GLADIATORS DEFEATED AS BUXTON ALL BUT SECURE THE LEAGUE TITLE

Matlock Town's hopes of securing a play-offs position will go down to the very last day following a 1-0 defeat at local rivals Buxton on a dramatic Easter Monday afternoon in the Northern Premier League Premier Division.

Dan Cowan's goal in the 17th minute was the difference between the two sides and, thanks to South Shields' defeat to Whitby Town, ended up all but securing the NPL Premier Division league title and automatic promotion for the Bucks.

It was a feisty start to this local derby; much to be expected with so much at stake. Reece Kendall picked up a booking after only four minutes following a late challenge and some heated words exchanged between both sets of players straight afterwards. Matlock skipper Liam Hughes had a glimmer of a chance in the seventh minute when his leaning back post header looped wide of the post.

After an encouraging first ten minutes of the game for the Gladiators, the Bucks soon imposed themselves on their opposition and it didn't take long for the Matlock defence to be put under a lot of strain. It was with this advantage that Buxton struck and took the lead. A lovely little cross from just outside the edge of the penalty area was met by an excellent leap from Dan Cowan and his firm header from around eight yards out flashed past goalkeeper Paul Cooper and hit the back of the net to send the home crowd into raptures.

With the atmosphere jubilant among the huge crowd at the Tarmac Silverlands Stadium, the home side continued to play some impressive pressing football and at a quick pace too. Their approach was almost rewarded with a second goal just four minutes after the deadlock was broken. Sean Newton's 25 yard free kick was struck well and the full-back's effort only just went over the cross bar.

Warren Clarke's audacious attempt from 35 yards out also must have had Paul Cooper worried for a second as his ambitious attempt also only just went over the bar after 27 minutes played. The home side's pressure continued as they searched for a second goal before half time. Ashley Chambers went on an excellent run in the 38th minute which saw him beat two Matlock defenders before his 18 yard curling effort was deflected and whistled past the post. It was a strong first half from the Bucks and they deserved to enter the interval with the lead.

There may not have been any goals scored in the second half but, due to the enormous stakes at play for both teams and the rapidly changing circumstances in the match between South Shields and Whitby Town, it proved to be 45 minutes of pure drama and tension.

The Gladiators raised their game for the second half. While it's blatantly obvious that Matlock's defence is much stronger than their attack, Paul Phillips's men gave it everything they got in the second half and their persistence was almost rewarded with two golden opportunities to grab an equaliser in the final stages of the match which would have had huge significance on the league table going into the final day next Saturday.

After 50 minutes, Gladiators midfielder Danny Greenfield found space in the centre of play to blast a shot on target which Bucks goalkeeper Theo Richardson did well to palm the ball away from danger. Buxton began to impose themselves on the game again midway through the second half when a curling effort from Warren Clarke forced Paul Cooper into action and he tipped the ball over the bar after 66 minutes played.

With 20 minutes remaining, in-form striker Diego De Girolamo had his strongest phase of the game. In the 72nd minute, his rapid effort from 15 yards out was well saved by Cooper. Just three minutes later, another firm effort inside the box from the former Sheffield United and Chesterfield striker looked to be heading into the net before an excellent clearance was made by a Matlock defender around three yards in front of the goal line. De Girolamo also had a shot after 77 minutes from around 15 yards out but this effort was dragged wide when he probably should have done better.

The biggest drama though was saved for the final five minutes of the game. With the 90th minute edging ever closer, the atmosphere was already electric; not only were the hosts still in front but Whitby Town had equalised recently away at fellow title contenders South Shields. Another goal there in the final few minutes would change the dynamic of the title race drastically; just one more goal from Whitby would give the Bucks a three point cushion with a vastly superior goal difference going into the final day.

