|
After Saturday's
horror show at Stocksbridge, the Pitmen got back on track by beating
bogey team Matlock tonight at Causeway Lane, moving them within a point
of league leaders Chester and Northwich in the process
With Nick
Wellecomme starting a four match suspension, manager Rob Smith was
forced to shuffle his pack. Marvin Robinson, sent off at the weekend,
started in place of Gary Hay, who pulled out with illness before the
game. The big striker started the game up front on his own, with Elliott
Durrell playing just off him. On the bench, Danny Quinn was named
amongst the substitutes after he was recalled from his loan period at
Coalville Town
The two clubs
had crossed paths as recently as two weeks ago, with the Gladiators
beating the Pitmen in the F.A. Trophy after a replay. With this
being their fourth meeting already this term, both sides were acutely
aware of the other's strengths and weaknesses
Durrell's
deep role almost saw the playmaker open the scoring after five minutes,
as the number ten picked the ball up and lined up a shot, but failed to
test Jon Kennedy in the Matlock goal with a wayward effort
Cheyenne
Dunkley, whose form in recent weeks has been something like his dominant
early season form, was on hand to make a superb saving tackle to deny
Danny Davidson a clear run on goal
Davidson
should have done better from a Matlock corner on ten minutes, heading
just wide of the far post after getting up above three Hednesford
defenders from close range
Big man
Robinson tested Kennedy's ability on thirteen minutes, racing clear of
the Matlock defence but allowing the Matlock number one to smother the
ball before he could get his shot away
Matlock
thought they should have had a penalty on sixteen minutes, as Liam King
got on the end of Davidson's flick-on and burst into he penalty area.
Dunkley and King had a coming together just inside the area, with King
seemingly going down a little too easily for the referee, who waved play
on
Two minutes
later, Jay Denny should have done a lot better after Robinson had played
the ball into his feet twelve yards out. The midfielder suffered a rush
of blood and skied his shot way over the bar, when he should have tested
Kennedy at the very least
Kennedy was
called into action midway through the half, making a save low down to
deny Jamey Osbourne as he looked to bend a shot into he far corner of
the net
The Pitmen
were enjoying the better of the chances, but continued to be wasteful in
front of goal. Pedro Monteiro missed his kick at the crucial moment
after beating his marker to a lofted Chris Clements free kick on twenty
eight minutes
Ten minutes
later, Chris Shaw was guilty of a glaring miss, as the stocky left back
somehow managed to head over the crossbar when presented with a great
chance from Clements' corner
Robinson's
wretched night in front of goal was summed up on forty minutes - his
wild shot from twelve yards out cleared the crossbar and ended up flying
over the fence behind the goal
Just as it
looked as though the sides would be going in for the half time break all
square, a Darren Campion corner kick found Osbourne lurking in the six
yard box, with the young midfielder getting enough on the ball to bundle
it home at the near post
Matlock's
expected backlash in the second half suffered a huge interruption, as
ten minutes after the restart, a huge power cut hit the town, shrouding
the ground and the local area into darkness. After over ten minutes of
false starts, with lights coming on and going off intermittently, the
floodlights finally crackled back into life and the players emerged from
an unexpected break to carry on with the game, which was now nearly
twenty minutes over time
This break
helped to settle the Pitmen, and Durrell's acrobatic shot from a
Clements free kick almost put the Pitmen in the clear; his effort,
however, was just the wrong side of the post
Durrell was
guilty of another poor miss on sixty four minutes, dragging his low shot
well wide after being set up by Robinson on the edge of the area
The Pitmen
did eventually double their advantage on seventy minutes, as Durrell's
chip across goal towards Robinson was handled by Matlock's Kris
Whitcombe. The referee immediately awarded a penalty to the visitors,
and in the process sent off Gladiators substitute Lee Featherstone for arguing
the toss
Clements
stepped up to fire confidently past Kennedy and score his eleventh goal
of the current season - not a bad return for a midfielder so far
Osbourne was
booked for a late challenge on seventy seven minutes, and rather than
risk yet another suspension to his already depleted squad, Smith decided
to replace Osbourne with another youth team graduate, Lewis Suckling
Matlock
continued to push in the final ten minutes, with King coming close to
reducing the deadlock with a looping long range effort that beat Crane
but came back off the post
By this
point, Durrell and been replaced by Mark Danks and Ben Jevons coming on
for goalscorer Clements. In the final minute, another long range effort
from King, not unlike his previous effort, looped over the head of Crane
and this time found the back of the net
There was
precious little time for the hosts to push for an equaliser, meaning the
Pitmen beat Matlock for the first time in four attempts this term
|
