Matlock Town drew 1-1 against Stalybridge Celtic on Tuesday evening in a pulsating NPL Premier Division game at The Proctor Cars Stadium.
An excellent free-kick from Ben Woods gave Stalybridge the lead shortly before half-time while Jordan Barnett scored his first ever goal for the Gladiators in the 58th minute to level the game.
Jordan Barnett came close to giving the hosts the lead after just nine minutes when his impressive effort from 20 yards out was well saved by Celts goalkeeper Greg Hall as he tipped the ball around the post to concede a corner.
Centre-half Ioan Evans had a decent chance to break the deadlock after 24 minutes played when his header from 12 yards out following a corner was steered wide of the post. A minute later, a lovely chest down from the returning Reece Kendall teed up Alex Byrne but his 18 yard effort was spooned over the bar. Shortly afterwards, Matlock had a big shout for a penalty turned down by the referee when Callum Chippendale was flattened by the Celts goalkeeper as he rushed forward to punch the ball away from danger.
Matlock were the better team in the opening 35 minutes but the visitors started to find some rhythm from that point and ended the first half strongly with a moment of set-piece magic rewarding them with the lead. Gladiators goalkeeper Jim Pollard made two comfortable saves within 60 seconds to deny 18 yard efforts from Aaron Grewal and Godwin Abadaki. However, Pollard couldn't do anything to prevent Ben Woods's 20 yard free-kick from flying into the top corner to give the visitors the lead.
It could have been worse for Matlock at the interval. On the strike of half-time, Pollard was forced into an excellent reflex save to deny Stalybridge's Kyle Harrison following a corner. Fortunately for the Gladiators, Harrison's rebound effort was steered just over the cross bar.
The second half was a very feisty affair that saw tempers flare between both dugouts. Matlock's work rate was phenomenal in the second 45 minutes and the hosts thoroughly deserved their equaliser.
It was looking like it was going to be one of those nights when Ioan Evans somehow managed to miss the target with a close-range header in the 50th minute and Alex Byrne's 18 yard effort whistled mere inches wide of the post four minutes later.
It was man of the match Jordan Barnett though that finally got the game back onto level terms. In the 58th minute, midfielder Alex Wiles teed Barnett up and his stinging effort from 15 yards out went through the fingers of goalkeeper Greg Hall and into the back of the net. There's no question that Hall should have done better to keep the ball out but Matlock were just relieved to have finally made the breakthrough.
The final half hour of the game was littered with half-chances for Matlock who were really on the front foot from this point on. Certainly not for the first time this season, excellent deliveries from the likes of Byrne, Barnett and Reece Kendall into the penalty area were met with a lack of purpose and conviction from Matlock's centre-forwards and resulted in efforts that should have forced the Celts goalkeeper into more action. This meant that players such as Callum Chippendale and Alex Wiles were having to work extremely hard all game to be involved in the final third as well as in midfield.
Substitute Jorome Slew had two half-chances in the 70th and 79th minutes. The former being a 20 yard effort that curled frustratingly well wide of the post and the latter being a tame header inside the penalty area that should have at least hit the target.
The huge talking point of the game arrived in the 83rd minute when the referee controversially ruled out a goal from Matlock defender Jamie Sharman. An in-swinging corner from Alex Byrne was met by the head of Jamie Sharman from only around four yards out and the ball hit the back of the net. The goalkeeper bizarrely stood stock still on his goal-line throughout the set-piece and made no attempt whatsoever to jump and claim the ball allowing Sharman to easily run up, beat him to the ball and score. Sharman's momentum meant that he made contact with the Celts goalkeeper and the Stalybridge number one was put on his back. Upon seeing Greg Hall in a horizontal position, the referee decided to disallow the goal and award a foul instead. It was a bafflingly soft decision which staggered the Matlock team and crowd.
Despite Matlock's best efforts, a winner could not be found in the final few minutes and the final whistle marked a disappointing draw for Matlock as it so nearly could have been a welcome victory to put the previous two defeats to bed.
Matlock Town team: Pollard, Sharman, Kendall, Evans, Qualter (c), Lees, Byrne, Wiles, Day (Slew 58), Chippendale, Barnett. Unused subs: De Girolamo, Njaria, Higgins, Blakeley.
Attendance: 594
Paul Phillips Quotes:
"Not a fair result for me. I thought we battered them from the first minute to the last minute. They've scored off a great free-kick of our own doing. I thought that was the only shot they had...their keeper must have wasted about 25 minutes of the game. But I'm proud of our lads tonight. If we play like that for the next 20 games, then we won't be far off. My only disappointment is that we didn't get a goal from what was around 12 corners. When we did put the ball in the net from a corner, the referee blows his whistle for a foul that he points to the centre circle for. You tell me why he's done that? But I'm proud of the players tonight - I give them a rocket when I need to - but tonight, one team wanted to play football and the other just wanted to waste time."
"I thought we played well from the first minute tonight. Put balls in the box. Created problems. I don't really remember Jim having a save to make, I might be wrong. But we can't keep saying the same things - we've got to score more goals."
When asked if he was happy with the performances of the centre-forwards: "No. I thought Chippendale was outstanding. But centre-forwards or number tens, whatever they want to be called these days, get credited for when scoring goals and they're not scoring goals. If I need to bring another forward in, then I'll bring another forward in. Al Byrne and Jordan Barnett knocked some tremendous balls into the box tonight. I thought Chippendale was immense - he worked his socks off. Gave them a problem. It's just that end product that we need to put more goals in the back of the net."
"Reece Kendall was back tonight which was a plus. When I look at the bench, we're probably a little bit short although Simon was perhaps a little unlucky not to start tonight. We're still waiting on the Irish lads as we do need reinforcements on the front line for the Atherton game. Whether that transpires, that's in the club's hands."
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