Matlock Town recorded an impressive 1-0 victory away at league leaders Hyde United in the Northern Premier League Premier Division on Saturday afternoon.
John Johnston's goal midway through the first half secured all three points for the Gladiators and gave the Derbyshire Dales outfit their third victory in a row.
The first half was a largely uneventful affair which saw very few chances for either side. The first significant opportunity of the game fell to the hosts after 25 minutes when Callum Spooner saw his 25 yard effort whistle just past the post. The deadlock was broken five minutes later though by the visitors in unorthodox fashion. John Johnston's long range effort was on target but straight at Dan Atherton in goal. One can only assume though that the ball moved around a lot in the air, as Atherton struggled to deal with the attempt and unconvincingly tried to palm the ball away. Atherton got it all wrong though and only succeeded in diverting the ball a couple of yards over his goal line to hand Matlock a 1-0 lead.
The Tigers came extremely close to finding an immediate equaliser. In the 32nd minute, Joe McGlynn saw his close range effort cannon off the cross bar before a follow-up attempt was heroically blocked by the Gladiators defence.
Jordan Barnett had an opportunity to double Matlock's advantage right on the stroke of half-time but his rapid 20 yard effort was steered wide of the target.
The opening 15 minutes of the second half was the best phase of play for the Gladiators and Craig Elliott's side had some big opportunities to kill the game off soon after the re-start.
In the 53rd minute, Irish forward Kallan Murphy really should have doubled Matlock's advantage when he missed the target from close range following a left wing delivery from Jordan Barnett. It appeared that Murphy wasn't expecting the ball to arrive so quickly at his feet when the ball narrowly sailed over the head of centre-half Ioan Evans.
The Gladiators came even closer to making it 2-0 just four minutes later when Alex Byrne's effort from eight yards out beat the Tigers goalkeeper but was superbly cleared off the goal line by a Hyde defender. Byrne then saw his 25 yard free-kick superbly tipped onto the post by Dan Atherton in the 59th minute.
Another free-kick 15 minutes later came desperately close to sealing the game for the Gladiators. This time it was Jordan Barnett left with his hands on his head as his 20 yard free-kick flashed narrowly wide of the post and found the side netting.
The final 15 minutes of the match proved to be a stern test for Matlock's defence as they soaked up huge amounts of pressure from the hosts who began to throw everything at the opposition in their search for a late equaliser.
Hyde substitute Edy Maieco saw his 15 yard effort ripple the side netting in the 76th minute while a game of pinball in the penalty area ensued five minutes afterwards before Gladiators goalkeeper Jim Pollard eventually claimed the ball to keep the visitors in the lead.
The late pressure just kept on coming for Matlock's back four in the final ten minutes of play. Jack Redshaw really should have grabbed an equaliser in the 83rd minute when his unmarked close range header following a right wing cross was somehow steered wide of the target altogether. On the very next Hyde attack 60 seconds later, an 18 yard attempt was fired just wide of the post with Pollard well beaten.
Matlock's defence successfully withstood the late sustained pressure though and safely navigated their way through stoppage time to secure an excellent victory on the road against a team who entered this game in excellent form at the top of the league. Saturday's victory means that Matlock are up to sixth position in the NPL Premier Division and only three points behind NPL Premier Division leaders Hyde United.
Matlock Town team: Pollard, Sharman, Barnett, Lees, Evans, Qualter (c), Johnston (Hinds 83), Njaria, Cybulski (Wiles 75), Murphy (Slew 90), Byrne. Unused subs: Abbott, Higgins.
Attendance: 689
Craig Elliott Quotes:
"Yes, delighted with today's performance, particularly in the first half. We stuck to our game plan. We looked very organised. We showed the right qualities at the right times in the final third...we had to ride our luck at times but we did have two really good chances early on in the second half."
"As the away team today, we showed enough threat. We knew Hyde were going to come on strong in the final 20 minutes. That's natural. But that was a great win and I've already told the players that this gives us great belief moving forward that we can mix it with the big boys and that we're there rightfully now that the league is settling down a little bit. It's going to be an exciting season."
"The defending at the end was what I needed to see. I'm still learning about the players and the team and I needed to see that we can come through periods like that. I said to the players before the game to treat this as if it was a play-off final; two good teams going at it and have we got the players that can handle that? That answer is yes. We withstood a lot of pressure at the end but those are moments that you have to get through to pull off big away results."
"I think we have played better in certain other games since I've been here, but that's certainly one of the most satisfying days results-wise. I didn't want to lose today and we had a few injuries coming into this game. We were playing a team at the top of the league that had won their last game at home 7-0 and beat South Shields a few days ago. I had no doubts that Hyde would have been full of confidence today. But we slowly chipped away at them and we've got an unbelievable result."
"I think Hyde will be up there in the top five at the end of the season but there's not much between any teams so it's really hard to say who's going to be up there and who won't be. A couple of wins in a row could mean you're top yet a couple of defeats in a row could mean you're down to somewhere like 15th. I've got my own targets as to what we need to hit, so as long as we hit them, I'm not too interested in anybody else."
"I'm as disappointed as anyone. Obviously, things have changed a little bit since I've come in. I've not been able to bring in players that I want to, being totally honest. That's frustrating for me. But the chairman and the club have explained to me the reasons for that and I've just got to crack on and do the best I can. We've got a good group. Hopefully, in the near future, they'll be able to release funds so that I can really stamp my identity onto the team with signings that I want to bring in."
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