Long Eaton United slipped to a narrow defeat at play-off hopefuls Belper Town on Easter Monday.

The Blues produced the more attractive football, but were ultimately bested by Belper’s direct play and superior game management after their rugged centre forward Danny South fired them into a 63rd minute lead.

It was a tight affair in the opening stages as the two sides tried to weigh each other up. Owen Betts made a surging run forward from right full-back inside the first two minutes, but when his cross was flicked on by Evan Garnett it fell just beyond Tristan Thompson-Matthews’ reach. At the other end, a perfectly-timed tackle on Jacob Gratton by Gianluca Bucci saw the Belper forward make a vain penalty appeal.

The hosts narrowly shaded the territorial advantage in the opening ten minutes, and when Jonathan Wafula pounced on a slip from Callum Cox and played the ball wide to Liam Moran the latter delivered a cross-cum-shot that required Lewis King to palm around the near post at the expense of a corner.

The Blues were on top for most of the first-half. They had a penalty call of their own dismissed after Dexter Walters cut all the way across the pitch from the left and fed Betts, who delivered the ball into a crowded box where Thompson-Matthews went to ground amid the melee.

Bucci broke up a counter attack and played the ball to Walters, who was hacked down by Belper’s Jack Broadhead. As a result, the hosts’ skipper became the first of five Belper players to have their name taken by referee Mr Karia.

The Blues continued to force the opponents onto the back foot, and a huge kick forward from King found Louis Bonser overlapping from left-back. Bonser pulled the ball back to Walters, who forced Long Eaton’s first corner of the game.

Belper winger Kevin Bastos was fortunate not to enter the referee’s notebook for simulation after running into Bonser and throwing himself to the ground theatrically, but did have a free-kick awarded against him.

Cocks tried his luck from distance, and Belper skipper Broadhead got a foot to the ball preventing Garnett from reaching Walters’ cross, but the Blues’ pressure finally bore fruit on 19 minutes when Betts cut inside and drilled the ball home from just outside the 18-yard box.

The Blues stood up to increasingly robust play from the hosts, for whom Jordan Fankwe received a stern talking to for shouldering Bucci into the barriers and Moran was cautioned for sending Betts flying.

Betts was having an excellent game, and he turned Bastos inside out after meeting King’s free-kick before slipping the ball onto James Taylor. Betts was joining the attack at every opportunity and winning the ball in advanced positions. Another goal-bound effort from Betts took a deflection, but was cleared before Garnett could pounce on the loose ball.

When the hosts were able to get into the Long Eaton third, they came up against a resolute back line that saw shots from both Bastos and Gratton blocked before they could trouble King’s goal.

Bonser was left in a crumpled heap by South, and the hosts’ direct approach brought them level in the run-up to half-time. After a quick succession of high balls into the Long Eaton box, King was unable to make a claim among the crowd and Moran knocked the ball into the unguarded net. The Blues were almost undone by another deep cross into the box, but Cocks was on hand to hook it clear at the far post.
The Blues felt aggrieved when, in first-half stoppage time, Walters weaved his way past three defenders only to be cynically tripped by Wafula just outside the box. Somehow, the referee waved play on.

Long Eaton created the first chance of the second-half within a minute of the restart when Taylor helped Betts’ ball onto Thompson-Matthews, only for it to run away from him as he reached the edge of the 18-yard box.

But the hosts’ set-piece threat came to the fore after the interval, and they forced a plethora of corners in the second period, while a free kick pumped into the Long Eaton box on 52 minutes eventually fell to Wafula who blazed over the bar.

Gratton went to ground in the box under Cocks’ challenge, but had a penalty appeal decisively waved away for the second time of the afternoon, with the referee also flourishing a yellow card toward the Belper bench for their protests.
Wafula warmed King’s gloves with a firm hit from the edge of the box, while Bonser made a vital interception when South looked hot favourite to reach Louis Keenan’s punt forward.

A neat passing move from the Blues on the hour mark began with Betts bringing the ball forward on the right-hand side, and ended with Walters firing into Kieran Preston’s hands from an acute angle.

But it was Belper who were generating the most traction, and after a foul by Cocks on the left-hand side Keenan picked out Moran with a deep free kick. Moran twisted and turned but was unable to get a shot off, however when the ball was returned into the mix and Moran pounced it took a brave block by Bucci to prevent him finding the target. Keenan whipped in the resultant corner, and when he met Taylor’s clearance and returned it to the far post South was left unmarked to score from two yards.

Jayden Cotterill met Cocks’ free kick with a bullet header that went just over the bar, and the Blues came even closer to equalising a minute later when Cocks swung the ball into the Belper box where Fankwe knocked it past his own keeper and against the inside of the post. The whole ground paused for breath waiting for the ball to cross the line, only for it to spin across the face of goal and out for a corner.
Thereafter, Belper spent time managing their single-goal advantage with ruthless efficiency and the game entered something of a lull until the closing ten minutes or so. On 84 minutes Bastos zig-zagged his way into the Long Eaton box but ran into Cotterill, and Wafula headed over from the subsequent corner kick. Cocks, who dropped back into defence when Bonser was withdrawn, made an excellent challenge to halt Bastos when the Belper winger made his next foray into the Long Eaton box.

A series of stoppage-time corners allowed Belper to wind down the clock, but tempers frayed and after the second of two mass shoving matches on the far side Walters collected his second yellow card of the afternoon, leaving the Blues to play out the remaining thirty seconds with ten men.

LONGEATON UNITED; King (c), Betts, Bonser (Pace 76), Cocks, Cotterill, Bucci, Walters (Sent-off 90+5), Hanson (Atwal 68), Garnett, Thompson-Matthews, Taylor. Subs not used; Davidson-Miller, Cole, Munn
Attendance: 607

Report by Dan Bishop