Belper 6 - Leek 0
Scorers: Joe Sharp, Luke Davies, Ben Inshaw x2, Tom Sherratt & Nick Morris
Belper kicked off their double header weekend with a fantastic 6-0 victory against 2nd placed Leek to give them real hope of survival in the EHL North Conference. Having now won three of the last four games since the turn of the year, the Nailers are bang in form. With 12 goals scored and just 2 conceded Belper look like they have finally turned the corner. "Today was a great performance and I'm delighted with how we played" "We looked comfortable throughout and although we can enjoy this victory we need to think already about the game against Sheffield Hallam" added Ben Lamb. "It is important we keep our feet on the ground, we are not safe yet, but we're moving in the right direction.
The game could not have started better for Belper. Dominating possession and territory, Belper quickly took the game to the visitors and chances started to come. Indeed with just 10 minutes on the watch Joe Sharp opened the scoring by finishing on the back post after a pass into the circle from Ben Inshaw. With tails up the home side pressed on and on 16 minutes Belper doubled their lead. This time a great pass from Olly Logan found Luke Davies who deflected in on the far post. At 2-0 the game looked comfortable. With Leek rarely threatening Belper continued to force their superiority and before half time Belper had their 3rd goal of the game. This time Ben Inshaw diving full stretch on the back post to score his first competitive goal for the club after another centre, this time from the impressive Luke Davies.
With the game all but over at half time it was all about the Nailers keeping their discipline and concentration to see out the game. Belper did just that by going on the offensive. With James Blackwell and Richard Kitchen influencial in the middle of the park, Belper continued to dominate. With 52 minutes gone, Tom Sherratt sealed the win after some great work down the right from Kitchen found Sherratt on the penalty spot to sweep home. With the score now at 4-0 the question was how many would they get? 2 more was the answer as Ben Inshaw capped a fine performance when he grabbed his 2nd goal of the game and with time running out Nick Morris provided the icing on the cake to leave the Nailers 6-0 winners.