In fact, Chasetown had the better of the opening half, conceding the opening goal against the run of play, before controversy took over and left The Scholars with a mountain to climb.

Debutant signing Joel Purkiss almost had a dream start with a cheeky chip goalwards that eluded home keeper Aaron Chapman and only marginally cleared the crossbar, landing on the roof of the net.

In the 11th minute, the visitors had a golden opportunity to take the
lead when Theo Robinson headed over the crossbar, unmarked just outside the 6 yard box, with just the keeper to beat.

Belper punished Chasetown for that missed chance, when a succession of attempts at goal eventually fell to Shaun Tuton who steered the ball home from close range.

It was Chasetown’s other Robinson, Tesfa, who squandered a chance to equalise. Following a Simon Brown corner, the ball fell to Robinson, who was leaning back too far and lifted his shot over the crossbar from the edge of the 6 yard box.

Six minutes before the break, the game took a dramatic and controversial twist. Striker Joel Purkiss and Belper full back Aaron Pride jostled one another after the Belper keeper had gathered and cleared the ball. The linesman alerted the referee to insist that Purkiss had attempted a punch on the home defender. Referee Hollidge backed his linesman’s call, having not seen any incident himself and sent off Purkiss, much to the amazement of both sets of players and supporters.

The Scholars were incensed by the decision but set about trying to claw back the one-goal deficit.

At the start of the second half, without necessarily stretching Chapman, Chasetown did have a concerted amount of pressure on the Belper goal, culminating in a few shots narrowly wide of the target and Nick Wellecomme striking the base of the post just after the hour.

Chasetown’s comeback was rocked by a second controversy in the 68th minute. Richard Teesdale misjudged a headed clearance and pulled back the attacker who had got beyond him. Although the red card for the Chasetown skipper was expected, the linesman raised his flag across his chest for a spot-kick despite the fact the foul by Teesdale was outside the area.

Nine-man Chasetown were given an almost impossible task to gain a point when Jon Froggatt calmly despatched the penalty kick beyond Matt Sargeant.

The travelling supporters were naturally disheartened by the events that had transpired throughout the game but did have three highlights to cheer in the dying minutes. Firstly, substitute Jono Gould embarked on a couple of lively attacks and secondly, debutant former-Academy player Lee Butler sent one sumptuous long range pass that opened up the Belper defence in an impressive cameo from the youngster.

The third highlight was Belper’s third goal. You couldn’t be a real football fan and not applaud the long range unstoppable drive from Aaron Pride which rocketed into the top corner of Sargeant’s net, which no goalkeeper in the world would’ve kept out.

However, for Chasetown’s officials and supporters, the game will be remembered more for the red cards than the performance.

Chasetown: Sargeant, Farmer (Ashton, 86 mins), Tesfa Robinson, Slater, Bate, Teesdale, Brown (Butler, 79 mins), Westwood, Wellecomme, Purkiss, Theo Robinson (Gould, 75 mins)

Other subs: Branch, Saunders (not used)