Debutant Jakub Niemczyk powerfully burst down the left wing before blasting his cross across goal where Ben Rhodes’ sliding shot was saved and Karl Demidh’s follow up was also well stopped by William Larkin.

Belper continued to dominate and were rewarded for their efforts in the 20th minute after a deflected Craig Nelthorpe cross found Alex Peterson at the back post who headed the ball across to Danny South, with the skipper heading the ball into the back of the net from close range making it 1-0.

In the 27th minute Nailers’ fans were treated to a moment of beauty from Derry Robson. The midfielder perfectly whipped a right footed strike into the top left corner of the goal from 25 yards out leaving Larkin with no chance in the Yaxley net

In the 38th minute things got both better and worse for the Nailers as Peterson played a delightful through ball to Demidh leaving him with the whole half to himself.

The striker kept his composure and passed the ball over the out-rushing Larkin making it 3-0.

However, unfortunately in the process of scoring Demidh appeared to have injured his ankle and was replaced by Barnsley loanee Jack Sherlock.

The second half started as the first had ended, with complete Nailers’ dominance.

After already bagging two assists, Peterson was unlucky not to find himself on the score sheet after a lovely lofted Nelthorpe cross found the Nailers striker who could only head over.

On the day of his 101st appearance for the Nailers Peterson seemed desperate to score and was denied by Larkin again in the 58th minute.

A classy passing move by the Nailers on the right wing resulted in Rhodes finding the centurion free in the box, Peterson placed his shot into the top right corner but Larkin scrambled across his line to deny Belper’s number nine again.

Burton loanee Niemczyk impressed on his Belper debut with the 18 year old looking unfazed by the increased physicality of men’s football.

The Pole was inches away from scoring after he played a neat one two with Brodie Litchfield on the left wing, before he fired his shot across goal which beat Larkin but was impressively cleared off the line by a Cuckoos’ defender.

Substitute Nathan Curtis also came close to scoring when Peterson played a devastating through ball to Curtis who burst deep into the Yaxley half before blasting his shot against the side netting.

Overall this was a very professional performance from Grant Black’s men and the Nailers could walk away being disappointed that they only won 3-0.

Yaxley definitely improved in the second half but still never looked to challenge Lewis Gwilliams in the Belper goal.

Belper Town: Gwilliams, Rhodes, Nelthorpe, Robson, South (Wilson 80), Jordan, Litchfield (Curtis 71), Mancinelli, Peterson, Demidh (Sherlock 41), Niemczyk. Unused subs: Wright, Waldram.

Yaxley: Larkin, Duncliffe, Smith (Rowell 73), Bucciero, Tinkler, Peters, Sparrow (Nolan 73), Hook, Tsaguim, Cotton (Gothard 84), Battersby. Unused subs: Watson

Referee: Wayne Gray

Attendance: 418