By Chris Wood for North Derbyshire Radio
Photo Credit: Chris Cookman Photography
The Gladiators made sure that they finished the year strong on home turf as they saw off Lincoln United on Saturday afternoon (20/12/25).
This was the first game of December that actually managed to go ahead at The Proctor Cars Stadium after the last 2 games were postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
The visitors arrived on the back of new manager (former Alfreton Town boss Billy Heath) and a slight upturn in form. They were also boosted in the knowledge of the fact that they won the reverse fixture 3-2 back in August 2025.
The game naturally started a little nervy for both teams, with the vast majority of the first half being a game of very few chances and two sides who were clearly figuring each other out. The heavy surface didn’t help either side who really struggled to get the ball moving after recent periods of prolonged rainfall.
In fact, very little of note happened in the entirety of the first half until the 35th minute when Ben Sault was played through 1 on 1 with Richardson making an excellent save with his feet to deny the Gladiators’ number 10. Unfortunately however, during the move, young striker Gunner Elliott (on loan from Chesterfield) got himself caught in a crowd of players and went down with what looked like a serious injury. He was unable to continue and was stretchered off to applause from both sets of fans.
The only other real chance was during the lengthy period of injury time at the end of the half. The Lincoln goalkeeper was caught in no man’s land as he attempted a clearance, only managing to find substitute Kiyani Clayton in the process. The keeper to be fair to him recovered well, first keeping out Clayton from the edge of the box, before righting himself to save from Cameron Wilson on the rebound.
HT – Matlock Town 0-0 Lincoln United
Pleasingly, for the home fans at least, Matlock Town came out in t he second half with much more energy and impetus than they had before the break. Just four minutes after the restart, the Gladiators won a free kick on the side of the Lincoln penalty area. Jeremie Milambo swung the free kick in and it was flicked in to the top corner of his own net by a Lincoln defender.
Again though, as has been the case in recent games, Matlock didn’t really capitalise on this new found lead. Yes they did go forward and try to create chances but often having to settle for a corner or a throw in, rather than really testing the visiting keeper.
In fact it was the visitors themselves who had the next real big chance of the game. A Lincoln United forward found himself in far too much space in the Gladiators’ box and, without a block from Milambo, the away side would have found themselves back on level terms.
This chance did seem to cause Matlock to kick on into another gear and 6 minutes later, they found themselves two goals to the good. Wilson dribbled past several Lincoln defenders on the edge of the box and in fact, it looked like the chance had gone. But the ball found its way wide to Clayton who crossed to the back post to meet the diving header of Finn Flanagan for his first goal in Gladiators’ blue.
This seemed to be the spark that the game needed, as just one minute later, Lincoln United found themselves reduced to 10 men as the number 8 (Brown) was shown two yellow cards in quick succession after first bringing down Milambo, and then appearing to ‘kick out’ at the Matlock left back after the fact.
As you would expect, now having the man advantage, the home side continued to have a lot of possession and kept searching for more goals to add to their tally. They made this advantage count in the 78th minute as Wilson got himself to the byline and pulled the ball across for make-shift striker Jake Thompson to tap in to an empty net for his third in 3 appearances. This rounded off the win in front of a bumper crowd as the club had generously offered free entry to the game for both home and away supporters in the run up to Christmas.
FT – Matlock Town 3-0 Lincoln United
Matlock Town were good value for the win today and, while seeming a little nervous during the first period of the game, took control in the second half and managed to not only get the 3 points, but a much needed clean sheet for the back four and goalkeeper (who made his home debut this afternoon). The Gladiators will also be boosted by the fact that Tom Elliott, who has been out injured for a number of weeks, was back on the grass before the game and was completing some of his first runs post meniscal surgery.
Matlock Town are next in action as they travel to Ossett United on Boxing Day, hoping to finish the year on a positive note and start to put some pressure on those in the higher positions in the Northern Premier League East Division Table.
Matlock XI – 1. Wharton, 2. Eratt-Thompson, 3. Milambo, 4. Bachirou (C), 5. Wiley, 6. Oglesby, 7. Thompson, 8. Flanagan, 9. Elliott (K. Clayton 37’), 10. Sault, 11. Wilson
Lincoln XI – 1. Richardson, 2. Smalley (Carlisle 80’), 3. Cunningham, 4. Power, 5. Galinski (C), 6. Swinn, 7. Dunkerley, 8. Brown, 9. Fenwick, 10. Wood (Ture 46’), 11. Baker
