BELPER TOWN 1 MICKLEOVER SPORTS 0: match report by THE MOWDOG...

Watt Powers Belper To Promotion

Belper Town 1 Mickleover Sports 0

(Evo-Stik Division 1 South Promotion Play-Off Final…)

 A scrambled goal by ex-Coalville defender Phil Watt earned promotion for Belper, another kick in the teeth for the Ravens, who not only blew automatic promotion themselves but also capitulated against Mickleover Sports in the play-offs too. This was quite a tough game to watch and in truth, Sports would rue their inability to create clear opportunities from their more expansive and speedy approach to the Final. Belper relied on a brilliant defensive partnership to deny their guests, in which Dan White, who was hugged by manager Peter Duffield at the end of the match, having been drafted in earlier in the campaign, was like Sharpe, the heroic English soldier from the Bernard Cornwell novels. Alongside him Watt, who simply knew what was what, was rugged and dependable, tough and effective. Certainly, Sports will point to a fine Sean Kinsella drive, which slapped against the helpless Scott Low’s crossbar and an added-time scramble, which saw defender Dwayne Riley fail to turn in a Jordan Ball cross from a few yards, allowing Low to fall upon the ball and receive a cuddle from the relieved White. The celebrations were slightly odd to witness, for Belper’s relief was more palpable than their joy at first, but then Kieran Wells whooped and hollered and the fun began…

The opening stages were frenetic, lacking pattern and tending to be careless, notable only for a challenge by White on Karl Demidh, who raised hands to the Belper defender, which froze the nearby linesman into no action at all. A weak Aaron Cole glanced header drifted well wide from a left-wing centre for the hosts and then Simeon Oshoboke crossed for Sports but the energetic Chris Jones chested the ball to his ‘keeper Scott Low. Demidh was becoming angry, verbally, then from a quickly taken Town free-kick on the left side, Cole moved inside but his delivery was disappointing and straight into the arms of visiting goalie Chris Martin. The more smoothly operating Mickleover won a free-kick, 30 yards out on the right, when White upended Demidh, unsurprisingly, but skipper Liam Walshe’s header caused only minor chaos from Chris Palmer’s delivery. White needed attention from that set-piece melee but was soon back in the fray, uniform only slightly soiled and he was handed back his rifle to resume battle. Walshe then rose but planted a downward header past the right post from Palmer’s right-flank corner and really, Belper were not functioning well at all.

The Sports coach looks on as his team does him proud...

Dan White is spoken to by a teacher...

James Cullingworth finally pressured Sports on the left but a couple of interventions by Riley preserved parity, then a left-wing corner found the head of White beyond the goal-frame but his effort went over the goal-frame from a very narrow angle. Aaron Webster was cautioned for a foul on Cole but from a Mickleover movement, the ball was won by Belper and Cole, on the half-way line, typical of the play so far, simply punted it forwards but the bounce took it towards the top of the net and Martin was forced to back-peddle quickly and turn the ball over his crossbar for an unproductive corner. An incident then followed, which seemed to come from nothing but Belper’s players were incensed as the referee dealt with it only by chatting to the two skippers. A free-kick awarded for hand-ball offered the quiet Mark Ward a shooting chance from 25 yards but his effort flew too high, unlike his next snatched drive from 28 yards, which sliced 27 yards wide of the left upright.

The Belper defence wins out again...

Prolific goalscorer Jon Froggatt and partner Ward had barely been involved in the first period, which had offered only the pace of Oshoboke and Demidh as offense at all, but Mickleover’s Kinsella’s neat passing had been the main creative feature. Both defences had ruled, with Nico Degirolamo and Riley equal to any threat by Belper and Watt and White so dominant for the Nailers. Half-time arrived, Doncaster Rovers had kindly succumbed to be relegated, to allow lucky, lucky Small Heath to survive in the Championship and Steve Burr had agreed a two-year deal to manage Chester: yes, this game had been rather distracting…

Dan 'Sharpe' White in action...

 

Ward leaps for the Nailers...

