Sunday 26th January 2014
by Ian Richardson

Stamford Town A - A Matlock Town
Saturday 25th January, 3pm
EvoStik League, Premier Division

Referee David Plowright halted proceedings after 23 minutes when a fierce thunderstorm engulfed the ground and left the pitch saturated.

After consulting with both clubs and the ground staff, Plowright abandoned the game and, while it was probably the right decision, Matlock Manager Mark Atkins felt he could have waited to see if conditions improved.

This is the Gladiators second abandonment in a month, following the floodlight failure which saw their game at Buxton called off at half time on Boxing Day.

Now the Daniels and the Gladiators must do battle once again, probably on a midweek date.

Matlock were just getting on top when the weather intervened.

After an equal opening which saw a Micky Harcourt cross cut out and Stamford's Nabil Shariff screw a shot wide from the edge of the box, Matlock came close to taking a 13th minute lead. A delicious cross from Joe Leesley on the left was headed narrowly over the top by Shaun Tuton.

Matlock, who included injury doubt Lewis McMahon, then broke forward again for skipper Liam Needham to warm the hands of goalkeeper Alex Lynch.

But with dark clouds all around, the storm arrived, probably on its way from nearby Grantham where their home meeting with Stafford Rangers survived just eighty five seconds, and it was an early trip home for the crowd and the visitors.

STAMFORD:
1 Alex Lynch, 2 Lewis Carr, 3 Jason Field, 4 Ryan Walker, 5 Richard Jones, 6 Charlie Binns, 7 Daniel Lawlor, 8 Shawn Richards, 9 Nabil Shariff, 10 Jordan Smith, 11 Ryan Robbins
Subs: 12 Liam Richardson, 14 Ashley Robinson, 15 Alvin Jarvis, 16 Emeka Nwadike, 17 David Staff

MATLOCK TOWN:
1 Jon Kennedy, 2 Micky Harcourt, 3 Joe Leesley, 4 Martin Foster, 5 David Haggerty, 6 Oscar Radford, 7 Liam Needham, 8 James Ashmore, 9 Danny Holland, 10 Shaun Tuton, 11 Lewis McMahon
Subs: 12 Daryl Thomas, 14 Lavell White, 15 Corey Gregory, 16 Cecil Nyoni, 17 Matty Leese

REFEREE: D PLowright-Clipstone

ATTENDANCE: Not announced

RECENT STORIES

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Matlock will be wanting their debut game at their newly named Autoworld Arena to be a memorable one, as they aim to bounce back from an out of character hammering at Rushall last weekend. More...

MATLOCK AGREE LUCRATIVE NEW SPONSORSHIP DEAL WITH AUTOWORLD -
Matlock Town's ground will now be known as the 'Autoworld Arena', as details of the exciting new sponsorship deal emerged this week. More...

MATLOCK HIT FOR SIX AS THEIR UNBEATEN RUN COMES TO AN ABRUPT END -
What a way to lose your unbeaten start to 2014! Matlock conceded six goals in a crazy second half, after leading at half time against Rushall Olympic More...

MATLOCK FACE SIX POINTER AT RUSHALL AS 2 NEW SIGNINGS ARE ANNOUNCED -
Matlock face a play off contending six pointer at Rushall Olympic on Saturday as two young faces sign for the Gladiators. More...

ATKINS PRAISES PLAYERS AFTER DIFFICULT WIN AT FRICKLEY & NEWS -
Mark Atkins praised his players after their 3-1 victory at a wet and windy Frickley Athletic last Saturday, going unbeaten in 5 games, 4 of which have brought maximum points. More...

GLADIATORS GO
FIVE UNBEATEN
WITH AWAY WIN AT FRICKLEY -
Matlock extended their unbeaten run to five games and secured their first away win in four months in terrible weather at Westfield Lane on Saturday. More...

GLADIATORS EARN A HARD FOUGHT WIN AT HOME TO DROYLSDEN. MATCH REPORT -
Matlock got the win everyone expected against the basement side, but it was a more difficult challenge than the 4-1 win at the Butchers Arms in October More...

