Nantwich Town 0
Belper Town 1
League (NPL Division 1 South)

Match Report

UniBond League First Division South

Saturday 16th February.2008.

NANTWICH TOWN 0 v Belper Town 1
Lee Stevenson.43.
Referee: Mr J. Johnson. Merseyside.
Attendance.543.

Nantwich Town: Lee Jones. Paul Donnelly. Gyorgy Kiss. Richard Smith. Ryan Dicker. Phil Parkinson ©. Ashley Carter. Glyn Blackhurst. Pavol Suhaj. Nick Farquharson (Griggs 71). Paul Taylor (Beasley 75). Substitutes: Adam Beasley. Kevin Ward. Danny Griggs.

Belper Town: Paul Pettinger. James Colliver. Adam Haigh. Peter Smith. Jon Hobson. Scott Lowe. Danny Hudson. Lee Stevenson. Richard Tracey. Ross Hannah. Andy Rushbury. Substitutes: Joe Applyard. Michael Harcourt. Gavin Allott.

Nantwich were playing their first league match since the 12th of January when they went down to a single Chris Tate goal away at Goole AFC. Meanwhile, ‘The Dabbers’ were boosted by the return of Pavol Suhaj from a three match suspension whilst on loan Crewe Alexandra striker Nick Farquharson was making his Nantwich debut, despite arriving from Gresty Road a fortnight ago.

But, the ‘Dabbers’optimism was trimmed less than half an hour before kick off when Andy Kinsey injured a hamstring in the warm-up requiring consultation with the match referee and Belper officials before any change to the Nantwich line-up could be implemented. The change having been cleared, Suhaj started in place of Kinsey whilst Kevin Ward replaced Suhaj on the bench. During this time, news came through that the Crewe – Carlisle match had fallen victim to a frozen pitch and minutes before kick off, streams of Crewe Alex supporters arrived at The Weaver Stadium to boost the attendance.

Nantwich began brightly, with Carter turning Belper left back Haigh in the 3rd minute before squaring the ball across the 6 yard box toward Farquharson but, the pace on the ball evaded the on loan Crewe striker before he could break clear of his marker and reach the pass. A couple of minutes later, ‘Dabbers’ captain Phil Parkinson gifted the ball to Belper striker Richard Tracey who whipped in a first time shot, forcing Lee Jones to scramble across his goal mouth before blocking with his feet a yard out, whilst Jones was called into action a minute later when Belper strike partner Ross Hannah delivered a shot on target that Jones did well to save at the foot of his near post.

But, despite that early flurry by their visitors, Nantwich contrived to set up a series of promising attacks during which Carter was again prominent in being the playmaker. A Suhaj 13th minute close range header from a Carter square ball unfortunately was off target whilst a Farquharson pass into the path of Paul Taylor was placed wide. Carter continued to give Haigh a hard time and gained advantage yet again, this time in the 20th minute, sending in yet another square ball from deep that on this occasion became hooked up amongst several feet before being hacked off the line.

An understanding between Farquharson and Suhaj slowly began to show signs of development but, all too often, Suhaj, with back to goal, failed to hold the ball up, allowing Belper to clear their lines with relative ease. Farquharson’s 22nd minute close range shot looked to have found the target before an intervention from centre back Peter Smith fortuitously blocked the shot on the line, with ‘keeper Pettinger beaten. Carter, Suhaj and Blackhurst traded passes before Pettinger thwarted Blackhurst with a stop, again on his line. Blackhurst then back tracked into the middle to pick up a long clearance from Pettinger before returning the ball from just outside the centre circle into the path of Farquharson whose first time shot whistled inches wide of the right hand post. Meanwhile, during this period, Belper had produced nothing of note until midfielder Danny Hudson broke from midfield in the 31st minute to fire a dipping shot that Jones comfortably held.

