Men's 1st XI Vs Belper 3

It was a gloomy day in Derbyshire with South Nottingham 1’s heading to Belper to play against Belper’s 2nd team. South Nottingham 1’s were coming off of a tough weekend which saw them beat Derwent 2’s 2-0 and then they suffered an 8-0 defeat against Nottingham Trent University 3’s. After travelling over an hour to get to Belper, South Nottingham, with only 11 players, was hopeful of getting a result out of the game. 

The first half started evenly with both teams creating chances in the opening exchanges. Unfortunately for South Notts, the opening goal of the match fell to Belper 10 minutes into the first half with a clean strike into the bottom right corner of the goal. Soon after the first goal Belper went and doubled their lead with a penalty flick into the bottom right corner of the goal. South Notts had some good chances in the first half to score, most notably a missed opportunity to score at the back post. The first half finished 2-0 to Belper. However, the score line wasn’t entirely reflective of the first half that had been played. 

The second half started better for South Notts with large amounts of pressure being put on the Belper goal. However, the pressure didn’t quite manage to result in a goal. In the last 10-15 minutes of the game South Notts began to tire and Belper’s substitutes made a large difference. Belper proceeded to score three goals in the final 15 minutes. Their final goals were scored on the counter attack as South Notts were pressing to fight their way back into the game. Sadly, the game finished 5-0 to Belper. The final score line however was unreflective of how close the game actually was. Now South Notts 1’s will look to bounce back when they face Barton 2’s next week at home in a game which they can get 3 points from.