Tuesday 20th October 2020
Pitching In, Northern Premier League, Premier Division
at the Meres/South Kesteven Sports Stadium
Grantham Town (0) 0
Matlock Town (1) 1
Declan Walker 24 Pen
Attendance: 182
Grantham Town:
Jan Budtz, Ben Middleton, Ben Turner, James Berrett, Tom Ward, Ryan Holland, Nathan Dyer, Brad Abbott (C), Ashley Worsfold, Alistair Taylor (Liam Hardy 83), Jack Stobbs
Unused subs - Remaye Campbell, Niall Doran, Michael Hollingsworth, Will Biggs
Matlock Town:
Shaun Rowley, Jake Hull, Reece Kendall, Sam Egerton, Ryan Qualter, Mark Lees, Alex Byrne (C), Spencer Harris (Cesaire Lingouba 67), Joe Bunney (Nathan Whitehead), Callum Chippendale (Osabi Abadaki 67), Declan Walker
Unused subs - Callum Dolan, Paul Phillips
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2019-20 NPL campaign was officially cancelled, cut short and abandoned on 26 March 2020, with all results from last season being declared as null, void and expunged, while any promotion and relegation issues either into, out of or within the league structure were scrapped. It's all hypothetical guess-timation as regards how things might've panned out if all of the remaining fixtures had been played out to a conclusion, but as things stood at that time the bottom four teams in the division were:
Grantham Town, played 32, points 30, GD -33
Matlock Town, played 28, points 29, GD -7
Atherton Collieries, played 26, points 28, GD -13
Stafford Rangers, played 33, points 23, GD -24
One could say that being given an opportunity to rip the season up and start again afresh with no harm done, might've suited certain clubs more than others, but hey! There were (and still are) much bigger issues at stake in the world at this current time than the cessation of football for a few months, so moving swiftly on...
Martin McIntosh's side's snail paced and agonisingly slow start to the current season, saw them going into tonight's game just a solitary point above the NPL's bottom club Stafford Rangers, without a win to their name, while the fourth placed Gladiators arrived at the South Kesteven Stadium with a game in hand on the other teams around them at the business end of the table, having won three, drawn one and lost one of their opening five games.
 |
| Steve Hardman R.I.P. |
Matlock have already beaten Grantham at the Meres this season, when a seventy-ninth minute Calum Dolan goal was enough to eliminate the Gingerbreads from the FA Cup at the Second Qualifying Round stage at the start of the month.
The two respective sides had contrasting fortunes at the weekend, with the Gladiators taking all three points on the road at South Shields (who are rated by many as NPL Premier Division title favourites this season) courtesy of Alex Byrne's headed goal, while Grantham crashed 2-4 at the Meres against fifteenth placed Lancaster City, who were three goals ahead inside the opening eighteen minutes.
Pilfering a quote or two by Macintosh from the Grantham Town website, the Gingerbreads manager said, in the build up to tonight's game: “It’s important that we get off to a good start. Too many times already this season, especially in the last two games, we haven’t come out and started well and other teams have capitalised and we have been punished for it." Beside the defeat against Lancaster, the other game that he is referring to was a 2-0 reversal at the Turnbull Ground, against mid-table Whitby Town.
Results elsewhere meant that although the Gingerbreads are still looking for their first win of the campaign, they are still clinging onto twentieth place by their fingernails, because fellow slow-starters Stalybridge Celtic and Stafford Rangers both lost tonight, while Matlock's gladiatorial like momentum saw them climb up to second place in the table, three points behind Warrington Town but still with a game in hand.
So, both teams wanted points for completely different reasons tonight and though this wasn't perhaps the most open and flowing game of association football you'll see all season, it's a results based industry and Matlock ground out a result with a workmanlike and no frills performance, while the majority of home fans seemed content enough that their team was displaying more effort and organisation than they had thus far this season.
That said, their previous games must've been pretty turgid stuff if this was a marked improvement, although it was a step in the right direction.
Horses for courses and needs are both fairly apt descriptions under the circumstances. And though you couldn't fault the home side for effort, they were found wanting as regards a bit more quality and cohesion in front of the oppositions goal.
Nathan Dyer and Jack Stobbs (what a great signing he looks to be on tonight's evidence) both gave Grantham plenty of width on the flanks and supplied an abundance of crosses, but the final clinical touch evaded the hosts throughout the night.
Ash Worsfold got his head onto the end of Stobbs left-wing cross in the twelfth minute, but the goal was ruled out as he was flagged for having strayed offside.
The match referee Scott Mason waved away play on when Ryan Qualter appeared to go to ground a little too easily in the Grantham area, but just moments later, as the Gingerbreads laboured to clear the ball away from danger Joe Bunney was fouled, giving Dec Walker the opportunity to give the visitors the lead from the spot. Jan Budtz went one way and Walker dispatched the ball the other, giving a 0-1 lead to Matlock with twenty-four minutes on the clock... and that is the way it stayed.
Having taken their manager's pre-match words on board, Mackintosh's side and looked more focus from the off tonight, but after going ahead Matlock picked up the pace for the remainder of the first half.
Both sides went close just before the break, through Walker and Dyer respectively.
Grantham dug in for all they were worth after half-time, but a few rushed chances went begging when a slightly more patient approach in the last third might've served them better saw several promising moves break down, although you'd have to give credit to Paul Phillip's side for their resilient defending in that equation too.The Gladiators rode their luck twice when Worsfold went close from Stobbs' left-wing deliveries, as Grantham frantically battled to find a way back into the game.
Dyer went to ground under a challenge in the visitors area, but the referee's view was closer than mine and he was unmoved.
It's an unwritten rule in football, that when you're struggling near the foot of the table, none of the fifty-fifty decisions and luck goes your way, but when you're on a winning streak and flying high, the rub of the green generally goes in your favour. 
Matlock's double substitution, bringing on Cesaire Lingouba and Osebi Abadaki with twenty minutes remaining, offered the visitors with more options going forward and some fresh legs. Abadaki broke forward and rounded Budtz who was advancing from his line, but Ryan Holland moved in quickly to cover his stranded keeper and prevent the visitors from netting what would've been a killer blow to Grantham's comeback aspirations.
Shaun Rowley, the Gladiators keeper, had been busy in the second half, mostly having to deal with a string of crosses... and it was he that emerged holding onto the ball from a last ditch, all hands to the pumps, penalty area scrummage deep into stoppage time, much to the delight of the travelling Matlock fans, as their side claimed the points with a dogged second half rear guard action.
FT: Grantham Town 0 v Matlock Town 1
Matlock worked damn hard for their win tonight... and Grantham bloody well made them.
Assuming that we've not all been put in quarantine under martial law by the weekend, the Gladiators have a home game against Scarborough athletic (who are two points behind them in the table), while Grantham face a tricky away trip to Mickleover (who are a point behind Scarborough).
Wherever you're going... and even if you're just watching it at home on your telly (or laptop), stay safe and enjoy your football.
