campaign before injury curtailed his season.

It was a lively encounter, and the Nailers began on the front foot with Brodie Litchfield finding Zak Goodson with a good cross inside the 1st minute, however Edd Hall was equal to Goodson’s powerful shot.

Belper went close again in the 7th minute when Kevin Bastos’ cross wasn’t cleared properly leaving Litchfield with a shooting opportunity that flew just past the upright.

Sheffield came into the game with purpose on 14 minutes when Connor Cutts forced Dan Moore into a stretching save, but in the 17th minute the Nailers took the lead with a perfectly constructed breakaway.

Bastos, who saw a lot of the ball in this game provided the cross to Danny South who unselfishly squared it to Litchfield who only needed to stroke the ball into the virtually unguarded net.

The Nailers could have gone two up a minute later when Goodson ran behind the Sheffield defence only for Hall to block his shot.

The Nailers found themselves under a bit of pressure around the half hour mark when Cameron Johnson made space for a shot that just missed the far post, and then he had a free kick on 20 minutes that struck the angle.

Almost in inevitably it was the former Nailers front man who scored the equaliser for the hosts in the 37th minute when he drilled a precisely struck shot just inside the post with Moore very close to saving it.

Both sides cancelled each other out for the remainder of the first half and left the field for the half time break leaving spectators of both sides wanting more of the same in the second half.

Danny South’s looming presence on the front line was working well for the Nailers and in the 46th minute he created a shooting opportunity for Goodson who lifted a left foot shot high over the target.

Litchfield despatched a 47th minute effort over the bar as the Nailers continued their progressive start to the second half, however the hosts were never far away from causing concern in the Nailers penalty area.

Neither side was going to give this game up easily and it was nip and tuck for much of the remainder of the half. Mason Warren’s good play set up Goodson for a shot on 72 minutes, however Hall made a great stop to deny the Nailers a winner.

Sheffield substitute Benni Ndlovu managed to get himself booked seconds after entering the field of play and in the 86th minute received a second yellow card, leaving Sheffield playing with ten men for the remainder of the game.

Curtis Burrows nearly scored direct from a corner kick with virtually the last action of the game, but a draw was probably the right result as both teams had served up an entertaining contest to send the Boxing Day crowd home happy.

Sheffield F C: Hall, Greenhouse, Wilson, Yates, Watson, Beatson, Cribley. Cutts, Mangham, Johnson, Modest (Ndlovu 67) Unused subs: Newsham, Coleman, Noble, Roney.

Belper Town: Moore, Ashman, Rhodes, Atcha, South, Watt, Litchfield, Burrows, Goodson (Gbehe 90), Warren, Bastos. Unused subs: Cadman, Walker, Gregory, Austin.

Referee: Connor Everard

Att: 634