PREVIEW | BELPER UNITED VS KIMBERLEY MINERS WELFARE

FIRST AWAY MATCH OF THE SEASON FOR THE MINERS

UP NEXT, After a run of five matches at the Stag Ground, Kimberley make a very short trip to our nearest neighbours, where we face their tenants, Belper United at Coronation Park in Eastwood.

After a poor run of late, the miners will hope that a change of scenery brings a change of result, as they look to pick up form at this early stage of the season. Belper United, on the other hand, will want to continue their run of recent good form, having topped the league for twenty four hours after beating their landlords, Eastwood CFC on Tuesday night.

Tuesday night for Kimberley saw their fifth home match in a row, as they hosted in-form AFC Mansfield at the Stag. With Kimberley scoring just once in their previous two matches, and Mansfield having two clean sheets in a row, it was going to be a difficult match. Mansfield went a foal up within the first ten minutes, as a well worked corner routine wasn’t picked up. The lead was doubled just before half time as a through ball was picked up in the middle of the box for the striker to put the ball through the goalkeeper's legs. With fifteen minutes to go, a cross into the miners box was missed and the resultant shot was parried to a striker for an easy finish. To round off a miserable night, a long ball over the top wasn’t dealt with, for the Mansfield striker to finish low from the edge of the box. Despite going down to four goals that could have been prevented, the Miners did play some great football at times, and had more than two thirds of the possession. A little tightening up, and creating more from this possession and they don’t look to be too far off some decent results.

Belper United's last match saw them host their landlords, as they played a “home” fixture against Eastwood CFC at Coronation Park. A goal at each end of the game from Lewis Belgrave and Kyle Bryant sealed the victory as Eastwood scored their only goal at the start of the second half through Oliver Robinson. 2-1 to Belper.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS

The two sides last met in January of this year at Coronation Park, where current Miners player, Kai Moore opened the scoring for Belper in first half added time. A brace from Devante Reittie was enough to take the points for Belper as a goal from Sam Brown and a late consolation from Jordan Alls were all that Kimberley could come back with.

Earlier in the 2023-24 season, Kimberley romped to a 4-0 win at the Stag Ground with goals from Sam Brown, Aaron Coyle and two from Tom Eccleshall.

A LITTLE ABOUT THE OPPOSITION

Belper United was established in 1921. By the late 1970s the club was playing in the East Midlands Regional League. They were Division One champions in 1979–80, earning promotion to the Premier Division. In 1984–85 the club were the league's last Premier Division champions, with the league merging with the Central Alliance to form the Midlands Regional Alliance at the end of the season. Belper were placed in the Premier Division of the new league and became its inaugural champions in 1985–86. They won the league's Challenge Cup in 1992–93, before securing a second Premier Division title in 1994–95 and another Challenge Cup the following season. They were later relegated to Division One, which they won in the 2004–05 season to earn promotion back to the Premier Division.

Despite finishing bottom of the Premier Division in 2008–09, Belper were not relegated to Division One. In 2010 they switched to the South Division of the Central Midlands League. In 2014–15 they won the Central Midlands League Floodlit Cup, beating Clay Cross Town 3–2 in the final. After finishing as runners-up in the South Division in 2015–16, the club were promoted to the East Midlands Counties League. They remained members of the league until it was disbanded at the end of the 2020–21 season, at which point they were transferred to Division One of the United Counties League. In their first season in the league they finished third, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. After defeating Radford in the semi-finals, they beat Hinckley 1–0 in the final to earn promotion to the Premier Division North.

The first team plays at Eastwood's Coronation Park. They played at Belper Town's Christchurch Meadow from the 2013–14 season, but later relocated to Asterdale Bowl, the home ground of Borrowash Victoria. The club returned to Christchurch Meadow at the start of the 2018–19 season. They moved on again to Coronation Park before the 2023–24 season

Honours
Central Midlands League
Floodlit Cup winners 2014–15
East Midlands Regional League
Premier Division champions 1984–85
Division One champions 1979–80
Midlands Regional Alliance
Premier Division champions 1985–86, 1994–95
Division One champions 2004–05
Challenge Cup winners 1992–93, 1995–96

FINALLY

With both sides needing points for very different reasons, we have an interesting game in prospect. The home side look to continue their great form, having beaten Eastwood on Tuesday night. The away side need to turn possession into goals as they look for positive results.

Parking at Coronation Park is very limited. We recommend car sharing if possible

Admission prices are as follows

Adults £7
Concessions £5
U16s free

Please come along and support the lads