It was a remarkable afternoon’s football with ten goals, six in the first half and four in the second, and both sides seemed capable of scoring every time they went up the field.

A lively opening soon started to produce goal mouth action and in the 2nd minute good work from Paulo Aguas on the left provided Harry Draper with his first sniff of goal, but he couldn’t connect properly with the ball.

Minutes later and Kelan Swales had found Draper with another well thought out cross, but Belper’s top goal getter directed his shot just past the far post.

Swales was the provider of another ball into the box and this time Draper found the target to put the Nailers one up. Draper then got on the end of another Swales cross however his firm header was well held by Harry Moss.

The Nailers were carved open in the 13th minute when Isaac Walker overlapped and put in a low cross that Brandon Holdsworth volleyed in for an equaliser.

Two goals in the first fifteen minutes wasn’t that unusual but what was to come next, doesn’t happen very often.

Two minutes after the Consett leveller, the Nailers were back in front, and this time the assist came from Aguas who put the ball across to the near post where Draper was on hand to flick the ball under Moss to restore Belper’s advantage.

Their lead was short-lived however as the Steelmen were back on level terms when William Constantin swept the ball home from a 20th minute corner kick.

The Nailers surged forward in the 29th minute and Draper looked set to run on and score, but a defender appeared to drag him down, however the referee saw nothing wrong in the challenge.

Draper was on target again on 32 minutes after great work from Nat Crofts on the left and his resulting cross was met with a deft header from Draper to secure his hat trick.

The Steelmen were back on level terms again in the 39th minute after a close-range effort flew into the face of Aguas who had put his hands in front by way of protection, and the crowd were incensed by the referee’s decision to award a penalty.

Holdsworth gratefully stepped up to convert the penalty to make it all square at the break, but just before the half time whistle, the referee missed a much more obvious hand ball offence in the Consett penalty area.

After a breather during the interval, the mayhem started again early in the second period when an unfortunate rebound off Keiron Preston struck Jake Orrell and the Steelmen found themselves ahead for the first and only time in the game.

Holdsworth might have extended his team’s lead but for a smart save at the foot of the post from Preston, but the irrepressible Draper volleyed home his, and Belper’s fourth goal to leave things on a knife edge.

Larell King and Luke Rawson were introduced in the 61st minute and the product of that change prompted Draper’s 67th minute effort, and the impetus of the game swung back in Belper’s favour.

Curtis Burrows had the crowd on their feet with a sublime free kick in the 75th minute which Moss couldn’t reach just inside the post, and although the game was still open, there was a strong feeling that the Nailers wouldn’t concede yet another equaliser.

Luke Rawson banished doubts in the 85th minute when he slotted a loose ball into the corner of the net and the curtain came down on a breathless and exciting afternoon’s entertainment.

Belper Town: Preston, August (King 61), Aguas, Whitehead (Rawson 61), Broadhead, Evans, Swales, Burrows, Draper (Rhodes 80), Warren, Crofts (Poulter 89). Unused subs: Gregory.

Consett: Moss, Patterson, Curl (McGeorge 86), Costello, Slocomb, Constantin (College 54), Allasan (Aplin 76), Smith (Rodrigues 81), Holdsworth, Orell, Walker. Unused sub: Anderson

Referee: Benjamin Schofield

Att: 518

Man of the Match: Harry Draper

Match Sponsor: Clive Edwards