By Chris Wood for North Derbyshire Radio.
Photo Credit: Michael South Photography
Matlock town lost for the second time in the last 3 home games yesterday (14/03/26) in a feisty and incident packed encounter at the Proctor Cars Stadium.
The majority of the first half was played in the middle of the pitch, as both teams struggled to break each other down and find a real breakthrough. When either side did break forward, the defences were equal to the task and all both goalkeepers really had to do was simple catches.
The opening quarter of the game saw both sides have a really good chance. Firstly, inside the first 10 minutes, a cross from Macdonald found the head of Washington for the hosts’ first chance of the game. His header was relatively tame and a simple catch for the visiting keeper.
On 24 minutes, the visitors had their own big chance as a cross came sailing in from the left-hand side. Donaldson came storming in, seemingly unopposed but his header cannoned wide of the post.
Just 5 minutes later, the visiting striker would have his second chance. He was played through and brought down by the trailing leg of Lambton, making his home debut today. The penalty was smashed into the top-right corner leaving Lambton with absolutely no chance. Thankfully, the hosts escaped dropping to 10 men thanks to the newly introduced double jeopardy rule that prevents both a penalty AND a red card for the same incident.
Half-Time – Matlock Town 0-1 Dunston UTS
Manager Adam Clayton made 2 defensive changes at half-time and it seemed to have the desired impact as Matlock were a lot more expressive during the opening minutes of the second half.
4 minutes after the restart came the first of the big incidents and big calls from the referee. Number 10 Tommy Elliott looked like he was tripped in the box, however the referee adjudged the midfielder to have dived, rather than awarding the penalty.
However, Dunston still created their own chances throughout this period of Matlock possession. A poor corner from Wilson led to the away side hitting Matlock on the counter with a quick break. Lambton making up for his earlier mistake in giving away the penalty by making an excellent save with his feet to keep the score at 0-1.
His save was proved worthwhile as, within 10 minutes, the Gladiators had their equaliser. Firstly, it was Harlain Mbayo who had an improvised shot cannon off the post before Dunston cleared the ball from a corner. From this corner, the referee believed that Elliott was hauled down in the box and awarded the hosts a corner. Up stepped Wilson who converted the penalty to level the scores. There was still drama to be had though as Thompson went to retrieve the ball for a quick restart and the visiting keeper prevented him from doing so. A bit of a brawl ensued and the goalkeeper was rightly shown a yellow card.
This incident seemed to set the tone for the rest of the game as lots of big challenges were made in midfield and lots of free kicks given away into the bargain. Matlock kept pushing for a winner but Dunston also had their fair share of chance. The most notable of which came inside the final 10 minutes when the ball was flicked to the back post. Robinson sliding in was inches away from tapping the ball home for the visitors.
More big challenges and big calls from the referee continued, especially when Ravenhill brought down the Dunston midfielder in the middle of the park (it wasn’t a good challenge to be fair, I think Rav may have been watching too much of the six nations!). The big incident however, was when the Dunston midfielder appeared to stamp on Ravenhill’s face as he was being brought down. The referee judged this as accidental and the card shown was yellow, rather than the red that many in the home crowd would have hoped for.
4 minutes from time, Dunston had the winner and it was ANOTHER penalty! This time Bachirou was the perpetrator as he brought down Shaw as the striker drove into the box. The penalty was initially saved by Lambton although Shaw was on hand to tap the ball home. A bit of confusion followed as the referee initially disallowed the goal, only then to change his mind after a conversation with his linesman and send the visiting fans into ecstasy!
Full-Time – Matlock Town 1-2 Dunston UTS
Naturally, a lot of the conversations on social media between the fans have turned to the referee, and some of the big calls that they believe he got wrong (most notably of which not awarding the Gladiators a penalty for handball in what would have been the last kick of the game). Although it has to be said that with a better, more clinical performance, those incidents and decisions wouldn’t have mattered.
Matlock’s form has been a tad inconsistent of late, a potential concern if they want to keep hold of second place, and as such home advantage in the play-offs. Fortunately, there isn’t much time to dwell on this result as they are next in action on Tuesday when Bishop Auckland travel to the Proctor Cars Stadium, kick off is 19:45.
Matlock XI – 1. Lambton, 2. Eratt-Thompson, 3. Macdonald (Milambo 45’), 4. Bachirou, 5. Granite (C) (Wiley 45’), 6. Mbayo, 7. Upton (Thompson 60’), 8. Ravenhill, 9. Washington, 10. Elliott (Viggars 72’), 11. Wilson (Atherton 80’)
Dunston XI – 1. Jones, 2. H. Neary, 3. McDonald, 4. Turnbull (C) (Wilson 73’), 5. Swailes, 6. Devitt, 7. F. Neary, 8. Edwards, 9. Donaldson (Turner 79’), 10. Robinson, 11. Shaw
