Belper 2

Birmingham University 2

(Birmingham won 5-4 on penalty strokes)

BELPER finally got their England Hockey Cup tie against Biormingham University under way after poor weather conditions had delayed the game, previously scheduled for November 2009.

With both teams playing their first competitive game of the new year, the reward for the victors was a quarter final tie against EHL East Conference side Sevenoaks.

In a tie full of incident, quality, and some determined defending, the game didn’t disappoint, although for the home side the final result did.

Head coach Ben Lamb commented: “We played very well and certainly deserved to go through on the showing we gave. to take one" commented Ben Lamb. "Birmingham converted one more than us so they progress. That's life".

The game started at a great pace, with Belper imposing themselves in the early exchanges. With the pressure mounting, Belper had several good opportunities to score from open play and penalty corners before Birmingham stung the Nailers on the break.

A hopeful overhead was not dealt with in the Belper defence and as the ball broke to the Birmingham forward a three-on-two situation found the ball full to the striker on the top of the circle who buried his shot into the roof of the net.

The set-back didn't change the mentality of the home side and they picked themselves up and created more good opportunities.

Five minutes before the break, Belper again caused themselves more problems as the ball was given away cheaply and Biormingham forced a penalty corner.

From the corner, Birmingham scored their second goal as they went into half-time 2-0 to the good.

Belper's reaction was immediate in the second half, as they looked to turn the game around.

With Birmingham put under increasing pressure, Belper finally got on the scoresheet after a great pass from substitute Jono Miles found Tom Sherratt in the circle who cleverly deflected in.

With tails up, Belper took the game to the visitors and minutes later they were level. This time James Blackwell provided the pass for Tom Sherratt to collect, turn and shoot through the goalkeeper’s legs.

At 2-2 Belper looked far stronger and dominated possession and territory. With two minutes left, controversy broke out. Tom Sherratt, on a hat-trick, found himself on the penalty spot, back to goal and the ball at his feet.