EMCL - Gedling Miners Welfare 1 -v- 2 Belper United

Gedling disappoint as Belper head back to Derbyshire with maximum points.

Gedling Miners Welfare ……….. 1 (Jepson 86’)
Belper United …………………….... 2 (Oliver 54’, Dunne 88’)
(HT 0-0)

A late Michael Dunne goal gave Belper United all three points on Saturday afternoon to secure their first league win of the season against Gedling Miners Welfare at Plains Road.

Only 2 minutes in and Joe Meakin was presented with half an opportunity but his snapshot, after Jack Jepson’s previous effort was blocked, went wide of the post. At the other end, Niall Mather’s free kick, in an attempt to deceive ‘keeper Danny Brown at his near post, was well anticipated and collected with ease.

Gedling began the better of the two sides and were certainly looking for a repeat of their performance against Ingles last week. The visitors, meanwhile, began sloppily and, despite showing promise, their early possession was wasteful. They did register the first meaningful attempt on goal, however, but, after meeting a deep Thomas Rushby corner, Adam Dring’s forceful header was superbly tipped over by Brown, also looking to replicate his form from last time out.

The game was open and, much like last week, offered opportunities to both sides who came into the game with every attacking intention. From another deep Mather corner, Samuel Foster’s header was cleared off the line by the alert Ross McCaughey as the visitors were slowly beginning to dominate proceedings.

In a flurry of early chances, it was Ryan Baker’s turn to test Brown in the home goal but he saved well with his body as Gedling began to struggle with the visitors’ overloading tactics and formation. Jimmy Spiers’ went as close as the hosts got in the first half but his effort in the 20th minute deflected wide. Despite being on top, Belper couldn’t find a way through the resilient defensive wall of Welfare and Dring’s effort, once again from a deep Rushby corner, failed to test Brown on this occasion as his header sailed over.

In a rare foray forward, Spiers again tested his luck on the away goal but his strike 10 minutes before the interval failed to trouble Liam Power as the visiting ‘keeper remained completely untroubled in the first half. Despite the early ideology, the game mellowed and attacks on each goal dwindled as the half ticked toward its conclusion. Striker James Rushby was on the end of an eye watering tackle from Steven Brett as the defender sought to cease any further attacking threat.

3 minutes into the second half and Brett may have been querying his colleagues’ whereabouts as his inviting back-across-goal header, from a Meakin cross, wasn’t foreseen and the ball drifted wide. Having been fairly untested in the first period, Belper’s defensive line started very nervously since the break and Gedling finally set about questioning their resolve.

Despite the precarious restart by the visitors they held firm and safely saw off any further threat and 10 minutes after the break their defensive efforts were rewarded when they took the lead. After Dring found himself in space behind Gedling’s line, his cross, attempting to find James Rushby, ricocheted off the leg of the retreating Liam Corrigan and the onrushing Dean Oliver drilled the ball home much to his team’s delight.

Belper were good for their lead and Oliver’s strike was well-deserved. In an attempt to level the score line, Spiers again stung the hands of Power, but the away custodian got down well to match the low strike. Gedling were poor and by their own admission did very little to warrant anything from the affair and, for the most part, Belper’s defensive unit could count this as one of the easier games they’ll face all season. They may have doubled their lead on the 69th minute but, after Brett was caught under the flight of Baker’s cross from the right, James Rushby fired straight at Brown after controlling well.

As the game drew to its close, Gedling offered very little and their exploits against Ingles counted for nothing as it slowly appeared that they would take nothing away from the game. They had to wait until the 72nd minute for their best chance and it nearly paid dividends. After McCaughey was found by a fine reverse ball from Jepson, his volley, destined for the goal, was excellently tipped over by Power who preserved Belper’s lead.

By this stage, Gedling were frustrated with their performance as very little was paying off from their perspective. The visitors were content and looked confident that they would head back to Derbyshire with maximum points. However, only 4 minutes from time, Gedling equalised, much against the run of play.

After finding himself onside from a delightful Meakin chip over a flatfooted defence, Jepson took the ball in his stride and slotted under the onrushing Power to give his side what looked like an unexpected point from the game. The striker netting his 4th goal from 4 games this season.

Gedling would have taken a point from the game, undeserved based on their performance, and Belper will have felt aggrieved having dominating for the majority of the game. However, they showed no intent in consolidating their position and, only 2 minutes after conceding, they found themselves back in front.

After breaking the offside trap, Michael Dunne found himself one on one with Brown and the substitute passed the ball around the ‘keeper to regain Belper’s lead. An inquest into Dunne’s positioning was prompt but assistant referee Colin Brooks deemed the striker onside when the ball was played through as his strike gave Belper their first win of the league campaign.

A disappointing performance from Gedling saw them succumb to their 3rd defeat of the campaign and slip to 15th in the latest standings. They will look to rectify the form guide on Bank Holiday Monday (27th) when they travel to Eagle Valley to face Arnold Town. The Eagles come into the game having lost 11-1 on Saturday at home to Ingles, kick off 3pm.

Match Attendance – 64
Referee – Scott Crowehurst
Assistants – Alex Smith and Colin Brooks

Gedling Miners Welfare – Danny Brown, David Boafo (Bijan Pakrouz 79), Steven Brett, Liam Corrigan, Ross McCaughey, Jimmy Spiers (c), Joe Meakin, Joe Harrison (Courtney Hastings 67’), Tristan Comery (Liam Towle 83’), Dwayne Brown, Jack Jepson
Unused Substitutes – Tremain Freestone
Cautions – Corrigan (foul 26’), Jepson (foul 61’), Brett (altercation 90’)

Belper United – Liam Power, Kyle Hudson, Matthew Adcock, Thomas Rushby, Samuel Foster, Louis Anthony, Ryan Baker, Dean Oliver (Ashley Dhindsa 63’), Adam Dring (Michael Dunne 70’), Niall Mather, James Rushby (Rory Baker 83’)
Unused Substitutes – Alfie Holland, Mark Rathbone
Cautions – Mather (altercation 90’)

EMCL Results -
Friday 24th August
West Bridgford 0 - 4 Barrow Town

Saturday 25th August
Radford 1 - 2 Teversal
Heanor Town 1 - 5 Eastwood Community
Clifton All Whites 0 - 2 Sherwood Colliery
Ashby Ivanhoe 0 - 5 Graham Street Prims
Arnold Town 1 - 11 (eleven) Ingles
AFC Mansfield 1 - 0 Rainworth Miners Welfare (FA Cup)
Anstey Nomads 4 - 1 Clipstone (FA Cup)
Kimberley Miners Welfare 0 - 2 Oadby Town (FA Cup)