Belper started this game full of confidence, riding high in the league, and having despatched a team from a league higher in the previous round of the EDF Junior Vase, they had no fears about playing Worksop, also in the league above them.
The first 10 minutes saw Belper take the game to Worksop, with Inns, Coombes and Dakin making the hard yards. and camping in the visitor's half. But several bouts of ill discipline saw Worksop advance up the pitch and were awarded a scrum 5 metres out. Following some strong scrummaging Belper were pushed back and Worksop scored to take the lead.
This seemed to wake Belper up and following a period of good pressure, with excellent work around the fringes by Woodward, Hardy and Watson, they were awarded a penalty which was duly slotted by the trusty boot of Blount
The rest of the half was played out with lots of pressure from both sides but no further scoring
Half time - Belper 3 Worksop 5
Belper started the second half poorly, letting the larger Worksop forward pack take the game to them and eventually winning a penalty in front of the posts which their kicker took easily.
The next 20 minutes saw the game going from end to end with Blount converting two more penalties, and Worksop scoring one more, then following a speculative kick upfield from Worksop which seemed to be covered by K Jockey and Hayward, the ball bounced cruelly but perfectly for the chasing visitor and he ran in under the posts for a lucky try.
Belper, roused by the indignity of the soft try against them started an onslaught on the Worksop defence and began to make huge gains into the visitor's half, with Blake, Lyon, Blackwell and O'gorman all making good ground but being constantly thwarted by Worksop, who reverted to type and began to stop Belper by foul means, and sometimes downright illegal means. The young Belper side responded well and were not intimidated, winning two futher penalties, while Worksop just managed to slot one penalty for the remainder of the match.
Merv Holmes made a welcome comeback after several weeks having his pelvis welded back on, as he replaced Hardy, and Tom Holmes made a welcome return after several months dusting or something to replace Hayward who had to leave the field with a twisted ovary
With 10 minutes to go Belper were frantically trying to produce the score that would win this tight contest, with England, Gratton and the Holmes twins mauling like lions, but it wasn't to be and time ran out with the visitor's narrowly victorious
Belper were disappointed with their performance but will hope to keep up the momentum of their league campaign at home against local rivals Leesbrook next Saturday. Kick-off is at 2.15pm so please come down and give your support. The bar is open all afternoon!