Following three hard-fought away draws, the Nailers returned to the Raygar Stadium to face Garforth Town. The Miners had made an impressive start to life in Step 4 and represented a tough assignment for Lee Attenborough’s charges. New signings Jonathan Wafula and Jaanai Gordon were handed full debuts as the pack was shuffled following recent injuries and suspensions.

The visitors enjoyed the lions’ share of the ball in the opening exchanges but were unable to carve out many clearcut chances. Jason Davis tried his luck from range early on, drawing a smart save from Belper shot-stopper Kieran Preston. Ewan Greggson found himself in a promising position in the penalty area soon after, but a Louis Keenan block was enough to keep the winger at bay. Perhaps the best chance for the West Yorkshire outfit came on 30 minutes. Striker Charlie Marshall got on the end of an inviting cross from the left flank courtesy of Steve Jeff but directed his header wide.

Belper had so far been unable to gain a serious foothold in the game but sprung to life towards the end of the first half. Harry Draper unleashed a powerful headed effort from a Ben Rhodes cross that appeared destined for the bottom corner, but Harry Flatters in the Miners’ goal reacted sharply to deny his namesake. The Nailers’ pressure did not relent however, as Harry Draper again emerged with the ball in a great position following clever wing-play from Kevin Bastos and calmly slotted home from close range with his right foot.

Things shortly got even better for the Nailers. Deep into first-half stoppage time, referee Samuel Wright judged that a powerful Jonathan Wafula effort struck the arm of a Garforth defender and pointed to the spot. Curtis Burrows made no mistake with the penalty and sent the hosts into the break two goals to the good. The late flurry appeared to unnerve the visitors, who had had the better of much of the first half until the first goal.

Garforth rung the changes at the start of the second half and looked to take the game to the Nailers. Kieran Preston was drawn into a smart stop on 53 minutes following an eye-catching move that culminated in a close-range strike from James Davis. Belper retained a constant threat at the other end, however. Kevin Bastos slalomed his way through several blue shirts but could only find the gloves of Flatters with his subsequent effort. The latter was called into action only minutes later, firstly to deny a shot from range from Harry Draper before reacting smartly to smother Curtis Burrows’ attempt to capitalise on the rebound.

The game may well have been out of sight with twenty minutes to go. Following a knock-down from a set-piece, Kevin Bastos managed to guide the ball to an unmarked Jack Broadhead at the back post with the open goal at his mercy, but the Belper skipper was unable to bring the ball under his spell. At the other end, the visitors also came close to providing a third goal of the afternoon, but a goalmouth scramble following a set piece ultimately came to nothing courtesy of a last-ditch Mason Warren clearance off the line.

The concluding exchanges of the encounter played out uneventfully as the Nailers professionally managed the game to collect a first win at home since New Years Day and remain third place in the league table with the remaining number of games now into single figures.

Belper Town: Preston, Rhodes, Warren, Austin, Broadhead, Keenan, Bastos (Crofts 85), Wafula, Draper, Gordon (King 61), Burrows. Unused sub: Greaves.

Garforth Town: Flatters, Barkway, Jeff, (Tweddle 45), Ejupi, Emery, Viggars, Gregson (Bauer 45), Coupland, Marshall (Cable 63), Barker (Jefferys 57), Davis. Unused sub: Denton

Referee: Samuel Wright

Attendance: 650

Match Sponsor: Ian Woodward and Guests

Man of the Match: Kevin Bastos