Belper now have nothing to lose a they push forward. Reece Bertram is on for Belper after 84 minutes

It's going to be another nail biter.  Terrific run by Zak but keeper is there.     two minutes left

Zak was being fouled but he shrugged it off and scored brilliantly.  Belper have lost discipline now.   

Full time   Ilkeston  3  Belper  1

Last edited by Matchman (01/1/2022 6:35 PM)

Saturday 1st January 2022 FULL TIMES
 
Northern Premier League
Carlton Town  3 Daventry  Town  2 ft
Chasetown  1  Bedworth United  1 ft
Coleshill Town  1  Sutton Coldfield  2 ft
Corby Town  0  Stamford  4 ft
Halesowen Town  4  Sporting Khalsa  0 ft
Histon  1  Spalding United  1 ft
Ilkeston Town  3  Belper Town  1 ft
Soham Town Rangers  1  Cambridge City 2 ft
Yaxley  3 Wisbech Town 0 ft
 
Northern Premier League Premier Division
Basford United 0 Grantham Town 1 ft
Hyde United 1 Mickleover 4 ft
 

Despite having 3 good chances we trailed at the break. For me Margetts goes down too easily. Never a pen. He played with Ross at Matlock and bought cheap pens time & time again

Good management for me replacing Rem who had an off day and OBH who can consider himself unlucky to be hooked as he’d had a decent game

Chappy & Birdy changed the game. Chappy pushed us further up the pitch and Birdy showed his class. Our superior ability level won the day

Credit to Belper. Big side. Long ball football. No Plan B. Graft hard but the best side won on the day

With sides like them you’ve got to stand up physically. And we did that to a man

MOM Fenners for me. Absolute class closely followed by Wakefield. But no weak performances. Well done to all involved. Terrific crowd too

Well that was a great advertisement for non league football at the NMG for the fans who turned up not having been before. As a fan i was hoping for a crowd of at least 1500 but OMG the attendance of 2063 was amazing . It was even more special because it wasn`t a free game plus it was just under the attendance at Matlock (1st) v Buxton (2nd) in the league above us a few days ago. 
  Thought Belper shaded it in the first half although there wasnt many clear cut chances , but they seem to be dominated the midfield too much for me . I couldnt see the penalty incident but lots of fans saying it was a very penno to give but given it was . one nil Belper . We were not getting much out the ref as he seeded to be siding with the Belper players , again a team who shout foul at every given moment. 
  The transformation came in the second half  starting the goal by Fenners after the free kick was blocked. Just before that though that happened a few fans in front on me were shouting out to make the changes as it seemed we weren`t getting past their defence much. But after the goal the changes were made with great success making run after run at their defence. The second goal did come and that opened up the game even more as Belper had to push even more so for an equaliser . The Belper fans thought that had  come but for the ref to blow for a foul in Ilsons favour , dunno what for but i couldnt care less tbh . 
Again we had more chances to put the game to bed , but it finally did with a lot of great work by Zak. I couldnt see properly how Zak got past his defender but it must have good because the next thing i could was him aiming at goal with a great finish for the third goal for Ilkeston. GET IN THERE !!!!!!
  On a final point i thought the Belper players were losing it big time as they were starting to argue between themselves towards the end , but that shows how good we were playing ...
GREAT CROWD , GREAT GAME , A GREAT THREE POINTS , 

.

BELPER MATCH REPORT

NAILERS SECOND BEST IN TOP-OF-THE-TABLE CLASH
BY NIGEL OLDRINI

 Belper Town came out second best against a Robins side whose second half performance was stronger in all departments and was assisted by some questionable defending.Ilkeston, spurred on by being behind to a Jonathon Margetts penalty at the break, set about the Nailers ruthlessly to wipe away a first half deficit and take advantage of unforced errors to win the game comfortably.
 
Belper have done extremely well to get where they are, but their performances have arguably tailed off lately despite being able to keep the points total ticking over at a steady rate. 
 
