With 72 minutes on the clock, a Chasetown short corner found its way to Nick Wellecomme and the Scholars appealed for a penalty as the striker appeared to be clipped by Belper Town’s Richard Adams. The appeals were waved away and Belper broke quickly with the referee adjudging Chris Slater to have fouled Shaun Tuton when it seemed like the Chase skipper had won the ball cleanly.

After dismissing Slater for a red card, as last man, Jon Froggatt stepped up and converted the penalty low to Ryan Price’s right. The Derbyshire side had two other penalty shouts turned away in the later stages of the game, one for a shove on Mark Ward which seemed more likely to be awarded a spot kick.

Until the decisive goal, Chasetown had been the side on top. In the first half, Wellecomme hit the bar with a fierce shot early on and was closest to finding the net in the second.

Six minutes after the break, Wellecomme forced Scott Low into a save to his left, conceding a corner in the process. Then, a minute later, skipper Slater sent a well-weighted pass into the path of Simon Brown who swept the ball into Wellecomme. His first touch took him away from the keeper but from a tight angle, all Wellecomme could do was improvise with a back heel which was cleared off the line by Dan White.

Low made a superb fingertip save to deny Wellecomme after Ramone Stephens had set him up and it was the Chase number 9 again who put a header just over the bar.

At the other end, Belper’s Colin Marrison scraped the crossbar with a header before the controversial penalty incident became the talking point.

In the final minutes, Glyn Cotton almost sneaked what would have been a very undeserving second when he struck the outside of the post late on.

Chasetown: Ryan Price, Jack Farmer (Alex Forde, 52 mins), Louis Keenan, Chris Slater, Tesfa Robinson, Grant Beckett, Simon Brown, Danny Bragoli, Nick Wellecomme (Leigh Downing, 85 mins), Ramone Stephens, Lee Butler (Avun Jephcott, 74 mins)

Other subs: Andy Westwood, Danny Smith (not used)

Belper Town: Low, Jones, Thompson, Cotton, White (Conkleton, 27 mins), Adams, Marrison, Warne, Froggatt (Jackson, 81 mins), Tuton, Duncum (Ward, 77 mins)

Other subs: Harrison, Radcliffe (not used)