Matlock Town beat Bamber Bridge 2-1 on Saturday afternoon in a pulsating NPL Premier Division encounter at The Proctor Cars Stadium. The victory means that the Gladiators are now six points clear at the top of the league.
An early goal from Alex Wiles plus Reece Kendall's eighth goal of the season midway through the second half put the Gladiators 2-0 ahead. However, a converted penalty in the 74th minute from Bamber Bridge set up a nervy and tense finale in what was an enormous game for both teams in their bid to win the league title.
After a very bright tempo was set by both teams as soon as the match started, it was Matlock who found the crucial breakthrough after just nine minutes. Marcus Marshall (who was excellent in this game) beat his marker with some lovely skill which put him in a position with just Brig's goalkeeper to beat. Marshall's close range effort was saved by Mateusz Hewelt but he could only palm the ball right into the path of an incoming Alex Wiles. Wiles gleefully tucked the ball away into the bottom corner from around eight yards out to score his very first goal for Matlock Town and to give the Gladiators an early lead.
The Gladiators came very close to doubling their advantage in the 18th minute. A lovely threaded through ball from Marshall allowed Reece Kendall to gallop down the left wing and he put in a superb cross which was met by the head of Matlock's top goal scorer Al Byrne from only ten yards out. Unfortunately, Byrne couldn't gain enough power on his effort and Hewelt was able to save comfortably and keep Brig in contention.
Bamber Bridge fired a warning to Matlock in the 26th minute when an unmarked Paul Dawson headed wide of the target after meeting an excellent delivery from Brig's right wing. Shortly afterwards, the Gladiators had another big chance to extend their lead in what was a breathless first half. Excellent link-up play from Marcus Marshall inside the penalty area allowed him to tee up Al Byrne but his 15 yard effort was well saved by Hewelt.
Matlock then had two more big opportunities inside the final five minutes of the first half. Some dazzling skill from Marshall on the left wing allowed him to then surge down the middle of the pitch but his curling effort from 20 yards out flew wide of the post. In the 44th minute, Paul Phillips's side came agonisingly close to going 2-0 up. Yet more excellent link-up play from Marshall allowed him to pass the ball to skipper Liam Hughes inside the penalty area. Hughes back-heeled the ball to tee up Byrne and his effort went inches over the bar.
The second half was another entertaining affair but also featured some drama which set up a very nervy final 15 minutes for the Gladiators.
Paul Dawson had a real opportunity to bring Brig back into contention just five minutes after the re-start. The forward headed well off target from 12 yards out when he had enough time and space to be at least hitting the target.
It was Matlock though who secured the crucial second goal of the game. An exquisite cross from Al Byrne on the right wing was pounced upon by the incoming Reece Kendall and he leapt like a salmon to head the ball home from close range and to send the crowd wild.
With the score at 2-0 to Matlock, a big flashpoint occurred in the 64th minute. Liam Hughes was blatantly tripped inside the penalty area by a Brig defender but, to the disbelief of everyone at Causeway Lane, the referee did not award a penalty despite being in a perfect position to view the incident.
In the 71st minute, the Gladiators had a golden opportunity to kill off the game completely. Al Byne put the ball on a plate for Alex Wiles to simply stroke the ball home from a few yards out but he somehow managed to miskick the ball completely with the goal at his mercy. Once again, nobody in the crowd could quite believe what they'd just seen as Brig were allowed to clear the ball away when it really should have been 3-0 to Matlock and game over.
More drama was to follow though. In the 73rd minute, Bamber Bridge were awarded a penalty for a very similar incident to what happened to Liam Hughes just a few minutes earlier. How the referee only deemed one of these incidents to be a foul made very little sense. To say Paul Phillips was fuming would be an understatement. Paul Dawson sent Joe Young the wrong way and converted his spot-kick confidently to make it 2-1.
The final 15 minutes of the game was full of tension with so much riding on this game.
Matlock still ended up having further opportunities to kill the game off completely towards the end. A ball across the face of goal somehow managed to roll through without a Matlock player being able to get a crucial touch of any kind which would have surely resulted in a goal. In the 82nd minute, a Hughes effort was cleared away just a couple of yards in front of the goal line while Kendall's effort shortly afterwards from 20 yards out whistled narrowly wide of the post.
Bamber Bridge battled hard to find a late equaliser but were constantly thwarted by an absolutely immense performance (once again) by Ryan Qualter in the centre of defence.
The final whistle blew to huge cheers from everyone associated with Matlock. There was no doubt that holding on for the three points here was a hugely significant moment for the title race this season. Remarkably, with South Shields leapfrogging Bamber Bridge after beating Warrington Town away from home, Matlock face yet another first versus second clash next Saturday as they travel to face the Mariners. This will be Matlock's third first versus second clash in the league in just over a month.
Matlock Town team: Young, Sharman, Kendall, Evans, Qualter, Lees, Byrne, Wiles, Hughes (c), Hawkridge (Chippendale 52), Marshall (Uchegbulam 52 (King 85). Unused subs: Hannah, Daly.
Attendance: 836
Paul Phillips Quotes:
"I thought we were good today in most parts. We were still wasteful in front of goal. I think the game could have been over within the first 20 minutes; we had some glaring chances. We got behind them numerous times. They then went on to give us a few problems. They're a good team, Milligan's a good manager. They're not where they are for no reason. We knew it was going to be a tough game today. My big disappointment today is that we didn't score more from the chances that we created. We had clean-cut chances which should have allowed us to take the game away from them. I thought we had a nailed-on penalty in the second half. No disrespect to the referee but he's turned one down and given a different decision for the same incident at the other end. It's a win today which takes us closer to where we want to be. I'm proud of the lads today."
"Marshall's not played a lot of football in recent times. He had a very good game today. But with him on a yellow and with the way he plays, I was a bit concerned that we could go down to ten men. I probably got that sub wrong though - I should have brought Ross Hannah on for him rather than Jesurun Uchegbulam. I brought Terry Hawkridge off at the same time as Marcus because he'd picked up a knock and I just wanted to freshen it up in midfield, so I brought Chippendale on. I think he did a good job today."
"I probably sound like a broken record here but I can't really remember Joe Young having to make a save...it was a tense end but it was certainly a good game for the neutral and it was good to see a big crowd in again."
"Every game is big now, so every win is big now. Every game we go into, we approach it as a must-win game. If we lose, then we're asking ourselves questions in that changing room. We've done our job today and I thought we deserved to win. I thought we created a hell of a lot of chances. I thought we defended really well and, all in all, I thought it was a really good performance."
"South Shields are a full-time team and of course it'll be a tough game. They've not been right up there for the past three seasons for nothing. Like I've said before, I think we did ourselves a disservice when we played them here earlier this season. We gave them too much respect for the first hour of that game. We ended up banging on their door for the final half an hour but just couldn't find that goal. Obviously, they've changed their manager since then but it'll still be the same team and their same principles. We've got to go there and get on the front foot. It's a waste of time travelling all the way up there just to defend for the full 90 minutes. We'll give them problems just as I'm sure they'll give us problems. I hope we go up there and give a good account of ourselves. It's a massive game for the club and it just shows far we've come."
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