Nailers Notebook
| Published: 23rd January 2007 23:47 |
It's proving to be a tough end of season run in for the Nailers who found themselves on the wrong end of a 3-1 score line at Woodley Sports last Saturday.
There were however some mitigating circumstances in what was generally a good display on the artificial surface.
Two penalty awards given by an inexperienced referee handed Woodley victory in the second half, but Belper have to shoulder some responsibility because of clear cut chances that were there for the taking.
A nasty challenge on Adam Ogden, for which the Belper ‘keeper needed lengthy treatment resulted in a penalty award for Lee Stevenson's over zealous shoulder charge moments later.
Lee Chambers also looked bemused when his innocuous tackle was punished severely in the 61st minute, but there was no doubting the quality of the two spot kicks ably converted by Gavin Salmon.
This was a body blow for the Nailers who had actually performed quite well against a team proficient at making the most of the conditions going forward but at the same time less sure of themselves at the back.
Danny Hudson and James Tevendale will be kicking themselves for not accepting guilt edged chances either side of half time, and there were other promising situations not capitalised on as would have been hoped.
Management duo Andy Carney and Danny Hudson made changes to the side, some enforced and some not.
Martin Drury's four game suspension rules him out for the rest of the season while Darren Schofield was unavailable.
Lee Stevenson came in to the reckoning and played just in front of the back three and Paolo Piliero was given his first start chiefly at the expense of Pete Smith who dropped to substitute.
There was a welcome return for Alex Steadman after a lengthy lay off and he played the last 35 minutes and rounded it off with a well-taken consolation goal right at the end.
With just three matches left of this 46 game season the Nailers play their final home game of this disappointing campaign on Saturday against Chorley who currently occupy 23rd position.
Belper will hope to hurdle the 50 point mark against the Magpies and away games at Harrogate Rail (Wed 18) and the final game at Bamber Bridge could yield sufficient points to ensure Belper don't slip further than their current 19th place.
Carney and Hudson will be in charge next season when the Nailers become founder members of the newly formed Midland Division.
The playing budget for the next campaign was set at a recent board meeting and the management duo will now have the task of putting together a side that can challenge for promotion.
The new league is likely to have just 18 clubs for its inaugural season, with most being drawn from level 5 of the non-league pyramid.
The Southern League are unwilling to release any of their clubs from either of their first divisions, so there is a big opportunity for teams from UniBond feeder leagues to stake their claim.
The new format won't be known until early May.
Nigel Oldrini
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