Belper Town 1, Lancaster City 2: David Norris curls home the winner for Dolly Blues

The match was locked at 1-1 with just over 10 minutes to go when the evergreen midfielder won the match for the visitors.

The Dollies maintained a sure footing in the match despite going a goal down on 25 minutes when Belper’s James Tague finished past Sam Waller for his fourth goal of the season.

Lancaster were on the happier end of a penalty call when a foul in the box saw the referee point to the spot, and forward Owen Robinson dispatched it just before half-time.

The game hung in the balance for much of the second half before Norris, as he has in a number of recent fixtures, settled the issue with a beautiful curler from inside the box which smacked in off the post to give Lancaster their winner.

City started well, putting Belper under pressure with a collection of long range efforts and dangerous crosses, before the hosts suddenly found a route between strikers Tague and Brodie Litchfield, with the latter playing the former through and the former finishing to put the hosts into the lead.

Lancaster attempted to hit back straight away and were nearly successful as Kyle Brownhill had a close-range shot saved by Tom Jackson after Rudy Misambo’s knockdown.

But they wouldn’t be behind for much longer as, with five minutes of the half left to play, a devilish free-kick by Brownhill curled into the corridor of uncertainty and forced a foul and penalty. With no Sam Bailey or Nic Evangelinos on the pitch, duties fell to Robinson, and he squeezed the spot-kick past Jackson for his first goal.

In the second half, Robinson had a chance to secure a brace when he was played through by Brad Carroll, but he lofted his shot over the bar. Belper responded with a good spell around the hour mark, with chances for James Avery and Curtis Burrows.

Another setpiece situation provided the winning goal, as Brownhill’s set-piece found Norris, who latched onto the ball, poking it past one defender before curling it deliciously off the post and in.