Leesbrook home

Belper gave up their chance to virtually win the league this weekend with a flat performance with a generally bad day at the office , with no one player to blame just a list of mistakes made at crucial times leading to a win for a team who simply edged their way back to the top.

Belper started the game kicking off towards Babington hospital with the sun in their eyes and the breeze against them, the first half saw Belper pressure the visitor's line on numerous occasions but Belper kept letting themselves down with a spilled pass or a poor kick. Leesbrook nearly took the lead following a penalty which hit the upright and was run away by England, catching the rebound. Belper's first chance came following an intentional knock-on from Leesbrook's fullback attempting to intercept, the referee gave the penalty and the player 10 minutes in the sin bin for his troubles, unfortunately Emslie was unable to convert. Moments later handling on the floor from the visitors in a ruck gave Emslie his second chance which he converted well.

Leesbrook nearly broke and scored minutes later with the ball being spread to the wing with Skivington hitting the winger inches from the try line and putting him into touch.

Half time 3-0 to Belper.

In the second half Belper started the half with a poor kick giving Leesbrook a scrum in the centre of the park, Leesbrook's possession seemed to flow better with Belper giving the ball away too often and seeming indecisive with support lacking or the ball having the hot potato treatment giving bad passes to other players. The visitors equalised with a drop goal from the back of a scrum then took the lead following further pressure and a pick up from a scrum and the ball being spun out to the wing and their winger scored in the corner.

Belper brought Booth on and Belper started asking questions, Booth added an extra boost with his kicking from hand from penalties with the ball travelling much further. Following a long kick into the corner from Booth Belper won the line and spread the ball well and Holmes was tackled just short of the line. The ruck was formed but handling on the ground from the visitors resulted in a penalty awarded, Naylor took a quick tap and popped the ball to the tenacious Dakin who piled through 2 tackles to score left of the posts. Booth slotted the conversion to give the home side a 10-8 lead.

With only 15 minutes remaining Belper conceded a penalty 30 yards out in front of the posts with the referee claiming a player had handled on the floor. Leesbrook's 10 slotted to give them the win they needed to take top spot off Belper.

Belper pressed but played a nervous last 10 minutes but still have the title in their sights, being 2 points behind leesbrook but with a game in hand and a superior points difference, but now it means they need to score at least as many points as Leesbrook in every remaining game to have any chance of winning the league.

Next week sees Belper playing away at Boots Athletic