By Chris Wood for North Derbyshire Radio
Photo Credit – Steve Greenhough
Matlock Town had a disappointing afternoon in their first home game in 3 weeks as they were beaten by West Auckland Town in the NPL East Division this afternoon (07/11/2026).
Manager Nathan Haslam had to make 3 enforced changes to the side that drew with Garforth last week. Eratt-Thompson and Pettifer were both serving one-game suspensions after accumulating too many yellow cards, and top scorer Abbey was dropped from the matchday squad entirely after a dispute emerged between him and the club. It’s not right for me to comment on the dispute, but owner Dave Hilton’s response to the incident was revealed in an interview which is available to watch on the club’s website and social media channels.
Anyway, onto the football and the hosts started fairly brightly, with both Hilton and Washington going close inside the opening 20 minutes. A well organised West Auckland defence preventing the Gladiators from taking the lead.
However, the visitors, mid table going into this game, grew into the game as the minutes of the first half ticked by. The newly promoted side putting pressure on the Matlock defence but failing to really hit the target. This would all change in the 27th minute as West Auckland took the lead and it was a poor goal to concede from a Matlock point of view. A cross came in from the right hand side and O’Gorman had far too much space in the 6-yard box to head past Dewhurst.
Going behind seemed to galvanise the Gladiators as they dominated the ball for the remainder of the first half. Without some heroic defending from the visitors, Matlock may well have found themselves level at the break, if not in front in their own right. First Walker and then Washington both had efforts cleared off the line within 6 minutes of each other before Kachosa was brought down in the box towards the end of the half, unfortunately the referee seeing no reason to award a spot kick on this occasion.
For all of their possession and passing of the ball, Matlock couldn’t make their advantage count and went in at the break a goal behind.
Half-Time – Matlock Town 0-1 West Auckland Town
In all honesty, the beginning of the second half was a bit lacklustre from both teams as neither side were really able to attack with any conviction in the opening 15 minutes. A bright spark of this period being the welcome return of Jez Milambo to the field after a lengthy injury lay off, the full back having not featured since the end of August.
On 57 minutes, the visitors would double their lead as Harrison finished really well into the bottom corner. Another poor goal to concede as the forward had far too much space in and around the box. Manager Nathan Haslam was very upfront about his sides shortcomings in his post-match interview and the need to work on the mistakes and the causes of them.
The remainder of the second half continued to be rather disappointing from a Gladiators point of view. Much like the first half, Matlock had a lot of the ball, but were lacking that cutting edge to really carve out a goalscoring opportunity. Sault was dangerous after his introduction and Washington was trying to make things happen to, but a combination of excellent West Auckland defending and miscommunication from the Gladiators front line led to the hosts drawing a blank this afternoon.
The disappointment was exacerbated 3 minutes before full time as Bradbury received a second yellow card for making his… opinions known to the referee and received his marching orders as Matlock finished the contest with 10 men.
Full-Time – Matlock Town 0-2 West Auckland Town
All in all then, its not like Matlock played particularly badly this afternoon. They were undone by mistakes at the back as West Auckland scored twice from only a handful of shots on target. The concern for Matlock will be the lack of a cutting edge, particularly up front. In a similar fashion to last season, Matlock lacked a ruthlessness and quality in forward areas where it counted, making life all to easy for the visiting defence.
I think a good summary of the performance is that it was a little disjointed but I think we’re now facing repercussions from the earlier season injury crisis. A fair few of the players involved today haven’t trained or played with the first team in a number of weeks due to injuries but their inclusion was enforced due to further injuries and suspension. Hopefully, with 2 training session this week, some collaborations and patterns of play can begin to emerge as the injured players are reintegrated into the matchday squad.
Matlock have another home game next weekend when they welcome Beverley Town to the Proctor Cars Stadium with kick off at 3pm.
Matlock XI – 1. Dewhurst, 2. Owusu Osei, 3. Robinson (Milambo 56’), 4. Bachirou, 5. Andoh, 6. Walker (C), 7. Hilton (Mampala 71’), 8. Bradbury, 9. Washington, 10. Elliott (Sault 46’), 11. Kachosa
West Auckland XI – 1. Bessent, 2. Hughes, 3. Scott, 4. Bailey (C) (Mitchell 46’), 5. Eckley-Aldsworth, 6. Trotter, 7. Sweet (Kerins 89’), 8. Smith, 9. O’Gorman, 10. Jackson (Dale 78’), 11. Harrison (Whitfield 79’)
