Three goals before the break just about gave Belper the points, but a second half revival from the hosts meant that the Nailers had to work hard to prevent their comfortable lead slipping away.

Craig Nelthorpe set the pace early on when the Daventry defence were sliced open by some good work from Alex Peterson and Brodie Lichfield, but he couldn’t get his shot on target.

The Nailers were soon in front as early as the 6th minute when Lichfield’s intelligent cross found skipper Danny South in space and he despatched a brilliant volley that billowed the net.

Alex Peterson went close with a header at the far post soon afterwards and the hosts had looked shell shocked in these opening stages.

Jack Bowen nearly punished Belper for lack of concentration after a long ball gave him a chance of a shot from a narrow angle, which flew high and wide.

The long ball approach was to cause Belper some problems in the second half, but in the 13th minute came the first of three penalty shouts that the referee totally ignored.

Jonathan Margetts, was shaping up to shoot when he was tackled clumsily and went sprawling.

Then another valid claim came in the 20th minute when a Belper player was brought to the ground, with the referee, again unmoved.

Josh Woodcock was on hand to head the ball off the line when Daventry almost caught the Nailers out in the 22nd minute; however Belper extended their lead on 29 minutes when Craig Nelthorpe struck a fierce volley from the corner of the six yard box and it fizzed past James Martin into the net.

Danny South provided the assist with a pin point cross from the right side.

A third penalty shout was ignored moments later, however as the half came to its close Jonathan Margetts capitalised on a defensive error and rounded the ‘keeper to slot the ball in for his 8th goal of the season.

Margetts could have put the game beyond doubt in added first half time as he again found himself bearing down on goal, but this time his effort went just beyond the far post.

Further goals had looked likely from the Nailers after the break, but Daventry, no doubt stunned into a response after a half time rousting from the manager, had much more of the game.

A succession of long balls and crosses from all angles kept Belper fully occupied, and while their presence in the hosts’ penalty area was less frequent, the Nailers nevertheless still posed a threat.

A goal for the hosts came in the 55th minute, when Jack Bowen sent a looping header beyond the reach of Myles Wright and no doubt filled Daventry with hope of a comeback.

However they never came as close again to whittling down Belper’s lead and in fact their ‘keeper prevented them going further behind when he blocked a Margetts effort on 60 minute, then executed the save of the game when he pushed another Margetts goal bound effort around the post.

It was an important first away win for the Nailers after successive defeats at Chasetown and Halesowen, and should give them confidence as the rest of the season progresses.

Daventry Town: Martin, Coleman, McNeil, Harris, Woodward, Nketia, Orosz, Price, Bowen (Elmore), Norman (Emery 49, Irwin (Andrews 78. Unused subs: Childs, Cerga

Belper Town: Wright M, Woodcock, Kozluk, Bertram, South, Wilson, Lichfield, Gregory (Mancinelli 71), Peterson (Reeves 80), Margetts, Nelthorpe (Curtis 69). Unused subs: Jordan, Sandhu.

Referee: Luke Scott

Att: 103