Matlock Town suffered a dent in their promotion hopes on Tuesday night (21/10/25) after the long trip North to bottom four side Blyth Spartans ended in defeat.
From the referee’s first whistle, the Gladiators were on the back foot as it seemed that the long journey on a Tuesday night had an impact on some of the players. After just two minutes in this encounter, the hosts took the lead. A shot from just inside the Matlock box was deflected for a corner, which was subsequently tapped in by Perera at the back post.
It wasn’t as if this was an isolated incident either as for the first half an hour or so of this game, Blyth were the better side as Matlock were consistently guilty of giving the ball away and making poor choices on the ball. The first glimmer of hope came on the 14th minute when Ben Sault was homing in on the Blyth keeper who only managed to clear as far as Milambo. His pass to Wilson only found the receiver in an offside position.
It took until the 38th minute of this encounter for the Gladiators to come alive and it seemed to come from nothing. Ben Sault managed to find a pocket of space in the box, then when the Blyth keeper came to gather, Sault rounded him successfully and slotted the ball into the net. However, aside from the goal and Sault’s half chance, Matlock offered very little in the first half as the ball spent the vast majority of time in the middle of the park but it was the hosts who had the better openings.
HT Blyth Spartans 1-1 Matlock Town
However, the second half started much brighter from the Gladiators point of view who were much brighter in possession. Just before the hour mark, Clayton pulled the ball back to De Girolamo who squared to Wilson and his shot was well blocked by a Blyth defender. For the next ten minutes or so, the story remained much the same as Blyth’s resolute and solid defending seemed to hold true as the Gladiators struggled to break them down. First, star striker Connor Washington (introduced from the bench) managed to beat the offside trap but, unlike Saturday, his shot was well saved by Dobson in the Spartans goal. A minute later and another shot blocked, this time from Sault on the edge of the box as again Matlock are frustrated by the hosts.
Blyth then grew in confidence as they continued to keep Matlock out. On 67 minutes, Mbayo played a loose back pass back to Oram in the Matlock goal, the latter managed to clear after a coming together but only as far as Shodeinde who fired over the bar.
It wasn’t to be for the Gladiators as nine minutes later, a cross-come-shot from McClafferty looped over Oram’s head and dropped into the far corner to make it 2-1. Then, in a huge positive, Jake Thompson is introduced from the bench who picked up an injury during pre-season and the winger made his first appearance since when he replaced Bachirou on 76 minutes.
Matlock continued to push on but it was a case of ‘ifs, buts and maybes’ as Blyth refused to be beaten. A cross from Eratt-Thompson in the 85th minute is struggled to control by Washington as the ball flies over the bar, and then a minute later a header from Granite hits the post was all that was in the script on a disappointing evening for Matlock Town.
The Gladiators miss the chance to go top (albeit for 24 hours) and with Redcar winning on Wednesday night, the gap between 1st and 2nd is now 4 points. Matlock host bottom club Blyth Town at the Porctor Cars Stadium on Saturday afternoon and simply must get back to winning ways to keep the pressure on Redcar Athletic in top spot.
Full-Time – Blyth Spartans 2-1 Matlock Town
Spartans XI – 1. Dobson, 2. McClafferty, 3. Dobson, 4. Evans, 5. Wood, 6. Downey (Anderson 68’), 7. Gomez, 8. Slocombe (C), 9. Shodeinde (Dore 72’), 10. Perera, 11. Potts (Maw 79’)
Matlock XI – 1. Oram, 2. Eratt-Thompson, 3. Milambo (Granite 86’), 4. Bachirou (Thompson 76’), 5. Mbayo, 6. Oglesby, 7. Clayton (Washington 60’), 8. Ravenhill (C), 9. De Girolamo, 10. Sault, 11. Wilson
By Chris Wood for North Derbyshire Radio
