THE goals dried up for Nelson when they played a resurgent Norton United, who have now enjoyed an eight-game unbeaten run in the North West Counties League Division Two.

The Blues had two great chances to take the lead during the first-half but Robert Grimes saw his shot kicked off the line by Norton keeper Gavin Deaville following a good interchange of passes after 32 minutes.

Neil Chapman was then denied by the crossbar when his angled chip beat the keeper but rebounded to safety a minute before the interval.

In between these two efforts, Billy Carrington made a great save to hold James Killeen's bullet header to keep his side on level terms.

But Nelson found it hard to make clear cut chances in the second half with the Norton defence looking strong, and Carrington again came to the rescue with a great save when Andy Matthews broke clear in the Blues penalty area on 65 minutes.

With five minutes remaining, Carrington was finally beaten when Norton defender Peter Marsh made a solo run and unleashed a piledriver which the Nelson keeper hardly saw as it hit the back of the net to clinch the points for the home team.

Crossbar denies Chapman

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