Valiant Nailers Hang On For Victory At Newton Aycliffe

The Nailers suffered a triple blow before the game by losing the services of Karl Demidh and Zak Goodson through illness and Ollie Brown-Hill who was recalled to play for his parent club Stamford, while Ben Rhodes was still unavailable through injury.

Keiron Walker came in at right back, releasing Curtis Burrows to play in midfield while Mason Warren reverted to the left back position. Declan Dunn was available again after serving a one game suspension.

On a heavy pitch there was little to choose between the two teams in the first 20 minutes. Shots from Kevin Bastos, and Cieran Jackson for the hosts were saved easily.

The Nailers suffered a further blow to their manpower on 16 minutes when skipper Phil Watt pulled up suddenly and had to be replaced by David Gbehe. Danny South moved into the back four.

The Nailers struck first in the 21st minute when James Cadman’s first shot rebounded off Nathan Fisher and he was ideally placed to drive home the rebound.

Liam Adamson tested Dan Moore from 18 yards and Declan Dunn had a shot easily saved moments later. Liam Jarvie shot wide on 29 minutes and as the hosts started to put pressure on, Marc Costello headed a good opportunity wide of the target.

Aycliffe got their reward for their persistence in the 41st minute when Liam Jarvie was on hand to tuck the ball away at the far post after Moore could only parry an angled shot.

The Nailers had some good spells of possession in the early stages of the second period and looked more than capable of regaining their lead.

On 52 minutes some crisp passing culminated with a Cadman shot going just wide and moments later Brodie Litchfield saw a good effort plucked out of the air by Fisher.

The second goal came on 66 minutes after Gbehe fashioned an excellent cross from the bye- line and Curis Burrows headed the ball into the far corner of the goal.

Then, Litchfield was subjected to a robust tackle in the 68th minute, for which the perpetrator, Oscar Eckley-Aldsworth was lucky only to get a yellow card.

However, moments later after Litchfield had been hauled back by Eckley-Aldsworth, Litchfield took a swipe at the Aycliffe player for which received a deserved red card. Unfortunately, the foul that prompted Litchfield’s response went unpunished.

The mood of the game changed after these events and the Nailers were forced to funnel back and take the onslaught that followed. The Belper goal was peppered with crosses and shots which were mainly off target but at the same time they managed to break out and cause the hosts problems.

Unfortunately, Nailers’ boss Lee Attenborough received a straight red in the 88th minute and as the game entered 9 minutes added time, Moore pulled off a great save from Jake Petijean’s volley.

Bastos nearly made it three with a run and shot that went wide just before the final whistle, however it was a fantastic effort from the Nailers, particularly in the last 20 minutes or so, that secured the three points and kept them in second place in the league table.

Newton Aycliffe: Fisher, Barrow (Eckley-Aldsworth 59), Pascoe, Costello, Elgie, Whitfield (Davis 76), Wood, Petijean, Jarvie, Adamson, Jackson (Blackford 85). Unused subs: Clarkson, Kiernan.

Belper Town: Moore, Walker, Warren, Dunn, Atcha, Watt [Gbehe 16 (Austin 76)], Cadman, Burrows, South, Litchfield, Bastos. Unused subs: Gregory, Goodson, Demidh.

Referee: Scott Henry

Att: 165