THIS WEEK'S NEWS FROM MATLOCK AND
A PREVIEW OF THE DROYLSDEN GAME -
"We take nothing for granted" will be the message from Matlock boss Mark Atkins as they welcome basement club Droylsden to the Reynolds Stadium on Saturday. More...

McMAHON SCORES TWO TO GIVE MATLOCK THREE. MATCH REPORT -
Lewis McMahon's brace earned Matlock their victory, but others behind him put in sterling effort to ensure another clean sheet at home. More...

LATE PENALTY DENIES MATLOCK A WIN AFTER SCRAPPY ENCOUNTER -
A 78th minute penalty leveller denied Matlock all three points from a scrappy encounter at The Meres against Grantham Town. More...

MATLOCK NEWS AND PREVIEW OF SATURDAY'S AWAY TRIP TO GRANTHAM -
After ending high flying Worksop Town's unbeaten run at the thirteenth game, Matlock Town face a different challenge when they travel to Grantham on Saturday. More...

MATLOCK'S INABILITY TO FINISH COSTS THEM ANOTHER 3 POINTS -
For this week's report, see last weeks and probably many before! More points go astray for Matlock simply because they could not finish chances off. More...

MATLOCK'S DERBY DRAW IN THE DARK
AS BUXTON'S BULBS BLOW! -
The lights went out with a bang at the Silverlands to end this Boxing Day A6 derby early at half time. More...

MATLOCK GET THE CLEAN SHEET - BUT NOT THE THREE POINTS -
Again this was a tale of Matlock being unable to take the few chances that came their way in a dour stalemate at home against Marine. More...

ALL THE GLADIATORS' NEWS AHEAD OF THE CHRISTMAS WEEK FIXTURES -
"Individual mistakes are killing us!" declared Matlock boss Mark Atkins after the disappointing and frustrating recent run of form More...

MATLOCK DEFEAT AT STOCKSBRIDGE WAS "LARGELY SELF INFLICTED" -
Matlock Town's disappointing defeat away to struggling Stocksbridge Park Steels, was largely self inflicted. More...

MATLOCK MAKE IT AN UNWANTED HAT TRICK WITH A THIRD CUP EXIT -
Matlock made it an unwanted hat-trick of cup exits against lower league opposition this term, as Glossop knocked them out of the Derbyshire Senior Cup. More...

MATLOCK GET THEIR FIRST WIN IN SIX AS THEY BEAT
TRAFFORD -
This first league win in six matches for Matlock Town was achieved with a little more difficulty than was envisaged at the half time break which came at a bad time for the home side. More...

MATLOCK HAVE 'ONLY THEMSELVES TO BLAME' AFTER
DEFEAT TO WITTON -
Matlock had only themselves to blame for not winning a game they dominated at Witton Albion. More...

MATLOCK MAKE HARD WORK OF A WIN OVER HALLAM IN MID-WEEK FRIENDLY -
The Gladiators made hard work of beating Toolstation NCEL First Division visitors Hallam, in a hastily arranged friendly game at the Reynolds Stadium on Tuesday night More...

MATLOCK SUFFER UNDESERVED FA TROPHY EXIT AT CHORLEY -
Chorley secured a hat-trick of victories against Matlock with this FA Trophy result at Victory Park last Saturday, but the 2-0 scoreline fails to tell the whole story as Matlock deserved at least a replay. More...

MATLOCK MAKE A POINT AGAINST HIGH FLYERS AFC FYLDE. MATCH REPORT -
Danny Holland had given Matlock a deserved interval lead against title contenders AFC Fylde, but the Coasters got a fortunate break five minutes into the second half to level through Andy Russell. More...

TOUGH FIXTURES AND A FAIR PLAY AWARD IN A GLADIATORS NEWS ROUND-UP -
If Monday's FA Trophy draw seemed tough - a visit to Chorley on November 16th - then Mark Atkins' men received confirmation that would be the case in Tuesday night's 3-1 league defeat on the same ground. More...

GLADIATORS FALL AT THE HANDS OF LIKELY DIVISION CHAMPIONS. MATCH REPORT -
Sometimes it's a case of holding hands up and admitting the better side won! This was the case for away fans at Victory Park on Bonfire Night, as the fireworks came from Chorley, who completed a league double over Matlock More...

Related Links

Matlock Town Website