In a moment of pure drama that only sport can provide, a huge cheer spread rapidly across the Buxton fan base. The league's top goal scorer, Jacob Hazel, had incredibly scored for Whitby in the 89th minute of their game to give them a 3-2 lead over South Shields. If the scores stayed as they were in both games, Buxton would all but secure the league title. The news spread incredibly quickly across the stadium and the wild cheers made the players realise that a dramatic change in circumstances had taken place.

The Gladiators came perilously close to ruining Buxton's title party. With the 90th minute approaching, an excellent corner from Alex Byrne found Gladiators skipper Liam Hughes and his bullet header was magnificently saved by Bucks goalkeeper Theo Richardson. But there was more to come. In a heart-stopping moment in injury time, another corner from the opposite flank once again found the head of Liam Hughes and, in a moment of stunned silence where everyone in the crowd held their breath, his close range header somehow missed the target by mere inches with Richardson beaten. The moment must have added years onto every Buxton supporter's life!

A couple of minutes later, the final whistle was blown and a stream of Buxton supporters invaded the pitch to celebrate a famous title victory by beating their local rivals at their home ground. For Matlock, the two missed chances right at the death felt like a hammer blow. If just one of those chances had gone in, the Gladiators would have guaranteed themselves a play-offs place with one regular league game to spare. Instead, the matter of securing a play-offs spot now goes down to an incredibly nervy and tense final day this coming weekend. With the Gladiators now occupying fifth place in the table and sitting two points ahead of sixth-placed Bamber Bridge, a final day victory at home against Warrington Town would keep their promotion hopes alive. However, a defeat would leave Matlock desperately hoping that Bamber Bridge don't pick up a final day victory at home against Nantwich Town; otherwise, their promotion hopes would end in heartbreaking and stunning fashion considering the Gladiators have been in the top five of the league table since the end of August.

Matlock Town team: Cooper, Chippendale, Kendall (Hawkridge 79), Evans, Qualter, Lees, Byrne, Greenfield (Sharman 54), Hughes (c), Abadaki (Wiles 54), Uchegbulam. Unused subs: Daly, Hannah.

Attendance: 2,456

Paul Phillips Quotes:

"It was a hard game to gauge. I thought we started the game well. I thought we had the two better chances before they scored. Again, we didn't take those chances and that's the difference. I don't think they had too many chances - it was a tight game. Then at the end, we've had two magnificent chances to get something out of the game and we've not taken them. That's been the story for the past 10-12 weeks. That's got to fall on my toes."

"They're a good team and the league doesn't lie; congratulations to Buxton, to Dave and to Cunny. The best team always wins the league. We've got to lick our wounds. We've still got a job to do next week. We've got to be better in front of goal. That's been the problem. We're always solid at the back and we're always hard to beat. But we don't score enough goals and that lies with me; I brought enough players in. I've got to look at my position. It's not been good enough. I demand standards from our players and I demand standards from the football club. I think it was a joke how it was handled in terms of putting a statement out about the chairman leaving at the end of the season. When that gets released a day before we play our local rivals who could win the league and we have a chance of getting the play-offs - I think a lot of things need to change. We've come a long way. I'm sad that Bryn's going. He's been great for the football club. I think that could have been handled a hell of a lot better though. That's not getting away from today's result. I think Buxton shaded the game but we had the better chances."

"I thought we started well but when they scored, that knocked the stuffing out of us. There were too many players on the periphery of the game for a long period. It's the same players where you're hoping rather than knowing that they'll put in a good performance. You need players like Lees, Qualter, Byrne and Hughes. You need characters. Those players have carried us for long periods of the season and when I've asked some other players to step up, they've not quite had the minerals to do that. So now we've got a shoot-out in our next game against Warrington. This should never have been the case. We should have been well clear by this point but we've not been good enough. So we can either cry in our beer tonight or look at what's happened today, take it on board, congratulate Buxton, lick our wounds and bounce back on Saturday."

"It should never have come to this. It's down to myself. I'm not going to hide behind things but we need people behind us, screaming us on and then hopefully we can have some momentum in the play-offs if we can get there."