Belper 2nds travelled to Ilkeston with a sense of optimism and belief that they could break the home side's unbeaten record. As Mick Elove gave yet another of his anagramatic team talks, (all the right words but not necesarily in the right order), Captain Holmezy won the toss and chose to play with the wind and slope in the first half.

From Ilkeston's kick off, the ball was immediately driven on by the Greg Rice, and with Dakin and Yorky in support, the ball was presented and fed out to the backs who made good ground. Despite Ilkeston's attempts to slow the ball, Belper continued to keep the home side under pressure and deprived them of good ball. Eventually, the referee spotted the persistant infringements and awarded Belper a penalty which Jack Blount sent sailing through the uprights to give Belper a deserved 3-0 lead.

Ilkeston realised that Belper would not be the "easy win" that they had expected and seemed to up their game. From the kick off the Ilkeston forwards drove deep into the Belper 22m and despite a string of Belper handling errors leading to a series of scrums, they failed to take advantage. Belper again responded well and gradually edged their way into the Ilkeston half with Chef Liam and the ever moody Emslie breaking the gain line time after time. Eventually, Ilkeston broke free and kicked the ball deep into the Belper half where both Ruggy and Danny did sterling work in defence and cleared the ball to touch. From the resultant lineout, Ilkeston won scrappy ball and after a series of rucks, they drove over to score a try, which was converted.

From the kick off, Belper applied more pressure and continued to threaten the Ilkeston line. It was only the "unforced errors" that allowed the home team to collect the ball and kick up field. Then followed the first "comedy" moment of the game! Chef Liam collected the clearance just inside his own half and shaped up for a drop goal attempt. Unfortunately his brain had failed to inform his foot of his intentions and the ball travelled 10m forward straight into the arms of the onrushing Ilkeston backs who took the opportunity to run the ball in for their second try. Chef Liam attempted to divert blame by accusing the rest of the team of not retreating and supporting quick enough!

Ilkeston now led 14-3 and by the looks on their faces, thought the game was won. Belper again attacked from the kick off with Pete Rose driving his opposite number back and allowing Josh to steal the ball. Good support by Tom Mathews and Andy Ryan forced the Ilkeston pack back to within 5m of their line, where in a desperate attempt to stop the attack, proceeded to kill the ball by fair means or foul. The referee seemed oblivious to the "hands on the floor" and players "going over the top" but awarded a scrum to Belper. The ball was won and Captain Holmezy, playing at scrum half, feigned to go open, then spun and ducked under the defence to score under the posts. Jack Blount converted and the half ended 14-10 to the home team.

Mick Elove gathered his troops around and delivered yet another speech that galvanised Belper without truly understanding anything he said, although perhaps the greatest incentive was the sight of the Ilkeston side, heads down and looking very tired!! The second half started with Belper showing lots more aggression with Sam Robbo replacing Pete Rose to give the side a bit more mobility. Belper seemed to be winning most of the loose ball and using their backs well. It seemed that the only way the Ilkeston defence could stop Belper was, again, by killing the ball or trying to kill the player, usually with high tackles! Despite continual warnings the referee again let a high tackle go and played advantage which allowed Emslie to score. Again Jack Blount converted to maked the score 17-14 to Belper.

Then came "comedy moment" number 2. The Ilkeston winger decided that the main culprit of the high tackles should leave the field. Unfortunately the forward in question had other ideas and after much swearing and "spitting of dummies" it was the winger who left the field of play, only to return minutes later, still upset at the lack of discipline. Belper recognised this as a chink in the now flimsy, armour of Ilkeston which was weakened further by Mick Elove offering to leave the field whilst Ilkeston sorted it out. The referee watched on, quite bemused, and a little amused, by the situation! From the kick off, Belper, for whatever reason, decided it was as good a time as any to have a well deserved "nap" and a series of missed tackles and poor play let the Ilkeston winger score in the corner despite an admirable effort by Minga to stop him.

Now trailing 19-17, Gaz Dakin offered some wise words and informed Belper that Ilkeston were tired, not as good as they thought they were and didn't deserve the lead. On hearing this, Josh stirred from his deep slumber, gradually opened his sleep encrusted eyes and smiled inanely. This was a good sign for Belper as straight from the kick off, Josh proceeded to flatten everything that stood in front of him. With the ball seemingly stuck in a maul, Ilkeston collapsed it and came over "the top". Before the ref had chance to blow, MickElove decided he'd do a bit of "clearing out" and proceeded to "gently but forcibly" help the Ilkeston players out of the way. This led to "comedy moment" number 3 and the Ilkeston prop threw a punch which was so wide it could have hit most of the Belper side until Mick Elove graciously stopped it with his forehead. Mick Elove then proceeded to do a bit of shadow boxing whilst being held back by the Ilkeston No8. The shadows had nothing to worry about as Mick managed to miss everything, obviously a genetic trait inherited from younger brother Tony. Nevertheless, seeing Mick Elove take one for the team made everyone raise their game and after a prolonged period of play in the Ilkeston 22m, which saw the home team concede scrums and penalties time after time, Emslie, once again forced his way over without once cracking a smile. Jack Blount did a fantastic job of hitting the post with the failed conversion attempt to make the score 22-19 to Belper.

Once again, from the kick off, Belper failed to secure good ball and found themselves scrambling across the park in defence. Ilkeston spun the ball out wide and looked certain to score until Yorkie popped up and tackled 5 players, managing to steal the ball in the process. Cue "comedy moment" number 4! All Yorky had to do was to take 2 steps into touch, wait for the forwards to re-group and then compete at the lineout. Instead, he decided to "attempt" to kick long for touch. As he simultaneously threw the ball into the air and began to ponderously swing his boot, it was clear for all to see that the two were never going to make a sound contact, and the ball gently "dollied" up to the waiting backs who proceeded to run across the pitch before finally passing to the flanker to score in the opposite corner. As the flanker touched down, "whoops" of delight could be heard from the Ilkeston players, along with a few derogatory comments which once again, only served to rouse Belper because straight from the kick off, the forwards smashed their way to the line, only to be held up. From a maul, Sam Robbo stole the ball and set of on what looked to be an unstoppable run to the corner only to be forced into touch by a try saving tackle from the home scrum half. Belper battled hard for the last 10 minutes going through phase after phase, with Ilkeston doing their best to kill the ball along with any Belper player in the vicinity, and the referee doing his best not to see.

Eventually the ref had no choice but to penalise Ilkeston and as Chef Liam screamed for a quick tap penalty, Captain Holmezy realised that there were only seconds to go and requested Jack take the points. As the ball sailed through the posts to make the score 25-24 to Belper, the ref whistled the end of the game. Belper had won a hard fought and competitive game against a very strong, until now unbeaten, Ilkeston side, who to their credit, acknowledged that Belper had been the better team and deserved the win.
Mick Elove gathered Belper round for his final talk saying that todays effort confirmed his belief that "if you score more points than the opposition, you'll win". Captain Holmezy restored some sense to the occasion by thanking everyone for the effort and committement that everyone had put in, as in the distance Ilkeston traipsed off dejectedly