BELPER UNITED 2-2 SWANWICK PENTRICH ROAD: match report by The Mowdog...

Parity At Christchurch Meadow, Despite the ‘Marston’s Stadium’ Sign…

Belper United 2-2 Swanwick Pentrich Road

This was a remarkably even game, during which, after an untidy, uninventive opening, the visitors began to dominate the first period and three well taken goals were scored. Then Belper found themselves level after the interval via a strange spot-kick and then began to appear ascendant, but the fast, dangerous and tricky Sam Vickers was unable to trouble the Swanwick net, leaving the game to finish even, the sides sharing four goals. It was a case of David versus Goliath, when comparing Vickers with Swanwick’s giant striker Andy White, yet he, intriguingly, was usually marked by the smaller United central defender Adam Robley. Intriguing, certainly... A minute’s silence was held before the game for Neil Dalton and this was respectfully observed by all at the beautifully named Christchurch Meadow, which I refuse to refer to by the shallow new name of the Marston’s Stadium..

The teams emerge...

The toss...

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An early free-kick from 30 yards by Belper’s Joe Conkleton was collected by visiting ‘keeper Adam Jablonski then a fine Vickers run was stopped by Swanwick defender Adam Gross, at the expense of a corner. Robley was unable to get his beyond-the-far-post header from Conkleton’s flag-kick on target but it was already clear that Swanwick’s gigantic striker White was going to be a problem for the home defence in the air. He flicked on one pass for his foraging, eager strike-partner Guy Wilding at inside-right, who stroked a low centre straight to home goalie Scott Whittingham, despite a colleague calling for a pass inside. Home defender and skipper Scott Slater made two or three important interceptions in these early stages as White’s shielding of the ball became a real strength for the guests but suddenly, Vickers exploded along the left byeline, only for Jablonski to form a barrier at the near post, as Vickers looked to go the whole way.

The busy and creative Swanwick midfielder Chris Turner just had to be involved in the opening goal and after White’s head-on and Wilding’s shot had been blocked. White passed to Turner and the midfielder swung a pass left to Matt Phillips, who did well to take on his marker Adam Moss and get in a great cross from the byeline, right onto Gulliver White’s forehead, who knocked his marker down like he was a mere Lilliputian just three yards out and the Belper net bulged.

0-1 to Swanwick but goalscorer White was too tall to congratulate...

Robley headed another Conkleton corner too high for the hosts, as Swanwick settled better and Belper relied upon Vickers’ pace to break, for at this point, striker Crosby wasn’t yet making an impression. Not satisfied with one dash along the byeline, Vickers repeated the dose, but Jablonski repeated his antidote, who again thwarted the lively forward at his near post. As the second phase of the attack saw the ball reach Crosby, the striker’s shot wasn’t hard enough to worry the Swanwick ‘keeper. However, Crosby sent Vickers scurrying left again soon afterwards but this time, the speedy striker twisted and turned, had a shot blocked and the rebound fell to the supporting Gary Conway, whose centre was headed out to Crosby; the tall centre-forward controlled the ball neatly then curled a fine shot, left-booted, into the top left corner of the net, with Jablonski helpless.

1-1 and game on...

Louis Mason, along with fellow defender and skipper Shane Whitmore, another of the Swanwick giants, saw a header from a Turner corner bounce off a Belper shoulder and from the second flag-kick, the ball bounced out for an unmarked White to head goalwards, only for the alert Conkleton to get back and nod the ball from his goal-line. Another corner, a few minutes later, saw home defender Jamie Sparkes flattened as he attempted to resist the advance of the Swanwick tanks but Belper survived again. Midfielder Ian Milsom, also tall, drove well over the home crossbar for Swanwick, following some neat approach work by the guests, before United broke on the right, Vickers escaping an offside flag but after swerving inside, the lad curled his left-footer past the far upright. When Wilding ran forward at inside-right for Swanwick, his low shot was well blocked by Slater but the ball ricocheted to Turner, who curled a first-timer from 12 yards, inside-left, into the far corner of the net, with Whittingham unable to save.