Nantwich broke again through Carter, who unselfishly set up Farquharson before being denied yet again with a close range shot that was held on the line by the busy Pettinger. Belper centre back Smith moved up to join play in the Nantwich half in the 34th minute but, his shot from distance, spelled little danger. ‘The Dabbers’ returned with yet another attack but, frustration began to set in around the stadium in the run up to the break due to some rather lazy play by the home side that otherwise may well have broken the resolve of their visitors. And, it was casual play that was eventually going to cost Nantwich dear. Two minutes from the end of the period ‘The Dabbers,’ despite not sustaining pressure of any note since the opening minutes, proceeded to go on the back foot and Tracey’s persistence on the right was rewarded when he squared from deep to whip the ball into the near post and following a frantic clearance, Lee Stevenson was on hand from just inside the box to strike the ball through a sea of legs that left the unsighted Lee Jones just failing to halt the shot before it passed through a narrow gap between his right hand and near post, leaving the home side and their large following somewhat bemused.

Sensing that Nantwich might be heading for a frustrated afternoon Belper attempted to turn the screw in the opening minutes of the second half. First, midfielder Hudson was only just off target with a 20 yard delivery whilst Tracey followed up moments later with a close range effort that required the attention of Jones. But ‘The Dabbers’ regrouped and Suhaj provided a knock down inside the 6 yard box for Taylor whose shot was blocked on the line before flying out into the path of Suhaj whose first time volley flew across the face of goal, narrowly avoiding the left hand post. Belper centre back Smith saved his side from an equalizer in the 58th minute when he deflected Ryan Dicker’s powerful angled drive off the line over the bar at the expense of a corner. Paul Donnelly’s free kick on the hour was tipped over the bar by Pettinger whilst Carter followed moments later with a shot that inched past the far post. Farquharson made way for Danny Griggs in the 71st minute whilst Harcourt replaced Tracey in the Belper front line moments later. A quarter of an hour from normal time, a Suhaj back header found the waiting hands of Pettinger, ahead of a long throw in from Blackhurst that found Suhaj before the transfer de-listed Slovakian shot on the turn straight at Pettinger from 12 yards. Adam Beasley came off the bench to replace Paul Taylor meanwhile; Griggs pass to the well placed Carter was put wide of the target. In truth, the Derbyshire outfit had been reduced to mere spectators rather than competitors, with Nantwich bossing the game for the majority period of a rather one sided contest, albeit without making a break through. Carter’s 82nd minute ball to the well placed Beasley was struck first time before the powerful delivery agonizingly flashed across the face of goal inches wide of the opposite post. Nantwich kept up the pressure and Belper substitute striker Harcourt was on hand to keep the score in his side’s favour when he hacked the ball off the line during a frantic 4 minutes from normal time. Then, a two minute period of drama. First, Pavol Suhaj was involved in a somewhat confusing situation involving a group of Belper players that left the Slovakian collecting a straight red card. Moments later, and in a separate incident, Belper centre half Peter Smith left the field of play after referee Johnson elected to award him a straight red card. Whilst the red cards in themselves generated a certain amount of controversy what followed was even more controversial. Nantwich physio Paul Kelly initially approached the assistant referee on the main stand side with a request regarding added time. The assistant in question informed Mr Kelly that three additional minutes would be played. But, the moment the Nantwich physio reached for a card to display the added time, referee Johnson, in his wisdom, blew his whistle and brought the game to a close. Protests rained from both on and off the pitch but, he refused to yield and along with his fellow officials, left for their dressing room.

NB: An hour later, a personal approach to the match officials yielded the truth of the alleged discrepancy. The referee claimed to have played 91.5 minutes of the match but, when I ( as match reporter) politely requested an explanation and drew to their attention(s) to the matter of the absence of the 3 minutes of added time, the assistant who indicated the extended period conceded that it hadn’t been played, much to the embarrassment of the referee, whose lack of courtesy was notable for the fact that he failed to offer an apology for his action.

Predictably, head coach Steve Davis was extremely unhappy with the manner in which the game concluded and said: “ At least four chances cleared off the line, had the majority of play, and ended up being mugged. It is hard to swallow, made worse of by the action of the referee. We will never know if an equalizer could have been snatched in the extra minutes but, we were in the ascendancy at the time and they (Belper) were rocking so it was possible even at that late stage, we could have gained a point”.

Match report written by Phil Johnson