Recap
Another three points slipped away in the Derbyshire sunshine as performances and results continue to frustrate management and supporters alike.
And it was another second half collapse which saw a winning position, and one of reasonable control, end in victory for bottom of the table Matlock, leaving misfiring Reds languishing in the lower half of the Premier Division.
In a nutshell, they were denied a clear-cut penalty early in the game, the opposition were then reduced to ten men inside half an hour, Reds opened the scoring with a superb goal and, from a position of strength at half time, the familiar deterioration saw two shabby goals conceded mid-way through a poor second half.
There is more to it than that of course but it doesn’t matter how many facts, figures and excuses you put forward in your defence, the bottom line is a team struggling to find a winning formula.
Inside the opening five minutes, Steven Rigg was first to the ball and clearly impeded inside the area but referee played on, no penalty.
So having upset the Workington camp, the referee then incurred the wrath of home officials and fans by reducing Town to ten men, thirteen minutes before the interval.
Samuel Essien’s lunge challenge certainly got some of the ball but far more of Tom Wilkinson and the referee, who originally showed the offender a yellow card, had second thoughts and produced a straight red.
Dav Symington then slipped Josh Galloway through on goal and the latter cleverly side-stepped the ‘keeper and seemed certain to score before a wonderful recovery tackle from Reece Kendall saved the day.
The reprieve was temporary, though, and the same two players combined to give Workington a welcome thirty-eighth minute lead. It came from a pre-planned corner routine when Galloway played the ball into space and Symington arrived unmarked to plant the ball firmly beyond Rogan Ravenhill.
Rigg didn’t reappear for the second half and Jamie Allen was substituted just after the hour mark, and the loss of that influential duo had a bearing on Reds’ fadeout.
But the goals conceded, which swung the game in Town’s favour, were preventable and that was the main concern.
Curtis Durose was allowed to progress down the middle, broke through a half-hearted tackle, and his shot seemed to trickle towards goal without much power. Alex Mitchell got a hand to the ball but not enough to prevent it crossing the line for a sixty-seventh minute leveller.
And credit to the ten Gladiators who sensed there was possibly more to take from the game.
It came from a long throw into the box and Charles Oglesby engineered enough space to climb highest and flick the ball into the net despite Mitchell’s brave effort to claw the ball off the line.
I don’t think either of Matlock’s ‘goals’ actually touched the netting but the ball crossed the white line on both occasions and that’s all that matters.
Realising that the game had slipped from their grasp, Reds tried to salvage a point with a late rally. Steven Swinglehurst’s effort was cleared, Brad Hubbold’s goal-bound shot was blocked and David Norris guided his effort inches the wrong side of the post after Jake Allan’s quickly taken free kick created the opportunity.
Plenty of food for thought for the management team ahead of two important home games this week.
Matlock Town: Ravenhill, Ferguson, Kendall, O’Grady, Benson, Oglesby, Essien, West, Campbell (Morris, 86), Gibson, Durose (Glover, 86). Substitutes – Ashman, Pool, Ndlovu (not used).
Workington: Mitchell, Galloway, Fitzpatrick, Ambrose, Swinglehurst, Wilkinson (McCarron, 75), Symington, Jake Allan, Rigg (Norris, 46), Jamie Allen (Nugent, 61), Kamara (Hubbold, 74). Substitute – Little (not used).
Referee: Jack Churchill, Manchester
Bookings: Ferguson (Matlock Town), Galloway (Workington)
Red card: Essien (Matlock Town)
Attendance: 664