Matlock Town 2
Nantwich Town 3
League (NPL Premier Division)

Match Report

Saturday 8th November.2008

MATLOCK TOWN 2 vs NANTWICH TOWN 3
Cropper.55 Griggs.36.
Hannah.62. Lennon.52.71

Matlock: Richmond. Thorpe. Featherstone. King. Laight. Pacey. Webster (Jackson 68). Warne©. Cropper (Benger 81). Hannah. Pendleton (Harrison 75). Substitutes: Barraclough. Harrison. Jackson. Benger. Caudwell.

NANTWICH: Jones. Smith. Tickle. Tinson. Whittaker. Parkinson © (Beeston 72). Carter. Blackhurst. Walker Naggington 81). Lennon. Griggs (Gibson 76). Substitutes: Jarrett. Naggington. Gibson. Shotton. Beeston.

Referee. J.Hermuzi Attendance. 294

MATCH REPORT
Overnight rain soaked deep into the pitch at Causeway Lane leaving a very heavy and difficult surface on which to play this game. Matlock were out of the blocks early, taking the game to Nantwich before the visitors finally began to settle and in the 5th minute Michael Lennon collected the ball on the right hand edge of the area – turned his marker, before clipping the ball beyond the Matlock ‘keeper Andy Richmond. Unfortunately for ‘The Dabbers’ there was no fellow player on hand to take advantage. Meanwhile, Matlock midfielder Gary Webster drifted a cross from the right for striker Ross Hannah but succumbed under pressure and placed his close range header off target.

For Nantwich, Glyn Blackhurst broke through the home defence in the 16th minute but rifled his shot over the bar with only Richmond to beat. However, in the 20th minute, Matlock started to gain the upper hand and when Nantwich left back Dave Tickle conceded a foul Hannah drilled a dangerous free kick just wide of the right hand post. In the 25th minute, a long through ball almost caught out ‘Dabbers’ goalkeeper Lee Jones whose failure to make an effective clearance allowed Hannah to get in a shot, fortunately for Nantwich, his effort finished wide of an unguarded net however, danger still lurked and after the ball was turned back toward Matlock captain Steve Warne the midfielder put in a shot only to find Jones had recovered sufficiently to make a save.

On the half hour, Nantwich responded through Griggs whose cross from the left fell to Dave Walker but Richmond was brave enough to dive at Walker’s feet and snatch the ball away before Walker could strike. In the 34th minute, Griggs set Lennon free on the left and when he whipped the ball into the 6 yard box Blackhurst rose to power a header, albeit straight at the Matlock ‘keeper. At this stage of the first period Nantwich were dictating play and in the 36th minute took the lead through Griggs. In the build up, Matlock failed to clear their lines properly and when the ball fell to Griggs, Richmond could only get a hand to the winger’s curling shot before it nestled gently into the near corner of the net to provide Griggs with his first goal in the Premier Division. For the remainder of the half, Nantwich stood firm and on 45 minutes Richard Smith’s high ball into the box found the head of Griggs but Richmond was on hand to parry the effort.

By the start of the second half the pitch had churned up so badly it was, quite simply, a quagmire. However, Nantwich had an early chance to extend their narrow lead following Lennon’s clipped shot from the right into the path of Walker who unfortunately side footed his effort into the ‘keepers hands. But in the 52nd minute Nantwich, were the beneficiaries of a long downfield ball from Jones – the ball dropping neatly for Walker who held off his marker before bringing Lennon into play just inside the area – Lennon, who has endured a barren spell of late, teed the ball up, before shooting past Richmond from 12 yards to score. However, Matlock reduced the deficit in the 55th minute through Dave Cropper who took advantage of poor Nantwich marking to slot the ball from an unmarked position past Jones despite the Nantwich ‘keeper diving across his line in an effort to block the close range shot. The goal lifted Matlock and midfielder Webster had a chance when he fired a shot from 15 yards, albeit into the arms of Jones. After the hour, both side’s rang changes and on 62 minutes Matlock squared the match after a cross from the right fell into the path of Hannah who ran on to score from 12 yards. But whilst Nantwich were largely to blame for letting Matlock back in to the game they pressed forward again to give Lennon a chance in the 70th minute and despite dragging his shot from the edge of the box, the effort deflected for a corner. Meanwhile, Dave Whittaker came up for the corner before getting on the end of the flag kick with a close range header that unfortunately went straight at Richmond. Not to be outdone, Nantwich constructed the winning goal in the 71st minute after Smith brought Griggs into play down the right after good work by Griggs out on the right alllowing the Nantwich winger to jinx across the back peddling defence and slip the ball through for Lennon who finished well from close range. Nantwich were forced on to the back foot in the closing minutes but held firm to secure maximum points.

Head coach Steve Davis reflected: “We weren’t at our best today, at times we looked tired but credit to the lads, they dug in on a horrendously difficult surface. I was disappointed we didn’t close them down after taking a 2 – 0 lead, there was far too much space for Matlock to play in however, we came here with the intension of taking maximum points and our endeavours paid off in the end”.

Match report written by Phil Johnson