Gulliver White stretches...

1-2 to Swanwick...

As the half wound down, Jablonski flicked on a Conkleton corner, Ash Dhindsa got back well to defend his left-side for the hosts and finally, a quick free-kick by United led to a volley by Conkleton, which was saved comfortably by Jablonski. White and Wilding had been troublesome to the home defence, Turner had been usefully busy in midfield for the visitors too, whilst Slater had defended well for the hosts and Tim Perry had been prominent in midfield at times, although the dangerous Vickers had been the feature for Belper, yet one would have liked him to have been more involved.

White heads again but has the ball changed shape?

A promising run by Wilding in the second period resulted in the visiting forward having to settle for a corner but then United’s Crosby, seemingly having to drop deeper for some possession, collected the ball on the left, cut inside strongly but his shot was blocked by the pillars in the Swanwick defence. The equaliser for the hosts came as a result of Vickers’ innocuous persistence, challenging Jablonski just inside the penalty-box and the ‘keeper, losing the ball, appeared to grab at the striker and the referee pointed to the penalty-spot. Crosby placed his spot-kick into the left-side of the net, even though the goalie dived that way.

2-2, following Crosby's penalty...

A dangerous low pass across the Swanwick goalmouth by the ever more dangerous Crosby came to nought, then from a cleared delivery by the visitors, the ball was knocked forward and somehow, Wilding found himself one-on-one with Whittingham, who advanced just in time to tackle the Swanwick striker. Ryan Wheatcroft replaced Dhindsa for the hosts, a quick free-kick by Swanwick and one-two between Turner and White led to the midfielder choosing not to shoot but instead he lifted the ball towards the left upright, where the clever idea fizzled out. A free-kick just 21 yards from the visitors’ goal was nudged to Conkleton, which allowed the blocking defenders time to rush and charge down the midfielder’s shot, then Vickers managed to get clear at inside-left onto Conkleton’s neat pass but was denied by the advancing Jablonski, who saved well at the striker’s feet. White was replaced by Ash Buxton for Swanwick but soon Crosby took possession on the right flank, before taking on two defenders on the inside and shooting too high from 19 yards.

A brilliant swerving left-wing corner by Vickers was really well punched out from under his crossbar by the desperate Jablonski, as Belper tightened their offensive screw and Wilding was replaced by White’s total opposite in physical attributes: the small, impish and quick Shane Buckerfield. The two visiting substitutes combined for Buckerfield to shoot too high, then Belper scorned a chance to win the game. Crosby released Vickers centrally and with only Jablonski to beat, Vickers appeared to lose control and concentration as the ball trickled away from him and the opportunity was lost. United’s James Baxter replaced Conway for the final moments and the game ended all-square.

The visitors were big, generally and their set-piece play will be tough to defend against this season but in Turner, they have a useful playmaker and in Jablonski, a decent ‘keeper on this showing; Belper’s Crosby is a strong forward, but Vickers could be such a threat to opponents as the season progresses, with Conkleton’s set-pieces and Perry’s runs from midfield also very useful for the men from Christchurch Meadow, which is, of course where they REALLY play...

Teams:

Belper:  Scott Whittingham, Adam Moss, Jamie Sparkes; Adam Robley, Scott Slater (Capt), Gary Conway; Ash Dhindsa, Joe Conkleton, Luke Crosby, Tim Perry, Sam Vickers.

Subs: Tarik Harvey, Ryan Wheatcroft, James Baxter, Josh Squires, Andy Fretwell.

Swanwick:  Adam Jablonski, Adam Gross, Jamie Slater; Ian Milsom, Shane Whitmore (Capt), Louis Mason; Dean Owen, Guy Wilding, Andy White, Chris Turner, Matt Phillips.

Subs: Ash Buxton, Shane Buckerfield, Mark Owen, Phil Gregory.