Matlock Town conceded an agonising stoppage-time goal to fall to a 2-1 defeat away at FC United of Manchester on Tuesday evening in the Northern Premier League Premier Division.
The game marked Craig Elliott's first ever match in charge of the Gladiators.
The hosts were gifted the lead after only nine minutes played. A needless lunge from left-back Reece Kendall resulted in a foul on Regan Linney inside the penalty area and the referee had no other choice but to blow the whistle and point to the spot. FC United skipper Charlie Ennis took the penalty and blasted the ball straight down the middle to make it 1-0.
Matlock performed well though for the remainder of the first half and should have gone into the interval with the lead. The Gladiators secured a quick equaliser in the 18th minute through Alex Wiles who was, once again, Matlock's best player of the game. Kallan Murphy powered his way superbly into the penalty area from the left wing and ended up in a position with just the keeper to beat albeit from an acute angle. Murphy's stinging effort was fired on target but was blocked well by FC United goalkeeper Dan Lavercombe. However, the ball fell at the feet of midfielder Alex Wiles and he expertly tucked away the rebound from ten yards out to level the game at 1-1 and secure his fourth goal of the season.
The hosts came close to taking the lead again just a minute afterwards when Gladiators goalkeeper Jim Pollard made an excellent save to deny a powerful 15 yard effort.
Matlock had two golden opportunities though to take the lead themselves before the interval. In the 26th minute, with FC United's defence outnumbered, Jordan Barnett played a ball to put Kallan Murphy clean through with just Lavercombe to beat. Somehow though, Murphy managed to miss the target altogether and he'll still be kicking himself over that miss in what was a huge let-off for the hosts.
This was followed by a moment of inspiration from Alex Wiles that came within inches of giving Matlock the lead. In the 31st minute, Wiles danced his way into the penalty area before firing a confident shot on target from 15 yards out. It looked sure to be going in but the ball appeared to take a nick off the goalkeeper's gloves before ricocheting off the post and away from danger.
The second half was a quieter affair with fewer clear-cut chances created from a hard-fought battle between both midfields. Before a chaotic phase of stoppage time, the best opportunity of the second half fell to Matlock just before the hour mark. Kallan Murphy ran onto a smart threaded pass and his firm shot from 14 yards out forced Lavercombe into an impressive save with his foot to deny the Gladiators. The game looked to be petering out into a creditable away point for the Derbyshire outfit but a moment of stoppage time magic from substitute Callum Gribbin broke Matlock's hearts and earned the hosts all three points. FC United won a free-kick from around 25 yards out in the second minute of injury time and up stepped Gribbin to smash home a sensational effort out of Pollard's reach and into the top corner to send the crowd wild. Following the late defeat, Matlock Town have slipped three places to tenth in the NPL Premier Division table. The Gladiators are back in action on Saturday afternoon when they host Warrington Rylands in the league. Matlock Town team: Pollard, Mantack, Kendall, Evans, Qualter (c), Lees, Byrne (Day 90), Njaria (Slew 81), Murphy, Wiles, Barnett. Unused subs: Sharman, Whelan, Higgins. Attendance: 1,311 Craig Elliott Quotes: On whether a draw was a fair result: "No, not really. Looking at the second half, I can't really remember them having a chance or a shot. I think their free-kick at the end was the only shot on target they had in the second half. They've been going through some bad luck; maybe, they deserved some today. We've been undone by a penalty and a free-kick. Other than that, I don't think they had too many chances. I thought we were fairly comfortable in the second half. I didn't really want to make any subs to be honest with you. I thought we were on top, and as the away team, I thought we were in control of the game. But that's football - you've got to score goals at the right time. I think their luck was in tonight. They've scored a worldie free-kick and then we hit the cross bar in injury time. We also hit the post in the first half. There were lots of positives from tonight but also some negatives." "For their first goal, we don't need to dive in. The lad is going nowhere. Their second goal came from us not challenging further up the pitch and that leads to a free-kick. I still think our performance warranted at least a good point on the road." "I've not had a training session yet with the squad. There were a couple of players here tonight who I didn't really know much about. It was hard to know what subs to make tonight because I don't know everything yet about what types of players we have. I'll be learning that over the next few weeks. It's hard because you're trying to get results while also giving players chances. There were lots of positives to take from tonight...I think, as a squad, we can get fitter to do what I want them to do. I know exactly what type of players we need to make us better. You can clearly see we just need a bit more legs and pace in the team." "I don't think we've got enough fire power at the minute...we do need to sharpen up in the attacking third." "I thought Mantack was brilliant. I put him at right-back because I've seen him play there for Stockport County. His one-on-one defending was good, he was very good on the ball. I think Kallan Murphy is a brilliant player - he's absolutely right up my street. Exactly the type of player I like to work with. I like Alex Wiles a lot too. There's positives to take; it was a good performance overall." "It's a tough opening week for me...obviously, we'd have liked to have started the week in a more positive manner but we move onto the next one. There's no time to sulk or feel sorry for yourselves, you've got to move on."
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