Matlock Town were knocked out of the FA Trophy at the second round stage on Saturday afternoon following an extremely disappointing 2-1 defeat at home against Marske United.
The Gladiators paid the price for missing a series of golden opportunities to kill off the game completely in the first half and will be very frustrated as to how they ended up losing the game after a poor second half from both teams.
The hosts almost took the lead in the 11th minute when centre-half Ioan Evans saw his close-range header superbly tipped over the bar by the Marske goalkeeper following an excellent whipped right-wing delivery from Alex Byrne. Byrne himself then came within inches of breaking the deadlock in the 23rd minute when his 20 yard volley flashed just wide of the post.
The Gladiators deservedly took the lead just two minutes later. Superb pressure from Kallan Murphy forced Marske's last line of defence into an error and Jorome Slew capitalised on the mistake to place the ball past the keeper and into the bottom corner of the net from around 12 yards out. This was Slew's first goal for Matlock since the opening day of this season.
Matlock will still be kicking themselves as to how they were only 1-0 up at the interval as the match really should have been sewn up by that stage. Shortly after the opening goal, another outstanding right wing cross from Byrne put the ball on a plate for Slew to secure a quick-fire brace but he somehow managed to miss the ball completely in what was a huge let-off for the visitors.
Slew almost made amends for that error in the 36th minute when his left-footed attempt from 12 yards out was kept out by a terrific one-handed save from the Seasiders goalkeeper which saw the ball tipped around the post. Shortly afterwards, Matlock once again had a gaping opportunity to go 2-0 up shortly afterwards before the interval when Slew had just the Marske goalkeeper to beat. Instead of going for goal himself, Slew unselfishly attempted to pass the ball to Alex Byrne on his left but the delivery was sloppy and the ball went behind Byrne with the goal at his mercy. This allowed the Seasiders defence just enough time to rescue themselves and clear the ball away from danger.
At the interval, it looked like the game could only end as a Matlock victory but incredibly Marske came away with a smash and grab victory on the road.
The second half was a poor affair which saw few chances for either side. The only strong opportunity for the hosts to double their advantage arrived in the 66th minute when Ioan Evans came desperately close to turning in Kallan Murphy's header from a corner; however, his close-range effort lacked conviction and the ball was steered just wide of the post.
Despite the large drop in performance in the second half from Matlock, Marske still offered no threat of working their way back into the game. Incredibly though, Marske were gift-wrapped two goals in the final 20 minutes to book their place in the FA Trophy third round draw. The visitors won a penalty from nowhere in the 73rd minute after Ryan Qualter handballed inside the area. Substitute Dale Hopson promptly stepped up to take the spot-kick and he confidently steered the ball home past Jim Pollard.
With the game seemingly petering out towards a penalty shoot-out conclusion, Marske remarkably found a winner in the 87th minute. A Seasiders midfielder was bizarrely allowed to run a whole 40 yards down the middle without anyone closing him down which put the Gladiators under needless pressure. With the ball arriving inside the penalty area, some superb creativity from striker Adam Boyes saw him back-heel the ball into the back of the net from 12 yards out to send the visiting fans into raptures and the Seasiders into the next round of the competition.
Quite simply, Matlock can only blame themselves for throwing that game away and missing out on the opportunity of an exciting third round game in the competition plus the bonus of more prize money. The Gladiators will be aiming to make immediate amends next weekend when they travel to Bamber Bridge in the NPL Premier Division.
Matlock Town team: Pollard, Sharman, Hinds (Barnett 77), Lees (Goundry 90), Evans, Qualter (c), Johnston, Wiles (Njaria 77), Murphy, Byrne, Slew. Unused subs: Higgins, Abbott.
Attendance: 637
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