An uncharacteristically poor defensive performance cost Matlock Town severely as they went down to an awful 5-2 defeat to eighth-tier Coleshill Town at Pack Meadow.
Despite goals from Ryan Qualter and Declan Walker, the Gladiators were vulnerable in defence all night long and were soundly beaten by the Warwickshire outfit who play one tier below Matlock. It was a bitterly disappointing defeat for the Gladiators who now have no idea when they will next be playing a game with the NPL Premier Division still suspended until further notice.
The Colemen took the lead in the 18th minute via an own goal from Adam Yates. An excellent cross from the right-wing found Yates in an awkward position while trying to stay in control of who he was marking and he inadvertently poked the ball into his own net from close range to make it a bad start for Matlock. It soon became clear that a cup upset was on the cards.
The Gladiators almost forced an equaliser just seven minutes later when Callum Chippendale’s volley from 12 yards out looked sure to be heading into the bottom corner but Colemen keeper Paul Hathaway made an outstanding save to somehow tip the ball around the post.
Coleshill doubled their lead in the 34th minute through Kai Tonge who had an excellent evening and was easily the best player on the pitch. A threaded ball from the centre of midfield split the Gladiators defence far too easily and Tonge’s pace was too much to handle for Matlock’s back four. With just the keeper to beat, Tonge rasped the ball home confidently past Shaun Rowley from the edge of the area.
With half-time looming, Matlock looked to have given themselves a route back into the match. In the 41st minute, an excellent corner-kick from Alex Byrne found the head of an unmarked Ryan Qualter at the back post and he was able to easily find the back of the net from only six yards out for his second goal of the season.
It felt like we would see a cracking second half with the tie so delicately poised in favour of the underdogs but the Gladiators were simply not at the races after the interval and Coleshill deservedly ran away with the match.
Matlock should have found an equaliser in the 56th minute but Callum Chippendale was once again denied by an inspired Hathaway between the sticks as he managed to pull off a superb one-handed save to deny the midfielder’s effort from eight yards out.
It was then that Coleshill really took advantage of an increasingly frustrated Gladiators side with some clinical finishing in the final third.
In the 58th minute, the Colemen went 3-1 up after some sloppy defending from Matlock. It was unfortunate for Rowley who had made a fantastic save to parry a shot from the edge of the area but the reaction from the defence was far too slow and this allowed Josh Willis to hammer home the rebound from close range and extend Coleshill’s lead.
Things simply went from bad to worse for Matlock from here on in. Just four minutes later, Coleshill broke on the counter-attack and Tonge took advantage of a stretched Matlock back line to convert a volley from eight yards out with nobody marking him.
Tonge had two golden opportunities later on to bag himself a hat-trick as he ran rings around Matlock’s defence. He fired wide of the post in the 73rd minute when he really should have done better and just a minute later he was denied by an excellent stop from an oncoming Rowley when he was through one on one with the keeper.
To Matlock’s embarrassment, Coleshill went 5-1 up in the 78th minute when Gio Dainty smashed home an effort from 12 yards out which went in off the underside of the bar. Matlock managed a consolation goal in the 89th minute to make it 5-2 when Walker hit a free-kick from 20 yards out around the wall to find the back of his net but the damage had already been done.
Matlock boss Paul Phillips will have to be hoping that this was just a one-off and that there will be no repeat of this performance whenever the league campaign finally returns to action.
Matlock Town team: Rowley, Yates (c) (Dolan 46), Kendall, Qualter, Egerton, Lees (King 64), Byrne (Whitehead 78), Harris, Chippendale, Hannah, Walker. Unused subs: Lingouba, Phillips.
Attendance: 0 (Behind closed doors due to government-enforced covid restrictions)
Paul Phillips Quotes
“I think everything that we’ve done well over the past eight to ten weeks, we couldn’t have done any worse tonight if we’d tried. We were poor in possession. No stability at the back…we just didn’t turn up…for me, the players have let the club down, they’ve let me down and they’ve let themselves down. The best team won tonight. We didn’t start well right from the very first minute. I apologise to our fans and the board because this cup exit has big financial implications. We also don’t know when our next game is going to be now. That’s another problem.”
“I don’t think we lost because of complacency. I thought we lost because we played as individuals. Our players were just doing the complete opposite tonight of what we’ve been good at before for this season. We’ve got to pick ourselves up. Collectively, we didn’t win enough headers and we didn’t win enough second balls and they did us on the counter-attack. It was criminal how we were conceding goals tonight. The finishing for their goals was really good but we allowed them to do that. We’ve got to bounce back because this is a real blow. I thought we had a really good opportunity to progress tonight and keep competitive football going at the club while also getting financially rewarded. There will be a response to this and there’s got to be a response to this.”
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