Ollie Battersby was Belper’s man of the match and, without his saves, particularly in the first half, the Nailers would have handed Histon their first home victory of the season.

With Josh Woodcock unavailable, Craig Nelthorpe came in at left back while the Nailers were boosted by the return on the bench of striker Jonathan Margetts and midfielder Sam Wright after a long injury lay off.

Histon's form had picked up a little in recent weeks but they had only picked up 2 points from 9 home games so far this season.

The Stutes surprised Belper with a lively opening to the game and Battersby was soon in action when he dived at full stretch to push Ed Rolph’s low drive around the post inside 2 minutes.

The Nailers responded with a South header from a 3rd minute free kick that went wide, then almost immediately the Nailers were caught on the break when Ben Rhodes miss kicked, leaving Luke Lindsay to hit a fine effort goal bound, and once again Battersby excelled with another save at full stretch.

Belper surged forward on 16 minutes and Craig Nelthorpe crossed from the left and South was on the end of it, but his header went high and wide.

The Nailers looked out of sorts with passes going astray and unable to breach the Stutes’ defence, and once again Battersby kept Belper in the game when he came out bravely to deny Rolph as they were caught on the break.

Belper were handed a great chance to take the lead in the 35th minute when Brodie Litchfield’s run into the box led to an illegal challenge from Charlie Lewis.

Nelthorpe stepped up to take the penalty but appeared to slip as he struck the ball and it flew high over the cross bar.

There was still time in the half for Battersby to show off his ‘keeping skills when Lindsay breached the Belper back line and brought the best out of the Belper custodian with a fierce drive.

The second period started badly for the Nailers who found themselves under pressure from the start and it came as no surprise when Histon took the lead on 48 minutes when Ollie Brookes prodded the ball home from a corner kick.

The goal at least sparked a response from the Nailers and Margetts, on as a half time substitute forced Sam Roach into his first meaningful save on 56 minutes.

Margetts’ return to the attacking effort nearly sparked an equaliser when his excellent pass found Litchfield whose eventual shot was blocked.

The Belper striker then earned the Nailers a second penalty when he was unfairly challenged just inside the box, but Nailers’ supporters, players and management looked on in disbelief as Margetts put the ball too close to Roach and another golden opportunity had been lost.

The Nailers dominated the last stages of the game but nothing came off for them as Histon defended stoically, and there seemed little chance that Nailers would be able to find an equaliser.

Hope had just about drained away as the game entered added on time.

The referee had already looked at his watch before awarding Belper a corner kick which Craig King sent to the back post where Danny South rose majestically to head powerfully into the net.

Histon FC: Roach, Ballester, Collison (Bexfield 90), Muyembe, Lewis, Brookes, Rolph (Chizari 80), Lawal, Lindsay, Thorpe, Gould. Subs not used: Gough, Cole, Greengrass.

Belper Town: Battersby, Rhodes (Jordan 43), Nelthorpe, Litchfield, Bertram, Wilson (Margetts 45), Curtis, Mancinelli, South, Demidh (Peterson 29), King. Unused subs: Waldram, Wright.

Referee: Callum Gough

Attendance: 177