Matlock Town extended their lead at the top of the Northern Premier League Premier Division to four points on Saturday as they secured their fourth league win in a row by beating Witton Albion 1-0 away from home.
Reece Kendall's close range strike in the 14th minute proved to be the difference between the two sides in what ended up being a stern test of Matlock's title credentials.
Albion had the chance to take the lead inside the very first minute of the game. A teasing right wing cross found the head of Will Jones inside the penalty area but his header was steered wide of the post when he should have at least hit the target.
Matlock responded well though to that very early effort and took charge of the first half overall. Liam Hughes saw his looping header from around the penalty spot tipped over the bar impressively by Albion goalkeeper Greg Hall. In the 12th minute, a confident Hughes once again tested Hall with an excellent 25 yards effort which the keeper did really well to tip the ball around the post to concede a corner. From the resulting corner, Liam King saw his 20 yard effort take a small deflection which carried the ball just inches over the cross bar.
Matlock just needed to wait two more minutes though for the deadlock to be broken. Following another Gladiators set piece, centre-half Ioan Evans saw his close range header blocked. With the ball on the loose, Greg Hall rushed off his line to parry away another effort inside a very crowded penalty area. This time the ball fell to Reece Kendall who smashed the ball home from close range to score his seventh goal of the season and to give the Gladiators the lead.
Matlock's best chance to extend their lead in the first half fell in the 34th minute when midfielder Mark Lees shot from 25 yards out, His effort took a big deflection and Greg Hall did well to save it and keep hold of the ball. Matlock controlled possession well for the first half in general and the Gladiators defence did a solid job in keeping in-form striker Callum Saunders quiet.
The second half though proved to be a real slog for the Gladiators and they ended up grinding out the three points following a much improved second half performance from Witton.
There's no doubt that Albion should have equalised just seven minutes into the second half. Matlock's defence were looking more vulnerable as Witton started passing the ball around a lot better than in the first half. A through ball put Witton's leading goal scorer Callum Saunders clean through on goal. He really should have found the back of the net but credit must be given to Gladiators goalkeeper Joe Young as he stood his ground well and ended up tipping Saunders's effort inches wide of the post.
Matlock soon found they had a storm to weather as Albion grew in confidence. In the 56th minute, a threaded pass from the by-line found Saunders just 12 yards from goal but his effort was a poor one and he blazed the ball over the bar in what was a real let-off for the Gladiators.
Just two minutes later, Witton missed another huge opportunity to bring the game back onto level terms. Following an excellent parried save from Joe Young in Matlock's net, Will Jones really should have done better with the rebound. His effort lacked composure and he ended up blasting his close range effort just wide of the post. This was the spell of the game where Witton really should have equalised but Matlock battled hard, weathered the storm and ended up grinding out the final half hour of the game to secure all three points in what ended up being a tricky and awkward away visit.
Matlock had two big opportunities inside the final 20 minutes to kill off the game completely. In the 72nd minute, Ryan Qualter somehow missed the target with a header inside the penalty area following an excellent free-kick delivery from Al Byrne. In the 79th minute, substitute Kade Coppin (making his first Gladiators appearance for a number of months) had the opportunity to chip the ball over Greg Hall who was stranded some distance from his goal line. Unfortunately, Coppin couldn't get enough lift on his effort and a relieved Hall was able to claim the ball again.
The Gladiators managed the final ten minutes of the game well and dealt comfortably with Albion's long crosses being aimed into the penalty area. There were undoubtedly a few sighs of relief when the full time whistle came though! While it certainly wasn't a pretty match to watch, it was yet another case of job done for Paul Phillips's men as they stretched their lead at the top of the table. Three huge games now await the Gladiators in this crucial stage of the season: two home matches in a row against Scarborough Athletic and Bamber Bridge followed by a long away trip up north to face off against South Shields.
Matlock Town team: Young, Sharman, Kendall, Evans, Qualter, Lees, Byrne, Wiles, Hughes (c), Chippendale (Coppin 67), King (Daly 85). Unused subs: Okome, F Phillips, P Phillips.
Attendance: 381
Paul Phillips Quotes
"I thought we controlled the game quite well in the first half. Certainly more so in the first half than what we managed in the second half. I think that comes back down to lack of resources. We've got a fair few players out. But we managed to win the game. For me, we just lacked pace up front and lacked a bit of creativity. Luke Daly came on at the end and got a few minutes in, so that's really good for us. I thought all in all, we dug deep. Witton threw everything at us. To be fair, they deserved something out of the game. We defended well though. I can't really remember Joe Young having to make many saves. We've just got to be a bit more ruthless when we've got chances. We're still trying to get another striker in. We'll keep going. Credit to our lads though today - they'll not be selling many DVD's of this game, but it's three points today and we've taken six points off these this season."
"Jesurun Uchegbulam has got a bit of a tweak - with the amount of games we've got coming up soon, I made the decision to leave him out for today's game so that he's okay for the game coming up on Tuesday. Ross Hannah's wife has just had a baby in the early hours of today - so Ross needed to be with his family today and we send all our congratulations to Ross and all his family."
"I thought our defence did reasonably well in keeping Callum Saunders quiet. I think we still could have been a lot more on the front foot. We could have been higher with the line. Their main source of attacks were still long balls being aimed into the box and trying to get something from that. Callum Saunders is a good player, so is Will Jones. They've got some good players and they've got a good manager. They're a good club and I hope they get out of this relegation fight. If they keep playing like they did today, then they'll do that, no problem."
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