Match Preview

The Fenmen face one of their longest trips of the season when they travel to meet Belper Utd in the UCL Premier Division North on Saturday.
They will have fond memories of the last time the teams met, back in September, when a second-half hat-trick by Toby Allen helped Wisbech to a 5-0 win over their Derbyshire opponents who were top of the table at the time.
Belper, a market town seven miles north of Derby, are relative newcomers to the United Counties League, joining in 2021 and winning promotion to the Premier Division North in their first season.
They found the going tough in the first campaign, finishing 14th. They drew 1-1 at home, Sisa Tuntulwana scoring for the Fenmen, and Wisbech won the return 2-1 with goals from Rob Conyard (pen) and Amir Ward.
Belper began this season in fine style, with four league wins out of five putting them at the top of the table, but they are now on a poor run. They have not won for five matches since a 2-0 home win over Deeping Rangers on November 4. Defeats have included a 6-0 crushing by league leaders Sherwood Colliery and a 2-1 home reverse at the hands of Loughborough Students last Saturday.
They have slipped to seventh in the league table, just outside the play-offs, with eight wins and six defeats after 18 matches. Their leading scorer is Richard Hanslow with eight goals.

Club History
Belper United were founded in 1921 and by the late 1970s were playing in the East Midlands Regional League. They were Division One champions in 1979/80, earning promotion to the Premier Division. In 1984/85 the club were the league's last Premier Division champions, with the league merging with the Central Alliance to form the Midlands Regional Alliance.
Belper were placed in the Premier Division of the new league and became the first champions in 1985/86. They won the Challenge Cup in 1992/93, a second league title in 1994/95 and another Challenge Cup the following season. They were later relegated to Division One, which they won in 2004/05 to regain their Premier Division place.
Despite finishing bottom of the Premier Division in 2008/09, Belper were not relegated to Division One. In 2010 they switched to the South Division of the Central Midlands League and in 2014/15 won the Central Midlands League Floodlight Cup, beating Clay Cross Town 3-2 in the final. The club were promoted to the East Midlands Counties League after finishing as runners-up in the South Division in 2015/16.
They remained members of the league until it was disbanded at the end of the 2020/21 season and they were transferred to the United Counties League Division One. In their first season they finished third, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. They beat Radford in the semi-finals and then defeated Hinckley 1-0 in the final to earn promotion to the UCL Premier Division North.