Two excellent goals from Curtis Burrows paved the way for a Nailers victory and Burrows, captain for the day, fully deserved his man of the match accolade awarded to him by the match sponsors Carlsberg Marstons.

The Nailers welcomed back Karl Demidh after suspension while Burrows slotted in at right back as Ben Rhodes started on the bench, and Mason Frizelle made his home debut.

The visitors selected former Nailers player Cameron Johnson in their line up and Sheffield were highly placed in the form guide after having won three and drawn two of their previous five games.

A bumper crowd attended the game and were rewarded with some pleasant Spring sunshine and an entertaining encounter with two teams of equal ability.

It was an even start to the game and in the 12th minute Belper’s Zak Goodson provided an excellent cross from the bye line, but James Cadman scooped the ball over the top from ten yards out.

The Nailers made the most of an enterprising start when they took the lead in the 14th minute. Burrows cut inside and unleashed a tremendous shot from the edge of the penalty area that was perfectly placed to beat Edward Hall.

Finn O’Boyle fired over the top for the visitors two minutes later and Sheffield’s Johnson struck a left foot shot towards the far post that might have gone in if it hadn’t taken a slight deflection on its way through.

Ben Whelan saved his team from going further behind when Brodie Litchfield struck a great effort goal bound, but the Sheffield defender headed off the goal line.

Burrows nearly got his second of the game on 32 minutes with a curling free kick that just missed the far post, however the remainder of the half proved to be unremarkable in terms of goal mouth activity.

The first ten minutes of the second period was a stalemate until Burrows forced Hall into a fingertip save from another well struck free kick on 55 minutes.

The Nailers continued to pressure the visitors without creating any clear-cut chances, and then Johnson’s threatening run for the visitors on 69 minutes required a timely intervention by the excellent Sidik Atcha.

This action sparked a revival from the visitors, and they equalised when Finn O’Boyle neatly slotted the ball wide of Dan Moore from eighteen yards.

It was an unsettling time for the Nailers as they funnelled back to stifle Sheffield’s renewed enthusiasm and on 88 minutes the visitors claimed that the ball had crossed the Belper goal line, but fortunately neither of the officials were able to confirm their claim and the scores remained level.

With the game deep into added on time and arguably with Sheffield edging it in possession, Burrows stole the moment with a superb free kick from just outside the penalty area that beat Hall all ends up and put the Nailers in the lead.

Another six minutes of added time was played and as Belper looked to be seeing the game out comfortably Demidh received a second yellow card and a subsequent red.

The Nailers managed the rest of the game effectively to secure an important victory and now face six more games during April to secure that coveted play-off spot.

Belper Town: Moore, Burrows, Dolan, Dunn (Austin 57), Frizelle, Atcha, Goodson, Warren, Demidh, Cadman (Rhodes 90), Litchfield (Oliver 68). Unused subs: Watt, Gregory.

Sheffield F C.: Hall, Greenhouse, (Yates 45), Coleman (Modest 57), Mitchell, Whelan, Cribley, Greaves, Cutts, Ndlovu (Slew 65), Johnson, O’Boyle. Unused subs: Newsham, Roney.

Referee: Peter Dingle

Att: 722