Early second-half Mickleover pressure was superbly defended by White in particular and when a corner on the right was returned to taker Palmer, the Sportsman curled a left-footed cross goalwards, which was headed from his goal-line by I think Colin Marrison. Finally Marrison managed to lift a cross into the middle from the Town left and there was Cole, alone, 15 yards out but he snatched at his shot, which flew wastefully too high. Mickleover had been exposed for the first time, but soon Aaron Pride replaced Jones for the hosts and when Demidh was hacked down from behind, the Mickleover bench reacted very angrily. Kinsella then moved onto the ball at inside-right and fired a fine drive swerving against the Belper crossbar, with Low static. This was eventually to prove fateful, but immediately Ward fired wildly from inside-right for the Nailers, Town midfielder Gareth Davies was replaced by Simon Harrison and a Marrison centre fell behind the Mickleover goal-frame.

The goal came from a free-kick deep and inside-right by Cole, who hoisted the ball forward, where Watt fell at 19 yards but somehow nodded the ball up and forwards for Froggatt to leap for, beating Degirolamo; the striker’s header was palmed aside by the diving Martin, Marrison miscued the rebound at the left upright but Watt had followed in and rammed the loose ball into the net from 2 yards, sparking a frenzy of colleagues leaping onto a pile, like vultures onto a stag’s carcass.

Watt is under there somewhere...

White was finally cautioned for a foul on Demidh, Marc Goodfellow replaced midfielder Danny Holmes to take the resulting free-kick but shot into Belper’s defensive wall and Froggatt, free in the Sports penalty-box, was unable to set up a shot at goal. Watt headed on a Cole free-kick but Ward was unable to deal with the loose ball, as errors still dominated the game. Jordan Ball replaced Webster for Sports, before Ward headed on another huge Belper nailed-boot forward and Froggatt raced Degirolamo on the left, but could only strike a hopeful low delivery towards non-existent support and across the no-man’s-land of the Mickleover penalty-area. Kieran Wells replaced the legendary Froggatt for Belper, Kinsella continued to probe for Sports and Demidh’s low snap-shot lacked the pace to beat Low.

Wells wants to be a part of this...

As Belper tightened their defences, Mickleover so nearly claimed a deserved equaliser in the latter stages of added time, when the ball was cleared from a left-wing corner, which goalie Martin had lumbered forward for; the ball deflected to Ball, left side and he crossed low into the middle, where Riley waited but with the goal at his mercy, he failed to strike the ball hard enough and Low fell onto it on his goal-line and the Nailers finally hammered the door of equal opportunity closed. Belper’s players celebrated, busy Mickleover right-back Kev Grocott lay prone on the turf and Wells whipped the fun into a real frenzy, as Peter Duffield was swamped, NFL-like, by a drinks-bin shower from a couple of his players.

Finally, the little lads had stopped playing football on the grass behind the goal, the people who had spent almost the whole game walking around the perimeter of the pitch, like they were selling buns from trays at a village fete, or wanting to appear cool, or simply preferred drinking, feeding and peeing to watching, suddenly took notice that the game had ended and some even strolled onto the pitch to get a close-up view of the leaping and chanting. I stayed in the grandstand to take a few images but my lasting memory will be Dan White, totally emotional, being hugged by Peter Duffield, harking back to those brilliant Retford days, some of which I had been fortunate enough to witness.

“Cum on Belper…” Ah, words to conjure with… 

Teams: 

Belper:  Scott Low, Chris Jones, James Cullingworth; Gareth Davies, Phil Watt, Dan White; Aaron Cole, Steve Warne (Capt), Jon Froggatt, Mark Ward, Colin Marrison.

Subs: Kieran Wells, Simon Harrison, Aaron Pride, Sam Duncum, Dave Ratcliffe (gk).

Mickleover:  Chris Martin, Kev Grocott, Aaron Webster; Liam Walshe (Capt), Dwayne Riley, Nico Degirolamo; Sean Kinsella, Danny Holmes, Simeon Oshoboke, Karl Demidh, Chris Palmer.

Subs: Jordan Ball, Kyle Bryant, Romaine Graham, Marc Goodfellow, Henry Sibenge.