Most notably they have found teams around them in the top six difficult to compete against and they have also have also occasionally struggled to overcome teams at the other end of the table too.
 
The Nailers will miss ‘keeper Ollie Battersby who returns to his parent club Grimsby Town after the Ilkeston game, as he has been a consistent performer during his time at the Raygar Stadium. 
 
He had a major part to play at the New Manor Ground and was soon in action after 9 minutes when he got a hand to a Zak Goodson shot after the Nailers had been caught on the break.
 
Belper had another close shave on 15 minutes when the Robins capitalised on hesitancy on the bye line resulting in an opportunity for Remaye Campbell who was astonished to see Battersby block his close range shot. 
 
The Nailers had enjoyed possession in the Robins’ half but hadn’t tested Ross Durrant in the hosts’ goal until Brodie Litchfield fired a good effort straight at the ‘keeper on 20 minutes.
 
Litchfield connected well with another effort on the half hour mark, but once again Durrant had the measure of it, however 2 minutes later the Nailers had won a penalty kick after Jonathon Margetts was tripped by Aman Verma as he turned in the box. 
 
Margetts took the spot kick himself and impressed with a clinical strike that gave Durrant no chance. 
 
The Nailers were good value for their half time lead although there was an anxious moment when Joe McGuire’s 39th minute shot shaved the foot of the post.
 
The hosts’ imposed themselves on the game after the break and Belper’s propensity to concede endless free kicks close to the edge of the penalty area was always going to lead to problems for the Nailers’ defence. 
 
From one such free kick in the 60th minute and a subsequent cross into the box , Kieran Fenton got a vital touch to score the equaliser and send the majority of the NMG into raptures.
 
While the momentum was now clearly with Ilkeston, Belper had their moments that could have led to them regaining the lead. 
 
Nathan Curtis had a great run on 65 minutes but made a poor choice with his final pass, and there were other moments when the hosts were caught on the break, but the pressure was mounting on the Nailers who conceded a second goal after some persistent work from Goodson on the left. 
 
He found Charlie Wakefield on the edge of the 6 yard box and while his first shot came back off the post, he drilled his follow up effort under Battersby to score.
 
Belper found it increasingly difficult to move the ball forward and in the final minute Goodson was rewarded for his persistence by stealing the ball from Josh Waldram as he was leaving it to run out of play. 
 
The Robins’ winger ruthlessly drilled the ball past Battersby to crown a great afternoon for the hosts in front of a huge New Year’s Day crowd.
 
It’s not the end of the world for Belper who live to fight another day, but the manner of the defeat will be concerning for Grant Black and his back room team, as they face inform Sporting Khalsa and Stamford in their next two games. 
 
Ilkeston Town: Durrant, Verma, Bennett, Wakefield, Maguire, Fenton, Goodson, Reid, Campbell (Chapman 63), Troke, Brown-Hill (Bird 63). Unused subs: Irvine, Carvell, Williams. 
Belper Town: Battersby, Goode, Rhodes, Waldram, South, Jordan, Litchfield (Nelthorpe 68), Robson, Demidh (Bertram 84), Margetts, Curtis (Peterson 74). Unused subs: Mancinelli, Wilson
Referee: Jamie O’Connor
Attendance: 2,063


 

We are on the crest of a wave at the moment! Every time we appear to be slipping up the players show character and pull it out of the bag! Its a sign of a great dressing room and will be an asset as we move closer to the end of the season. Its a great time to be an Ilson fan!

Zak was good. But no one was bad tbh

For me Fenners was outstanding. Again. Having a superb season and my MOM

.

Great turnout by the Belper Officals on Saturday, all smartly dressed wearing club jackets and badges. There must have been ten of them. They certainly give an impression of a well organised Club on the up. 

After watching the clips from the belper fan. Didn't we make some noise when we scored.