FC United concede late equaliser to 10-men Matlock
A dramatic last-minute penalty for title-chasing Matlock Town cost FC United valuable points as the two sides drew 1-1 at Broadhurst Park on Saturday afternoon during a competitive game played in front of 1,873 supporters.
Having led since the opening stages of the game through an Ali Waddecar goal in the sixth minute, the Reds thought that they had done enough to ensure victory, only to concede an 89th minute penalty. This was coolly dispatched by Gladiator's striker Alex Byrne, ensuring that his team took a point back to Derbyshire.
The afternoon had started perfectly for FC United, as Waddecar capitalised on some careless defending to give his side an early lead. The forward found himself with plenty of time and space in the penalty area, before teeing himself up and calmly striking with his left foot past keeper Joe Young.
Soon after, tempers flared between the two teams when a seemingly run-of-the-mill clash between Reds' defender Adam Dodd and Matlock's Byrne sparked a mass confrontation between a number of outfield players, which threatened to spill over onto the coaching benches. It took several minutes for the officials to restore order to the field of play, with Dodd and Regan Linney, and Matlock's Liam Hughes all shown yellow cards for their role in the melee.
As play restarted, it was the visiting side who looked the brighter of the two teams, as they enjoyed a suite of chances to get themselves back into the game before the half time whistle. Midfielder Hughes was unlucky to skew two good chances wide of the FC goal, before Byrne went close with a lofted shot from distance having spotted Dan Lavercombe off his line, only to see his effort land on the roof of the net.
Into the second half, it was clear that FC United had emerged with the bit between their teeth, and were eager to double their lead. The home side enjoyed a good amount of possession and went close through an opportunity for forward Ewan Bange, who artfully wove his way into the penalty area before sending a deft shot bouncing off the Matlock bar.
In response at the other end of the pitch, Lavercombe did well to repel decent efforts from midfielder Alex Wiles and defender Reece Kendall. Matlock found themselves down to ten men in the 73rd minute, as defender Jamie Sharman was shown his second yellow card of the afternoon.
Keen to capitalise on their numeric superiority, FC poured forward at the away team's goal only to find keeper Young in sensational form. The Gladiator's number one flew across his area to palm away a curled shot from Aaron Morris, and then, minutes later, showed incredibly quick reflexes to push a goal-bound-effort from Linney just over the crossbar.
Late on in the game, as FC continued to push forward in hope of gaining a second goal, they appeared to be leaving themselves noticeably exposed in defence. Soon after Bange had been denied another opportunity in the Matlock goal by Young, the ball was quickly launched forward by the visitors straight down the middle of the field, falling at the feet of substitute Marcus Marshall, who promptly got his head down and headed for the home team's penalty area.
FC's Andy Halls did well to catch up with the experienced winger, but was left with little other option than to put in a last ditch tackle in the penalty area in the hope of stopping a shot, only to bring Marshall down in the process. The referee wasted no time in pointing to the spot, and Byrne duly stepped up to score the resultant late penalty, earning his team a point in the process.
The last-minute goal takes the gloss off an otherwise fine performance for the home team who will regret not capitalising on their early lead. After the game Reds' boss Neil Reynolds was full of praise for his team's overall performance and, while he congratulated Matlock on their late goal, felt his side had done more than enough to earn all three points.
Website man of the match: Jonathan Smith. Dependable, calm and thoughtful throughout the game. This was perhaps his best performance in a United shirt to date.
Report by Sam Turner
FC United concede late equaliser to 10-men Matlock
A dramatic last-minute penalty for title-chasing Matlock Town cost FC United valuable points as the two sides drew 1-1 at Broadhurst Park on Saturday afternoon during a competitive game played in front of 1,873 supporters.
Having led since the opening stages of the game through an Ali Waddecar goal in the sixth minute, the Reds thought that they had done enough to ensure victory, only to concede an 89th minute penalty. This was coolly dispatched by Gladiator's striker Alex Byrne, ensuring that his team took a point back to Derbyshire.
The afternoon had started perfectly for FC United, as Waddecar capitalised on some careless defending to give his side an early lead. The forward found himself with plenty of time and space in the penalty area, before teeing himself up and calmly striking with his left foot past keeper Joe Young.
Soon after, tempers flared between the two teams when a seemingly run-of-the-mill clash between Reds' defender Adam Dodd and Matlock's Byrne sparked a mass confrontation between a number of outfield players, which threatened to spill over onto the coaching benches. It took several minutes for the officials to restore order to the field of play, with Dodd and Regan Linney, and Matlock's Liam Hughes all shown yellow cards for their role in the melee.
As play restarted, it was the visiting side who looked the brighter of the two teams, as they enjoyed a suite of chances to get themselves back into the game before the half time whistle. Midfielder Hughes was unlucky to skew two good chances wide of the FC goal, before Byrne went close with a lofted shot from distance having spotted Dan Lavercombe off his line, only to see his effort land on the roof of the net.
Into the second half, it was clear that FC United had emerged with the bit between their teeth, and were eager to double their lead. The home side enjoyed a good amount of possession and went close through an opportunity for forward Ewan Bange, who artfully wove his way into the penalty area before sending a deft shot bouncing off the Matlock bar.
In response at the other end of the pitch, Lavercombe did well to repel decent efforts from midfielder Alex Wiles and defender Reece Kendall. Matlock found themselves down to ten men in the 73rd minute, as defender Jamie Sharman was shown his second yellow card of the afternoon.
Keen to capitalise on their numeric superiority, FC poured forward at the away team's goal only to find keeper Young in sensational form. The Gladiator's number one flew across his area to palm away a curled shot from Aaron Morris, and then, minutes later, showed incredibly quick reflexes to push a goal-bound-effort from Linney just over the crossbar.
Late on in the game, as FC continued to push forward in hope of gaining a second goal, they appeared to be leaving themselves noticeably exposed in defence. Soon after Bange had been denied another opportunity in the Matlock goal by Young, the ball was quickly launched forward by the visitors straight down the middle of the field, falling at the feet of substitute Marcus Marshall, who promptly got his head down and headed for the home team's penalty area.
FC's Andy Halls did well to catch up with the experienced winger, but was left with little other option than to put in a last ditch tackle in the penalty area in the hope of stopping a shot, only to bring Marshall down in the process. The referee wasted no time in pointing to the spot, and Byrne duly stepped up to score the resultant late penalty, earning his team a point in the process.
The last-minute goal takes the gloss off an otherwise fine performance for the home team who will regret not capitalising on their early lead. After the game Reds' boss Neil Reynolds was full of praise for his team's overall performance and, while he congratulated Matlock on their late goal, felt his side had done more than enough to earn all three points.
Website man of the match: Jonathan Smith. Dependable, calm and thoughtful throughout the game. This was perhaps his best performance in a United shirt to date.
Report by Sam Turner
