By Chris Wood for North Derbyshire Radio
Matlock Town slumped to a disappointing defeat yesterday (21/02/26) and lost second place to an Emley side who were 3 points behind the hosts on the day. You’d be forgiven as a Gladiators fan for being quietly confident going into the game as the reverse fixture back in October was probably Matlock’s best away performance of the season in my opinion.
The game got off to a rocky start as after just 3 minutes, a low ball across the box found Thompson unmarked at the back post, the visiting striker having a simple enough job to slot the ball home.
It took the home side quite a while to get going on what was a very heavy pitch on the day. It seemed like a lot of the passes they wanted to play weren’t coming off and they looked slow and lethargic in the early stages. The biggest chance came after 25 minutes as a short corner eventually led to Washington dancing around 3 Emley defenders in the box. There was a brief shout for a penalty but the referee was unmoved as a shot from the edge of the box deflected out for another corner, this coming to nothing in the end.
2 minutes after this reasonably bright spell, the visitors added a second. Matlock’s defence failed to deal with a simple ball over the top and it was Thompson again who beat the offside trap and found himself 1 on 1 with Wharton. The striker finishing low under the keeper’s body.
The only other event of note came just after the half hour mark as defender Dwayne Wiley had a header from a corner cleared off the line by the visitors. This easily being the closest the Gladiators had come in that first half.
Matlock continued to tap on the door (rather than knock!) for the remainder of the first half but ultimately went in at the break knowing they had it all to do in the second half.
Half-Time – Matlock Town 0-2 Emley AFC
The hosts came out for the second half in much of the same vein as they finished the first. However, at no point did they really make their quality count as they failed to break down a solid Emley defensive unit, being limited to only speculative shots and no real clear-cut chances.
Ten minutes after the restart, Emley added a third as a free kick from their right wing, found Barks unmarked at the back post. The Emley man having a free header into the back of the net.
Four minutes later, the misery was compounded and it was four. Again the visitors found themselves 1 on 1 with Wharton and this time it was Sorhaindo who rifled a powerful shot across the keeper into the far top corner, signalling a chorus of boos from many on the home terraces.
The remainder of the second half continued in a similar fashion to the rest of the game with Matlock trying to break Emley down but ultimately lacking the quality to do so. The hosts had a couple of half chances, but again nothing to really test the visiting keeper outside of some simple catches. All credit to the visitors who never stopped pushing, even almost adding a fifth with just over ten minutes to go, Wharton saving with his feet to prevent further blushes.
Full-Time Matlock Town 0-4 Emley AFC
A very disappointing afternoon for those in blue and white, who had a real chance to consolidate second place in the race for home advantage in the play offs. I normally try and find any positives I can in the match reports but after yesterday, it’s hard to think of anything that went in the Gladiators’ favour. After a performance like that, playoffs would be a surprise rather than a given and a strong reaction is needed from the players and staff within the club, assuming that promotion is still the end goal.
Matlock Town are next in action on Saturday (28/02/26) when they host Bishop Auckland at The Proctor Cars Stadium.
Matlock XI – 1. Wharton, 2. Eratt-Thompson, 3. Milambo, 4. Macdonald, 5. Granite (C), 6. Wiley, 7. Atherton (Zoko 45’), 8. Upton (Bachirou 58’), 9. Washington, 10. Sault, 11. Wilson (Thompson 58’)
Emley XI – 1. Lambton, 2. Sheppeard, 3. Farrar, 4. Lindley (Hardaker 90’), 5. Cowgill (C), 6. Barks, 7. Turner, 8. Dawson (Hanson 76’), 9. Thompson (Mampala 76’), 10. Sorhaindo (Clegg 66’), 11. Stacey (Rodrigues 85’)
