Manners Inspires Colemen as Belper Cancel Out Usher-Shipway Opener

Coleshill Town continued their demanding run of fixtures on Monday night as they welcomed Belper Town to Pack Meadow, just days after the long trip to Boston. While the Colemen were once again asked to dig deep, the visitors arrived having enjoyed a Saturday without a fixture and looked the fresher of the two sides.

The opening half was a competitive and evenly fought affair, although Belper fashioned the better opportunities early on and forced Cam into a number of excellent saves to keep the scores level.

The Colemen thought they had taken the lead after 22 minutes. Charlie Manners spotted the run of Dan Gyasi and delivered a perfectly weighted pass over the top of the visitors' defence. Gyasi raced through and lifted a composed finish over the advancing goalkeeper, only for the assistant referee to raise his flag. It was an incredibly tight call and one that looked very close on the replay.

Undeterred, Coleshill continued to look dangerous on the break and eventually found the breakthrough ten minutes later.

A Belper attack was successfully dealt with inside the Coleshill penalty area before Charlie Manners showed tremendous strength and awareness to shield the ball on the edge of his own box. Driving forward, he exchanged a clever one-two with Joey Butlin before threading a superb defence-splitting pass into the path of the onrushing Ben Usher-Shipway. The striker collected the ball in stride and calmly slotted beyond the goalkeeper to send the Pack Meadow faithful into celebration and give the Colemen a deserved 1-0 lead.

Unfortunately, a familiar weakness from set pieces would prove costly. Belper won a corner and, after the initial header was directed towards goal, a scramble ensued inside the six-yard box. Despite Coleshill's efforts to clear the danger, the visitors managed to force the ball over the line to level the scores at 1-1.

The second half saw chances at both ends, but the fluid football that had served Coleshill so well in the opening period became harder to find. The Colemen increasingly looked to go long rather than play through midfield, allowing Belper to remain comfortable defensively. Even so, the hosts continued to battle and never looked like a side feeling sorry for themselves despite the relentless fixture schedule.

With neither side able to find a winning goal, the points were ultimately shared in what was another hard-fought and competitive contest.

Given the quality of the opposition and the demands currently being placed on the squad, this was another valuable point for the Colemen against a strong Belper Town side.

Attention now turns to Saturday's trip to Grantham Town as Coleshill look to continue building momentum in a challenging spell of fixtures.

Final Score: Coleshill Town 1-1 Belper Town

Goalscorer: Ben Usher-Shipway (32')